A multistate research team that is working to develop America’s biobased industry — which produces biobased products, bioenergy and more — met this summer at OARDC.
The team, whose members come from nearly three dozen U.S. land-grant universities, including Ohio State, held an Aug. 11 symposium called Stakeholder Perspectives on the Bioeconomy.
Yebo Li, symposium co-chair and a biosystems engineer in the Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering, said the event’s goal was to understand the challenges faced in evolving a bioeconomy — an economy based on the sustainable use of renewable resources.
The participants in the symposium included engineers, economists, industry experts and scientists, especially in agriculture and biology.
Talks at the event covered such topics as the use of plant-derived fibers in plastic composites, the latest status of biobased fuels and chemicals, the impacts of environment regulations, and the development of a sustainable U.S. tire and rubber industry.
The event’s goal was to understand the challenges faced in evolving a bioeconomy — an economy based on the sustainable use of renewable resources.
Already provides 4 million jobs, $369 billion
- A June U.S. Department of Agriculture report said that as of 2013, the U.S. biobased industry was already contributing 4 million jobs and $369 billion to America’s economy.
- Biobased products are made mostly or entirely from renewable materials from farms and forests, according to a USDA definition. Some of those materials are corn, soybeans, wood pulp, even dandelions.
- Bioenergy likewise gets made using renewable biological sources, such as sewage, manure and food waste.
- The team is assembled around a U.S. Department of Agriculture-funded project called Science and Engineering for a Biobased Industry and Economy.
- To contact the source: Yebo Li at li.851@osu.edu.