Special issue of JIE on Biobased Products & the Environment

["Cheryl W. Myrup" <cheryl.myrup@yale.edu>]

Dear P2ENERGY list members,

The Journal of Industrial Ecology, a peer reviewed international
quarterly published by MIT Press and owned by Yale University, has
recently published a special issue on Biobased Products and the
Environment.  The entire special issue is available on the web
at
<http://mitpress.mit.edu/JIE/bio-based>
at no charge.

This issue delivers insightful, even provocative research covering a wide
range of topics relating to the environmental impacts -- good and bad --
of the production, use and disposal of bioplastics, biofuels and other
industrial products derived from agricultural products, residues and
wastes.

An announcement with more information about the special issue
follows.

Yours truly,
Cheryl Myrup
Assistant editor,
Journal of Industrial Ecology

[please excuse any cross-postings, but do forward this announcement
to others that might be interested]

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Biobased Products: The Sustainability Solution?
Insights from the Journal of
Industrial Ecology

Interest in the use of agricultural products and wastes for
energy and industrial materials is growing throughout the world.
Optimists foresee a new system of production that will produce a virtuous
cycle of benefits for the environment and society. Envisioning a return
to renewable raw materials in lieu of feedstocks and fuels based on
petrochemicals, they predict a reduction in demand for fossil fuels, a
decrease in greenhouse gas emissions, as well as the mitigation of a host
of other environmental threats.

A more pessimistic outlook for the bioeconomy also exists, which foresees
the increased use of synthetic fertilizers, a related reduction in water
quality, and an increase in soil erosion and greenhouse gas
emissions.

Emerging research, published in the prestigious Journal of Industrial
Ecology (and available free in full text at
http://mitpress.mit.edu/jie/bio-based)
examines the environmental implicationsgood and badof increased use of
biobased materials and fuels using the concepts and tools of industrial
ecology.  

Articles in the special issue analyze the opportunities, processes, and
environmental impacts of biofuels, bioplastics, biolubricants, and
biosurfactants.  Government initiatives to support biobased products
are summarized and leading biobased product companies are profiled. The
special issue also features a look at the predecessor to todays efforts
to make greater industrial use of agricultural crops and residues, the
American chemurgy movement of the 1920s and 30s.

Research published in this issue suggests: 

·        New analysis methods can,
without detailed product-specific information, predict the environmental
performance of bioproduction strategies such as capacity to displace
fossil fuel use.  These tools can rapidly screen new processes and
identify promising opportunities.

·        Surprisingly, making
composite materials and plastics from biobased resources is superior to
energy production from energy crops, in terms of energy savings and
greenhouse gas emissions, when these impacts are computed per unit of
agricultural land rather than per unit of product.  

·        Using ethanol fuel made from
corn stover, the residues left over in corn fields after the grain is
harvested, to produce a mixture of ethanol and gasoline (known as E85),
can yield important benefits. For each kilometer fueled by the ethanol,
the car uses 95% less petroleum. Total fossil energy use (coal, oil, and
natural gas) and greenhouse gas emissions are lower on a life-cycle
basis. Air quality impacts are mixed, however, with some pollutants
increasing and others decreasing.

Robert Anex, associate professor of agricultural and biosystems
engineering at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, USA, served as the
guest editor for the special issue. Support for the special issue was
provided by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology
(NIST).

New Haven, Connecticut  06511-2189 
USA         Tel:
203.432.6949  Fax: 203.432.5556
http://mitpress.mit.edu/JIE                                               
 indecol@yale.edu

======================================================================
Cheryl W. Myrup                      School of Forestry & Env. Studies
Assistant Editor                       Yale University
Journal of Industrial Ecology      205 Prospect Street
203-432-3337 (tel) -5912 (fax)    New Haven, CT 06511-2189  USA
cheryl.myrup@yale.edu
http://mitpress.mit.edu/JIE

======================================================================

Cheryl W. Myrup                      School of Forestry & Env. Studies

Assistant Editor                       Yale University

Journal of Industrial Ecology      205 Prospect Street

203-432-3337 (tel) -5912 (fax)    New Haven, CT 06511-2189  USA

cheryl.myrup@yale.edu

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