Leftover
Straw Gets New Life
Environmentally
friendly packaging might soon be made in part from rice or wheat straw
left over after harvest. The wedge-shaped corner inserts that hold computer
printers snugly in place during shipping, for example, could be molded
from a slurry made from these straws.
That's
the plan of ARS scientists in Albany, California, and their colleagues
at Regale Corporation in Napa. Biobased packaging and other new goods
made with straw could become alternatives to today's paper and plastic
products.
"These
bioproducts may give growers a new, profitable market for their straw,"
says ARS chemist William J. Orts. He leads the Bioproduct Chemistry and
Engineering Research Unit at the ARS Western Regional Research Center.
"In addition, the straw could give manufacturers a less expensive
raw material for their products."
Limited Options for Leftovers
Today,
growers of both wheat and rice face the same problem of what to do with
leftover straw. It can be gathered and sold for animal feed or bedding,
but those markets are often unprofitable for growers.
Straw
can be plowed under, but that costs about $8 to $10 an acre. Alternatively,
the straw can be left in place in the field to control erosion and to
provide nutrients for beneficial, soil-dwelling microbes. But the leftover
straw might also support disease-causing organisms that would attack the
next year's crop.
In
fact, the added cost of plowing-under old straw and the threat of disease
are the main reasons that rice growers in California typically burn their
fields after harvest. However, over the past decade, straw burning has
been progressively prohibited, except in the case of fields that are already
diseased. The ban is meant to boost air quality by reducing smoke.
The
amount of straw produced each year is enormous. In California alone, the
annual rice crop generates over 300,000 tons of straw. And the state's
wheat crop yields an estimated 400,000 tons of straw.
Rice
and wheat straw are good sources of cellulose. In turn, cellulose is the
basis for strong, biodegradable fibers that can be used for manufacturing,
according to Orts. His team is determining the extent to which cellulose
fiber from straw can be used in place of wood fiber or plastics derived
from petroleum.
"Rice
and wheat straw are produced at least once a year," Orts explains.
"Trees take longer to mature for harvest, and petroleum is, of course,
nonrenewable." So using agricultural fibers such as straw as industrial
raw materials may have less impact on the environment than these other
options. It should also help growers' profits and the economy of their
rural communities.
Pulping
Processes Scrutinized
To
be used in a product such as packaging for electronics, straw first needs
to be put through a pulping process that results in a slurry of straw
fibers, water, and additives. At this point, the pulp is molded into the
finished shape and dried.
Orts
and co-researchers are investigating ways to fine-tune pulping processes
so that the straw has the properties that manufacturers, such as Regale,
require. Regale executives estimate, for example, that even a 1-second
reduction in drying time may mean a savings of many thousands of dollars
a year in a manufacturer's energy costs.
A
collaborator with ARS in some experiments, the company designs and manufactures
innovative custom packaging molded from recycled materials.
At
the Albany center, Orts and colleagues are putting rice and wheat straw
through both a modified hot-water pulping procedure and the chemical-based
kraft one. "By making variations to either pulping process, we might
be able to reduce the need for chemicals or to reduce other costs,"
explains Orts. In addition, changing the minor additives to the pulp might
streamline production. Common additives include biopolymers, modified
starches, clays, and other natural products.
Other
variations may enhance the pulp to make the products stronger and more
resistant to the warping effects of humidity, temperature, and time in
storage. Additional improvements could boost bioproducts' resistance to
water and grease—a must for acceptance for fast-food packaging.
Equally
as important, the watery, straw-pulp slurry must be predictable in how
it behaves in the manufacturing process. This uniformity is essential,
despite natural variations in the straw from harvest to harvest. The pulp
has to be consistent so that the finished product doesn't vary from year
to year. Otherwise, the biobased product may introduce too many uncertainties
for the manufacturer.
A
Manufacturing Mystery
"Right
now, alternative agricultural fibers are an underused resource for making
products that have tight manufacturing specifications," says Orts.
That's in part because there's relatively little known about how these
novel fibers will behave. We need to learn more about alternative agricultural
fibers. A key to consistency in manufacturing is characterization—that
is, an understanding of how the fiber will perform under various processing
conditions.
"We're
starting by looking at the characteristics needed for the end product,
such as strength, tear resistance, and market appeal," Orts points
out. "Then we'll look at the processing that will ensure that the
agricultural fibers will have the requisite properties. For this research,
we'll be using scanning electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, differential
scanning calorimetry, and thermomechanical analysis.
"The
approaches, or recipes, we develop in the laboratory can next be tested
on a larger scale under manufacturing conditions in our pilot plant at
the Albany center," says Orts. "Then we'll work with our corporate
colleagues for industry-scale testing. This scaling up should help us
make sure we overcome any potential barriers to commercializing the product."
The
center's 35,000-square-foot pilot plant is undergoing a $20 million renovation,
scheduled for completion in 2006. This updating will make the plant one
of the most modern facilities of its kind in the western United States.
Equipment
at the pilot plant is suitable for processing several different agricultural
fibers—not just rice and wheat straw. "We've started testing
rice hulls and flax," says Orts. "We're interested in many different
alternative fibers because we want to meet the needs of a wide range of
growers and producers—those who have to deal with leftovers."
He
adds, "The fibers are neither profitable for producers nor an economical
raw material for manufacturers unless they can be used within a relatively
short distance from where they were produced. Otherwise, transportation
costs take too big a bite out of potential profits."
Because
of the need to be near to the agricultural source, these regional plants,
sometimes called biorefineries, might be smaller than conventional manufacturing
facilities.
The
demand for biodegradable products continues to increase. Experts estimate
that goods made in part from renewable resources will make up 10 percent
of all American manufacturing by 2020 and 50 percent by 2050. "People
feel good about buying these 'green' items," says Orts. "Increasing
use of agricultural fibers is one way to give consumers more choices of
environmentally friendly products."—By Marcia Wood, Agricultural
Research Service Information Staff.
