Number one in production, but number two in consumption. That's because Europe is more advanced in requiring materials that help reduce carbon footprint. Cereplast operates a substantial bioplastic compounding plant in Indiana, but most of its sales are in Italy.
Bioreactors using waste biomass as the feedstock--we've come full circle! And of course, with every major plant like this comes all the hoopla surrounding environmental impact, etc. Glad to hear, though, that the USA is #1 in bioplastic production. That's encouraging.
There are plenty of big bioplastics production operations in the US: DuPont, Tate & Lyle, ADM, and Metabolix for example. Corn is the feedstock of choice in the USA because of its abundance and government support. Future bioreactors in the USA are likely to use waste biomass as the feedstock. Economics to be determined.
You have a point, Beth. It would be good to see this type of development in the United States. If not sugar cane, there are certainly other crops that could be productive. At any rate, it's a shame this kind of cool project isn't getting done in Dow's home state of Michigan. They could use the boost.
Interesting that sugar cane has such potential in the development of biopolymers and definitely a big win for Brazil's economy. Too bad there wasn't some secret source of sugar cane that would land such a plant (and jobs) on US soil.
For 3D printing to make the jump from rapid prototyping to manufacturing, engineers will need to find easier ways to move products from their CAD screens to their printers.
Gigabit and PoE are two networking technologies moving ahead in tandem as industrial users power remote Ethernet devices such as IP security cameras at 1,000 Mbps over existing CAT5 cable.
New versions of BASF's Ecovio line are both compostable and designed for either injection molding or thermoforming. These combinations are becoming more common for the single-use bioplastics used in food service and food packaging applications, but are still not widely available.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 5
Early in my career, I worked as a draftsman and remember the days of drawing on vellum with numbered pencils and Mylar with plastic lead. This was a fun experience in the sense that I ...
I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
A lasting memory from my first job as an engineer in an auto assembly plant is standing on hard concrete at six in the morning, vending-machine coffee clutched in hand, listening to ...
For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
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