USDA awards $3M biorefinery grant to support conversion of lignin into renewable alternative for ABS Resin
15 January 2018
The USDA has awarded a consortium including Attis Innovations, Inc., a subsidiary of Meridian Waste Solutions, Inc.,a $3-million grant to support the commercialization of its patented and patent-pending lignin conversion and refining technologies. Attis Innovations is the combination of recent transactions with American Science and Technology Corp. and Advanced Lignin Biocomposites LLC.
Lignocellulose, or lignin, is ubiquitous in biomass, and yet it is highly-resistant to the chemical, biological, and other processes historically used for the conversion and refining of biomass into renewable products. This resistance has created significant challenges and opportunities for the more efficient use of cellulosic feedstocks in conventional production processes, such as biorefineries and paper mills that currently burn lignin for its fuel value of only about $50 per ton.
The US Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office has consequently identified the need for technologies to be developed for the efficient use of lignin as a key target for accelerating the growth of the US bioeconomy.
To address this challenge, a team comprising Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the University of Tennessee’s Center for Renewable Carbon, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, the Natural Resource Research Institute, Long Trail Sustainability, and Attis’ research and development unit, American Science and Technology Corporation, presented the US Department of Agriculture with a pathway based on Attis’ technology to allow biorefineries to compete with petroleum.
That pathway relies on Attis’ patented and patent-pending AST-Organosolv process to fractionate biomass into cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin, followed by the conversion of cellulose and hemicellulose into biofuel (butanol), and the conversion of lignin into acrylonitrile-butadiene-lignin (ABL Resin) using technology developed and patented by Oak Ridge National Laboratory and licensed to Attis.
The resulting ABL Resin product is proven to be a higher-performing renewable offset for the petroleum-derived resin acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS). With a market value of $1,500 to $2,400 per ton, abundant low-cost feedstock supplies, and robust multi-sector offset demand, Attis’ new ABL Resin product has the potential to make a significant and valuable contribution to reducing US dependence on petroleum-derived chemicals and fuels.
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