Polyols, a key ingredient for several important synthetic materials \u2013 such as polyurethane and polyester fibers \u2013 are starting to be made sustainably.<\/p>\n
Prevailing methods use petroleum to create polyols, organic molecules with two or more hydroxyl groups. However, the sustainable production of polyols from natural plant oils and other forms of biomass is becoming more and more promising, and has already made its way into commercial production.<\/p>\n
Several recent studies document the successful use of glycerol, a byproduct of biodiesel, in the synthesis of polyols. Glycerol is a promising material for polyol synthesis: as biodiesel becomes a more common replacement for fossil fuels, glycerol is projected to become cheaper and more widely available on the market.<\/p>\n
Industrially, the polyol 1,3-propanediol has been produced by fermented corn syrup using genetically modified E. coli. 1,3-propanediol can be used to make the fibers in carpets and textiles; the Flokser Group has used it to make artificial leather with 70 percent bio-content. Sustainable polyols have also been used to make antifreeze solutions, and as a heat transfer fluid in ice rinks, HVAC systems, and solar and geothermal systems.<\/p>\n
The benefits of sustainably produced polyols could stem beyond their green origins. DuPont Tate & Lyle Bio Products, a manufacturer of bio-based 1,3-propanediol, estimates the process of producing their green polyols decreased the required non-renewable energy input by 40 percent.<\/p>\n
However, there is much yet to be done in order for sustainable polyols to be commonly used in industry \u2013 bio-polyols are often more costly to produce, and their commercial production currently competes with food sources. To counteract these factors, some companies have created hybrid products that use both petroleum-based and natural oil-based polyols. Scientists and companies are continuing to search for ways to make polyols from sustainable sources that do not compete with food.<\/p>\n
Many in the scientific community agree fossil fuels will only get us so far, and studies have predicted that our fossil fuel resources will be depleted within the next few centuries. The growing use of green polyols by industry is part of a larger trend towards decreasing our dependence on unsustainable resources, and it is possible that, one day they might just take the place of their petroleum-based counterparts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Polyols, a key ingredient for several important synthetic materials \u2013 such as polyurethane and polyester fibers \u2013 are starting to be made sustainably. Prevailing methods use petroleum to create polyols, organic molecules with two or more hydroxyl groups. However, the sustainable production of polyols from natural plant oils and other forms of biomass is becoming […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","nova_meta_subtitle":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5572],"tags":[],"supplier":[1992,10220],"class_list":["post-30840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bio-based","supplier-dupont-tate-lyle-bio-products","supplier-flokser"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30840"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30840\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30840"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=30840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}