Bioplastics (also called
organic plastics) are a form of
plasticPlastic is the general common term for a wide range of synthetic or semisynthetic organic amorphous solid materials suitable for the manufacture of industrial products...
s derived from renewable
biomassBiomass, a renewable energy source, is biological material derived from living, or recently living organisms, such as wood, waste, and alcohol fuels. Biomass is commonly plant matter grown to generate electricity or produce heat. For example, forest residues , yard clippings and wood chips may be...
sources, such as vegetable oil, corn starch,
peaA pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the legume Pisum sativum. Each pod contains several peas. Although it is botanically a fruit, it is treated as a vegetable in cooking...
starchStarch or amylum is a polysaccharide carbohydrate consisting of a large number of glucose units joined together by glycosidic bonds.Starch is produced by all green plants as an energy store and is a major food source for humans....
or
microbiotaMicrobiota is a genus of evergreen coniferous shrub in the cypress family Cupressaceae, containing only one species, Microbiota decussata...
, rather than fossil-fuel plastics which are derived from
petroleumPetroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid found in rock formations in the Earth consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights, plus other organic compounds.The term "petroleum" was first used in the treatise De Natura Fossilium, published in...
.
Applications
Because of their biological degradability, the use of bioplastics is especially popular for disposable items, such as packaging and catering items (crockery, cutlery, pots, bowls, straws). The use of bioplastics for shopping bags is already common. After their initial use they can be reused as bags for organic waste and then be
compostCompost is a combination of food material and other organic material that is being decomposed through aerobic decomposition into a rich black soil. The process of composting is simple and practiced by individuals in their homes, farmers on their land, and industrially by cities.Compost soil is...
ed. Trays and containers for fruit, vegetables, eggs and meat, bottles for soft drinks and dairy products and blister foils for fruit and vegetables are also already widely manufactured from bioplastics.
Non-disposable applications include mobile phone casings, carpet fibres, and car interiors, fuel line and plastic pipe applications, and new electroactive bioplastics are being developed that can be used to
carry electrical currentOrganic electronics, plastic electronics or polymer electronics, is a branch of electronics that deals with conductive polymers, plastics, or small molecules. It is called 'organic' electronics because the polymers and small molecules are carbon-based, like the molecules of living things...
. In these areas, the goal is not biodegradability, but to create items from sustainable resources.
Performance and usage
Many bioplastics lack the performance and ease of processing of traditional materials. Polylactic acid plastic is being used by a handful of small companies for water bottles. But shelf life is limited because the plastic is permeable to water - the bottles lose their contents and slowly deform. However, bioplastics are seeing some use in
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
, where they account for 60% of the biodegradable materials market. The most common end use market is for packaging materials.
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
has also been a pioneer in bioplastics, incorporating them into electronics and automobiles.
Starch based plastics
Constituting about 50 percent of the bioplastics market,
thermoplasticA thermoplastic is a polymer that turns to a liquid when heated and freezes to a very glassy state when cooled sufficiently. Most thermoplastics are high-molecular-weight polymers whose chains associate through weak Van der Waals forces ; stronger dipole-dipole interactions and hydrogen bonding ;...
starch, such as
Plastarch MaterialPlastarch Material is a biodegradable, thermoplastic resin. It is composed of starch combined with several other biodegradable materials. The starch is modified in order to obtain heat-resistant properties, making PSM one of few bioplastics capable of withstanding high temperatures...
, currently represents the most important and widely used bioplastic. Pure starch possesses the characteristic of being able to absorb
humidityHumidity is the amount of water vapour in the air. In daily language the term "humidity" is normally taken to mean relative humidity. Relative humidity is defined as the ratio of the partial pressure of water vapour in a parcel of air to the saturated vapour pressure of water vapour at a prescribed...
and is thus being used for the production of drug capsules in the pharmaceutical sector. Flexibiliser and plasticiser such as
sorbitolSorbitol, also known as glucitol, is a sugar alcohol that the human body metabolises slowly. It is obtained by reduction of glucose changing the aldehyde group to an additional hydroxyl group.-Sweetener:...
and glycerine are added so that starch can also be processed thermo-plastically. By varying the amounts of these additives, the characteristic of the material can be tailored to specific needs (also called "thermo-plastical starch"). Simple starch plastic can be made at home shown by this method
http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-Potato-Plastic!/.
Polylactic acid (PLA) plastics
Polylactic acidPolylactic acid or polylactide is a biodegradable, thermoplastic, aliphatic polyester derived from renewable resources, such as corn starch or sugarcanes...
