Hello from the American Chemical Society Green Chemistry Initiative’s (ACSGCI) 18th annual Green Chemistry & Engineering conference. I will be listening this morning to a presentation about lignin bio-oil as styrene alternative from researchers at the Department of Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware, and I saw this video from UK-based Biome Bioplastics about their lignin research.

According to Biome, it has already demonstrated the feasibility of extracting organic chemicals from lignin for the manufacture of bioplastics. Lignin is a complex hydrocarbon that helps to provide structural support in plants and trees. It can be found as a waste product of the pulp and paper industry, which makes it a potential low-cost abundant feedstock for chemical manufacture.

Biome has been working on developing methods to control the breakdown of lignin using bacteria and extract chemicals in significant quantities.

I will blog more about the bio-oil from lignin later today after the presentation. Meanwhile, follow my tweets via @Dgreenblogger and @ACSGCI #GCandE.