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Oil is a fossil fuel and
is derived form irreplaceable source. While
projections vary, the general consensus is that
this resource may dry off after several years.
Is there any alternative to oil? Some strongly
believe that nuclear fission or hydrogen could
be the alternative for developing energy and
could meet almost 55-60% of the present use
of oil. However, how would we develop the other
derivative products or even petrol that is used
as fuel for automobiles? Perhaps electrical
sources could be used for automobile in future,
but the other derivatives have to depend upon
oil.
The farmers along with scientists are now developing
bio refineries that will eventually produce
oil from agricultural products - to be more
precise agricultural wastes. At present this
development is at the experimental stage. Some
success has been achieved in the form of ethanol
that can be used to generate ethylene as well
as fuel for automobile from agriculture. More
work is required to develop truly bio refinery.
It will possibly take more than decades before
bio refinery can be seen in actual usage.
Concurrently, a US$15 million federal grant
will be used to flag off a new manufacturing
sector in mid-Michigan that will create products
from the state's abundant supply of grains and
plants instead of from petrochemicals. Mid Michigan
plans to capture the entire value chain, from
the seed of the plant/trees to the bio-refineries
that make the foundational chemicals, to the
(manufacturing) plants that turn the foundational
chemicals into the plastics and other polymers.
Mitsubishi Motors and the Aichi Industrial
Technology Institute, have jointly developed
an automotive interior material which uses a
plant-based resin, polybutylene succinate (PBS),
combined with bamboo fibre. Parts made from
the material will be used in the interior of
a new-concept minicar, to be launched in Japan
in 2007. PBS, the main component of the material,
is a plant-based resin composed mainly of succinic
acid and 1,4-butanediol. The succinic acid for
the material will be created through the fermentation
of sugar extracted from sugar cane or corn.
The new material combines bamboo fibre with
PBS in order to increase its rigidity. Use of
these renewable plant-based resources, which
it has been developing since 2004, will add
no CO2 to the atmosphere. According to tests,
this PBS/bamboo-fibre prototype achieves an
estimated 50% cut in lifecycle CO2
emissions over polypropylene. VOC (volatile
organic compounds) levels are also reduced by
almost 85% in testing - over processed wood
hardboards
Mitsubishi has dubbed its plant-based resin
technology "Green Plastics" that will
substitute plant-based resins and quick-growing
plant fibres for materials such as petroleum-based
resins and wood hardboards used in car interiors.
Bamboo grows to its full height in just a few
years, compared with the tens of years required
for traditional timber, and as such can be considered
a sustainable resource. Bamboo is available
and can be grown in a wide variety of areas
including Japan, China, and Southeast Asia.
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