(PLA) is a transparent plastic produced from cane sugar or
glucoseGlucose , a monosaccharide also known as - grape sugar, blood sugar, or corn sugar, is a very important carbohydrate in biology. The living cell uses it as a source of energy and metabolic intermediate...
. It not only resembles conventional petrochemical mass plastics (like
PEPolyethylene or polythene is the most widely used plastic, with an annual production of approximately 80 million metric tons. Its primary use is within packaging .- Description :Polyethylene is a thermoplastic polymer consisting of long chains of the monomer ethylene...
or
PPPolypropylene or polypropene is a thermoplastic polymer, made by the chemical industry and used in a wide variety of applications, including packaging, textiles , stationery, plastic parts and reusable containers of various types, laboratory equipment, loudspeakers, automotive components, and...
) in its characteristics, but it can also be processed easily on standard equipment that already exists for the production of conventional plastics. PLA and PLA-Blends generally come in the form of granulates with various properties and are used in the plastic processing industry for the production of foil,
mouldsMolding or moulding is the process of manufacturing by shaping pliable raw material using a rigid frame or model called a pattern....
, tins, cups, bottles and other packaging.
Poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB)
The
biopolymerBiopolymers are polymers produced by living organisms. Cellulose and starch, proteins and peptides, and DNA and RNA are all examples of biopolymers, in which the monomeric units, respectively, are sugars, amino acids, and nucleotides....
poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) is a
polyesterPolyester is a category of polymers which contain the ester functional group in their main chain. Although there are many polyesters, the term "polyester" as a specific material most commonly refers to polyethylene terephthalate...
produced by certain bacteria processing glucose or starch. Its characteristics are similar to those of the petroplastic
polypropylenePolypropylene or polypropene is a thermoplastic polymer, made by the chemical industry and used in a wide variety of applications, including packaging, textiles , stationery, plastic parts and reusable containers of various types, laboratory equipment, loudspeakers, automotive components, and...
. The
South AmericaSouth America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere...
n
sugarSugar is a class of edible crystalline substances, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose. Human taste buds interpret its flavor as sweet. Sugar as a basic food carbohydrate primarily comes from sugar cane and from sugar beet, but also appears in fruit, honey, sorghum, sugar maple , and in many...
industry, for example, has decided to expand PHB production to an industrial scale. PHB is distinguished primarily by its physical characteristics. It produces transparent film at a melting point higher than 130 degrees Celsius, and is biodegradable without residue.
Polyamide 11 (PA 11)
PA 11Polyamide 11 or Nylon 11 is a polyamide derived from vegetable oil. It is produced by Arkema under the tradename Rilsan from castor beans. PA 11 is not biodegradable. Its properties are similar to PA12 although it has a lower environmental impact, consumes less non-renewable resources to be...
is a
biopolymerBiopolymers are polymers produced by living organisms. Cellulose and starch, proteins and peptides, and DNA and RNA are all examples of biopolymers, in which the monomeric units, respectively, are sugars, amino acids, and nucleotides....
derived from natural oil. It is also known under the tradename Rilsan B commercialized by Arkema. PA 11 belongs to the technical polymers family and is not biodegradable. Its properties are similar than PA 12 although emissions of greenhouse gases and consumption of non-renewable resources are reduced during its production. Its thermal resistance is also superior than PA 12. It is used in high performance applications as automotive fuel lines, pneumatic airbrake tubing, electrical anti-termite cable sheathing, oil & gas flexible pipes & control fluid umbilicals, sports shoes, electronic device components, catheters, etc.
Bio-derived polyethylene
The basic building block (
monomerA monomer is a small molecule that may become chemically bonded to other monomers to form a polymer...
) of
polyethylenePolyethylene or polythene is the most widely used plastic, with an annual production of approximately 80 million metric tons. Its primary use is within packaging .- Description :Polyethylene is a thermoplastic polymer consisting of long chains of the monomer ethylene...
is ethylene. This is just one small chemical step from ethanol, which can be produced by fermentation of agricultural feedstocks such as sugar cane or corn. Bio-derived polyethylene is chemically and physically identical to traditional polyethylene - it does not biodegrade but can be recycled. It can also considerably reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Brazilian chemicals group Braskem claims that using its route from sugar cane ethanol to produce one tonne of polyethylene captures (removes from the environment) 2.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide while the traditional petrochemical route results in emissions of close to 3.5 tonnes.
Braskem plans to introduce commercial quantities of its first bio-derived high density polyethylene, used in a packaging such as bottles and tubs, in 2010 and has developed a technology to produce bio-derived butene, required to make the linear low density polethylene types used in film production.
Genetically modified bioplastics
Genetic modification (GM) is also a challenge for the bioplastics industry. None of the currently available bioplastics - which can be considered first generation products - require the use of GM crops. However, it is not possible to ensure corn used to make bioplastic in North America is GM-free.
European consumers are hostile to any products that are linked to the GM industry. As a result, some UK retailers such as Sainsbury's will not use bioplastic manufactured in the US, such as Natureworks polylactic acid.
There is also concern that the route from corn to bioplastics is not the most efficient. Looking further ahead, some of the second generation bioplastics manufacturing technologies under development employ the "plant factory" model, using genetically modified crops or genetically modified bacteria to optimise efficiency. However, a change in consumer perception of GM technology in Europe will be required for these to be widely accepted.
Environmental impact
The production and use of bioplastics is generally regarded as a more
sustainable activitySustainability, in a broad sense, is the capacity to endure. In ecology, the word describes how biological systems remain diverse and productive over time...
when compared with plastic production from petroleum (petroplastic), because it relies less on
fossil fuelFossil fuels or mineral fuels are fuels formed by natural resources such as anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms. The age of the organisms and their resulting fossil fuels is typically millions of years, and sometimes exceeds 650 million years...
as a carbon source and also introduces fewer, net-new
greenhouse emissionGreenhouse gases are gases in an atmosphere that absorb and emit radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect. The main greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone...
s if it biodegrades. They significantly reduce hazardous waste caused by oil-derived plastics, which remain solid for hundreds of years, and open a new era in packing technology and industry .
However, manufacturing of bioplastic materials is often still reliant upon petroleum as an energy and materials source. This comes in the form of energy required to power farm machinery and irrigate growing crops, to produce fertilisers and pesticides, to transport crops and crop products to processing plants, to process raw materials, and ultimately to produce the bioplastic, although renewable energy can be used to obtain petroleum independence.
Italian bioplastic manufacturer Novamont states in its own environmental audit that producing one kilogram of its starch-based product uses 500g of petroleum and consumes almost 80% of the energy required to produce a traditional polyethylene polymer. Environmental data from NatureWorks, the only commercial manufacturer of PLA (
polylactic acidPolylactic acid or polylactide is a biodegradable, thermoplastic, aliphatic polyester derived from renewable resources, such as corn starch or sugarcanes...
) bioplastic, says that making its plastic material delivers a fossil fuel saving of between 25 and 68 per cent compared with polyethylene, in part due to its purchasing of
renewable energyRenewable energy is energy generated from natural resources—such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat—which are renewable . In 2006, about 18% of global final energy consumption came from renewables, with 13% coming from traditional biomass, such as wood-burning...
certificates for its manufacturing plant.
A detailed study examining the process of manufacturing a number of common packaging items in several traditional plastics and
polylactic acidPolylactic acid or polylactide is a biodegradable, thermoplastic, aliphatic polyester derived from renewable resources, such as corn starch or sugarcanes...
carried out by US-group and published by the Athena Institute shows the bioplastic to be less environmentally damaging for some products, but more environmentally damaging for others.
While production of most bioplastics results in reduced carbon dioxide emissions compared to traditional alternatives, there are some real concerns that the creation of a global
bioeconomyBioeconomy refers to all economic activity derived from scientific and research activity focused on understanding mechanisms and processes at the genetic and molecular levels and its application to industrial process. It is often use interchangeably with biotechonomy.The term is widely used by...
could contribute to an accelerated rate of
deforestationDeforestation is the clearance of naturally occurring forests by the processes of logging and/or burning of trees in a forested area. There are several reasons deforestation occurs: trees or derived charcoal can be sold as a commodity and used by humans, while cleared land is used as pasture,...
if not managed effectively. There are associated concerns over the impact on water supply and soil erosion.
Other studies showed that bioplastics represent a 42% reduction in
carbon footprintA giant footprint is "the total set of blue natural gas caused by an organization, event or product" . For simplicity of reporting, it is often expressed in terms of the amount of carbon dioxide, or its equivalent of other GHGs, emitted....
.
On the other hand, bioplastic can be made from agricultural byproducts and also from used plastic bottles and other containers using microorganisms .
Bioplastics and biodegradation
The terminology used in the bioplastics sector is sometimes misleading. Most in the industry use the term bioplastic to mean a plastic produced from a biological source. One of the oldest plastics, cellulose film, is made from wood cellulose. All (bio- and petroleum-based) plastics are technically biodegradable, meaning they can be degraded by microbes under suitable conditions. However many degrade at such slow rates as to be considered non-biodegradable.PLA plastics can take 100 to 1,000 years to completely biodegrade. Some petrochemical-based plastics are considered biodegradable, and may be used as an additive to improve the performance of many commercial bioplastics. Non-biodegradable bioplastics are referred to as durable. The degree of biodegradation varies with temperature, polymer stability, and available oxygen content. Consequently, most bioplastics will only degrade in the tightly controlled conditions of industrial composting units. An internationally agreed standard, EN13432, defines how quickly and to what extent a plastic must be degraded under commercial composting conditions for it to be called biodegradable. This is published by the
International Organization for StandardizationThe International Organization for Standardization , widely known as ISO , is an international-standard-setting body composed of representatives from various national standards organizations. Founded on 23 February 1947, the organization promulgates worldwide proprietary industrial and commercial...
ISO and is recognised in many countries, including all of Europe, Japan and the US. However, it is designed only for the aggressive conditions of commercial composting units. There is no standard applicable to
home compostingHome composting is the small scale domestic application of the principles of sustainable, biodegradable waste management, i.e. composting. The general principles involved in composting apply to any scale, from "backyard" to industrial, but the techniques will vary for each with the size of the...
conditions.
The term "biodegradable plastic" is often also used by producers of specially modified petrochemical-based plastics which appear to biodegrade. Traditional plastics such as
polyethylenePolyethylene or polythene is the most widely used plastic, with an annual production of approximately 80 million metric tons. Its primary use is within packaging .- Description :Polyethylene is a thermoplastic polymer consisting of long chains of the monomer ethylene...
are degraded by ultra-violet (UV) light and oxygen. To prevent this process manufacturers add stabilising chemicals. However with the addition of a degradation initiator to the plastic, it is possible to achieve a controlled UV/oxidation disintegration process. This type of plastic may be referred to as degradable plastic
or oxy-degradable plastic
or photodegradable plastic because the process is not initiated by microbial action. While some degradable plastics manufacturers argue that degraded plastic residue will be attacked by microbes, these degradable materials do not meet the requirements of the EN13432 commercial composting standard.
Recycling
There are also fears that bioplastics will damage existing recycling projects. Packaging such as HDPE milk bottles and
PETPolyethylene terephthalate , commonly abbreviated PET, PETE, or the obsolete PETP or PET-P), is a thermoplastic polymer resin of the polyester family and is used in synthetic fibers; beverage, food and other liquid containers; thermoforming applications; and engineering resins often in combination...
water and soft drinks bottles is easily identified and hence setting up a recycling infrastructure has been quite successful in many parts of the world. Polylactic acid and PET do not mix - as bottles made from polylactic acid cannot be distinguished from PET bottles by the consumer there is a risk that recycled PET could be rendered unusable. This could be overcome by ensuring distinctive bottle types or by investing in suitable sorting technology. However, the first route is unreliable and the second costly.
Market
Because of the fragmentation in the market it is difficult to estimate the total market size for bioplastics, but estimates put global consumption in 2006 at around 85,000 tonnes. In contrast, global consumption of all flexible packaging is estimated at around 12.3 million tonnes.
COPA (Committee of Agricultural Organisation in the European Union) and COGEGA (General Committee for the Agricultural Cooperation in the European Union) have made an assessment of the potential of bioplastics in different sectors of the European economy:
- Catering products: 450,000 tonnes per year
- Organic waste bags: 100,000 tonnes per year
- Biodegradable mulch foils: 130,000 tonnes per year
- Biodegradable foils for diapers 80,000 tonnes per year
- Diapers, 100% biodegradable: 240,000 tonnes per year
- Foil packaging: 400,000 tonnes per year
- Vegetable packaging: 400,000 tonnes per year
- Tyre components: 200,000 tonnes per year
Total 2,000,000 tonnes per year
The European Bioplastics trade group predicted annual capacity would more than triple to 1.5 million tons by 2011. BCC Research forecasts the global market for biodegradable polymers to grow at a compound average growth rate of more than 17 percent through 2012. Even so, bioplastics will encompass a small niche of the overall plastic market, which is forecast to reach 500 billion pounds (220 million tonnes) globally by 2010.
Cost
With the exception of
celluloseCellulose is an organic compound with the formula , a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to over ten thousand β linked D-glucose units....
, most bioplastic technology is relatively new and is currently not cost competitive with petroleum-based plastics (petroplastics). They do not reach the fossil fuel parity. Many bioplastics are reliant on
fossil fuelFossil fuels or mineral fuels are fuels formed by natural resources such as anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms. The age of the organisms and their resulting fossil fuels is typically millions of years, and sometimes exceeds 650 million years...
-derived energy for their manufacturing, reducing the cost advantage over petroleum-based plastic.
Research and Development
- In the early 1950s, Amylomaize
Amylomaize was a term coined by Robert P. Bear of Bear Hybrids Corn Company in Decatur, Illinois to describe his discovery and commercial breeding of a unique cornstarch with high amylose content, also called high amylose starch...
(>50% starch content corn) was successfully bred and commercial bioplastics applications started to be explored.
- In 2004, NEC developed a flame retardant
Flame retardants are materials that inhibit or resist the spread of fire. These can be separated into several categories:*Minerals such as asbestos, compounds such as aluminium hydroxide, magnesium hydroxide, hydromagnesite, antimony trioxide, various hydrates, red phosphorus, and boron compounds,...
plastic, polylactic acidPolylactic acid or polylactide is a biodegradable, thermoplastic, aliphatic polyester derived from renewable resources, such as corn starch or sugarcanes...
, without using toxic chemicals such as halogensand phosphorusPhosphorus is the chemical element that has the symbol P and atomic number 15. A multivalent nonmetal of the nitrogen group, phosphorus is commonly found in inorganic phosphate rocks. Elemental phosphorus exists in two major forms - white phosphorus and red phosphorus...
compounds http://www.nec.co.jp/press/en/0401/2601.html.
- In 2005, Fujitsu
is a Japanese multinational computer hardware and IT services company headquartered in the Shiodome City Center complex in Minato, Tokyo.. Fujitsu's central focus is on providing IT-driven business solutions, but the company and its subsidiaries also offer a diversity of products and services in...
became one of the first technology companies to make personal computer cases from bioplastics, which are featured in their FMV-BIBLO NB80K line.
- In 2007 Braskem
Braskem S.A. is a Brazilian petrochemical company headquartered in São Paulo. As of 2008, Braskem is the largest petrochemical company in Latin America and the third largest in the Americas, after ExxonMobil and Dow Chemical.- Products :Braskem operates 13 chemicals plants with a production...
of Brazil announced it had developed a route to manufacture high density polyethylene (HDPE) using ethylene derived from sugar cane.
- In 2008, a University of Warwick
The University of Warwick is a British campus university located on the outskirts of Coventry, West Midlands, England. It was established in 1965 as part of a government initiative to expand access to higher education, and in 2000 Warwick Medical School was opened as part of an initiative to train...
team created a soap free emulsion polymerization process which makes colloidA colloid is a type of chemical mixture in which one substance is dispersed evenly throughout another.The particles of the dispersed substance are only suspended in the mixture, unlike in a solution, in which they are completely dissolved...
particles of polymer dispersed in water and in a one step process adds nanometre sized silica-based particles to the mix. The newly developed technology might be most applicable to multi-layered biodegradable packaging which could gain more robustness and water barrier characteristics through the addition of a nano-particle coatingCoating is a covering that is applied to the surface of an object, usually referred to as the substrate. In many cases coatings are applied to improve surface properties of the substrate, such as appearance, adhesion, wetability, corrosion resistance, wear resistance, and scratch resistance...
.
Biodegradability - EN 13432, ASTM D6400
The EN 13432 industrial standard is arguably the most international in scope and compliance with this standard is required to claim that a product is compostable in the European marketplace. In summary, it requires biodegradation of 90% of the materials in a commercial composting unit within 90 days. The ASTM 6400 standard is the regulatory framework for the United States and sets a less stringent threshold of 60% biodegradation within 180 days, again within commercial composting conditions.
The "compostable" marking found on many items of packaging indicates that the package complies with either of the two standards mentioned above. However, the marking is not owned by either regulatory body but by third party trade associations representing companies making or selling biodegradable plastics. In Europe, this is European Bioplastics, in the U.S. it is the Biodegradable Products Institute.
Many
starchStarch or amylum is a polysaccharide carbohydrate consisting of a large number of glucose units joined together by glycosidic bonds.Starch is produced by all green plants as an energy store and is a major food source for humans....
based plastics, PLA based plastics and certain aliphatic-aromatic co-
polyesterPolyester is a category of polymers which contain the ester functional group in their main chain. Although there are many polyesters, the term "polyester" as a specific material most commonly refers to polyethylene terephthalate...
compounds such as succinates and adipates, have obtained these certificates. Additivated plastics sold as fotodegradable or
Oxo BiodegradableOxo Biodegradable plastic is polyolefin plastic to which has been added very small amounts of metal salts. These catalyze the natural degradation process to speed it up so that the OBD plastic will degrade when subject to environmental conditions to produce to water, carbon dioxide and biomass...
do not comply with these standards in their current form.
Biobased - ASTM D6866
The ASTM D6866 method has been developed to certify the biologically derived content of bioplastics. Cosmic rays colliding with the atmosphere mean that some of the carbon is the radioactive isotope
carbon-14Carbon-14,
14C, or radiocarbon, is a radioactive isotope of carbon discovered on February 27, 1940, by Martin Kamen and Sam Ruben at the University of California Radiation Laboratory in Berkeley, though its existence had been suggested already in 1934 by Franz Kurie. Its nucleus contains...
. CO
2 from the atmosphere is used by plants in
photosynthesisPhotosynthesis is a process that converts carbon dioxide into organic compounds, especially sugars, using the energy from sunlight. Photosynthesis occurs in plants, algae, and many species of Bacteria, but not in Archaea...
, so new plant material will contain both carbon-14 and
carbon-12Carbon-12 is the more abundant of the two stable isotopes of the element carbon, accounting for 98.89% of carbon; it contains 6 protons, 6 neutrons, and 6 electrons....
. Under the right conditions, and over geological timescales, the remains of living organisms can be transformed into fossil fuels. After ~100,000 years all the carbon-14 present in the original organic material will have undergone radioactive decay leaving only carbon-12. A product made from
biomassBiomass, a renewable energy source, is biological material derived from living, or recently living organisms, such as wood, waste, and alcohol fuels. Biomass is commonly plant matter grown to generate electricity or produce heat. For example, forest residues , yard clippings and wood chips may be...
will have a relatively high level of carbon-14, while a product made from petrochemicals will have no carbon-14.The percentage of renewable carbon in a material (solid or liquid) can be measured with an accelerator mass spectrometer.
There is an important difference between biodegradability and biobased content. A bioplastic such as high density polyethylene (HDPE) can be 100% biobased (i.e. contain 100% renewable carbon), yet be non-biodegradable. These bioplastics such HDPE play nonetheless an important role in greenhouse gas abatement, particularly when they are combusted for energy production. The biobased component of these bioplastics is considered carbon-neutral since their origin is from biomass.
See also
- Alkane
Alkanes, also known as paraffins, are chemical compounds that consist only of the elements carbon and hydrogen , wherein these atoms are linked together exclusively by single bonds without any cyclic structure...
- Angewandte Chemie
Angewandte Chemie is a weekly peer-reviewed chemistry journal that covers all disciplines of chemistry. Its impact factor is 10.031 , which is the highest value for a chemistry-specific journal that publishes original research...
- Biofuel
Biofuel is defined as solid, liquid or gaseous fuel obtained from lifeless or living biological material and is similar to fossil fuels, which are derived from long dead biological material. Also, various plants and plant-derived materials are used for biofuel manufacturing...
- Biopolymer
Biopolymers are polymers produced by living organisms. Cellulose and starch, proteins and peptides, and DNA and RNA are all examples of biopolymers, in which the monomeric units, respectively, are sugars, amino acids, and nucleotides....
- Biodegradable plastic
Biodegradable plastics are plastics that will decompose in natural aerobic and anaerobic environments. Biodegradation of plastics can be achieved by enabling microorganisms in the environment to metabolize the molecular structure of plastic films to produce an inert humus-like material that is...
- Ingeo
Ingeo is a NatureWorks LLC's trademark for a man-made fiber made from renewable resources , as opposed to oil.The process to create Ingeo makes use of the carbon naturally stored in plants by photosynthesis. Plant starches are broken down into sugars...
- Mirel
Mirel is a biodegradable bioplastic being commercialized through a joint venture between Metabolix and Archer Daniels Midland Company called Telles.Mirel is being marketed as an alternative to petroleum-based plastics that is both sustainable and eco-friendly...
- Minerv
- Organic photovoltaics
External links