This
research is part of Quality and Utilization of Agricultural Products,
an ARS National Program (#306) described on the World Wide Web at http://www.nps.ars.usda.gov.
William
J. Orts is in the USDA-ARS Bioproduct Chemistry and Engineering Research
Unit, Western Regional Research Center, 800 Buchanan St., Albany, CA 94710;
phone (510) 559-5730, fax (510) 559-5936.
Source:
Agricultural Research magazine April
2002
Back to top
'Green'
furniture company turns wheat and straw into gold
When
Brandrud Furniture crafted its first sofas filled with environmentally
friendly foam six years ago, then-owner Larry Green said he had no idea
that eventually most of the company's products would be made from such
materials as wheat and sunflower seeds.
But
the Auburn manufacturer, which specializes in office furniture and products
for the healthcare industry, has made great strides.
Not
only does Brandrud use agricultural byproducts to help build its furniture,
the company also parcels out all of its waste products and ships them
off to others so that they can be reused. Sawdust is sent to dairy farms
for animal bedding, scrap lumber goes to power plants, and access fabric
is passed on to children's museums and day care centers.
"This
is going to sound trite," Green said. "But the primary reason
we starting doing this was an overall interest in improving the environment.
We were introducing some new products and we thought that it might be
a good time to see if we could locate materials to use in the new line
that would also be environmentally responsible."
Although
Green and his partner, Mark Whitman, sold the company last year, new owners
Lee Falck and Bobby Holt have continued the effort to make chairs, couches,
tables and sofas from materials that deplete natural resources as little
as possible.
"We
try to work with suppliers that don't harm the environment," Falck
said. "We look for sources that take care of the forest and foam
suppliers that don't use chemicals. We work with fabric manufacturers
who have strong environmental positions."
Brandrud,
founded in 1955, started in Seattle. As the company grew -- it now employs
about 100 workers -- it needed a bigger space, and in 1981 it moved into
a custom-built 50,000-square-foot facility in Auburn. The company's list
of clients is impressive -- projects include supplying the Space Needle
with some of its first furniture, and, more recently, building products
for Nordstrom and Washington Mutual to use around the country.
Earlier
this month, Brandrud joined LinkUp, a year-old King County program that
offers green businesses technical support and assistance in marketing
their products.
"What
we've done is reach out to manufacturers who we feel might have potential
in products that they make to use recycled materials," said Erv Sandlin,
Linkup's project manager. "We give the manufacturers whatever assistance
they need."
LinkUp
has helped Brandrud balance the added cost of using recycled products
with making a profit.
Currently,
Brandrud uses wheatboard, a plywood-like material made from wheat straw,
to build the interior frames of many of its furniture pieces.
"Anywhere
from 20 to 80 percent of a product can be made of recycled materials,"
Falck said. "Never 100 percent. We make higher end furniture and
use native species of hardwood. It's only in the non-structural pieces
that instead of lumber or plywood we use wheatboard."
Falck
said the company is also beginning to experiment with Dakota Burl, a composite
material made from sunflower seed shells. The material has swirls of creams,
tans and browns and looks almost like a piece of marble or granite.
But
neither the burl, which comes from Minnesota, nor the wheatboard, which
is imported from Canada, is made from byproducts created on Washington
farms.
In
fact, according to the Washington State Department of Agriculture, there
aren't any companies in Washington that actually produce strawboard, which
includes both wheatboard and other products made from non-wheat straw.
The
Straw Utilization Task Force, a 3-year-old committee run by the state
Department of Agriculture with the Washington Association of Wheat Growers,
is evaluating potential uses for the state's agricultural byproducts.
After
a 1999 agreement in which wheat growers said they would reduce the amount
of waste they burn by 50 percent over seven years, the need to find new
uses for straw and wheat stubble has increased.
"After
the wheat is harvested, the straw needs to come off the fields, so it
gets burned," said Linda Crerar, a policy assistant with the Department
of Agriculture, who works with the task force. "There are a number
of issues around air quality that have made that a less and less viable
way of managing the leftover straw."
Crerar
said that at least one private company is considering producing strawboard
in Walla Walla.
In
the meantime, Washington farmers are sending their waste to Idaho.
"We
make strawboard from the bluegrass straw the farmers grow every other
year to help sustain the soil," said Caj Matheson, marketing manager
for Pacific Northwest Fiber in Plummer, Idaho. "All of our straw
comes from Washington."
And
Brandrud will continue using wheatboard and other materials to build its
furniture.
"When
we think up a new product, we think about how much recycled material we
can put in it," Falck said. "It's part of our culture and it
has been for a long time."
Source: SEATTLE
POST-INTELLIGENCER
Thursday,
June 28, 2001
By MARNI LEFF
Back to top
Dow
To Enter Biocomposite Wood-Replacement Products Business
Dow
Pipeline Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dow Chemical Canada Inc.,
has announced that it has agreed to acquire a majority of the Manitoba
assets of Isobord Enterprises, Inc., and enter the business of producing
engineered composite panels made from wheat straw and Dow's polyurethane
resin. Dow announced the new business following today's approval of the
asset sale by the Court of Queen's Bench of Manitoba, Winnipeg Centre.
Dow Pipeline Ltd. will be renamed at a later date to reflect the new composite
panel business.
The purchase includes a manufacturing facility in Elie, Manitoba, Canada,
that produces the wood-replacement products, according to Brad Money,
business manager, Dow Polyurethanes New Business Development. "Isobord
produces a unique product that fits well with Dow's established name in
home construction and remodeling," Money said. "We are fortunate
to be able to acquire an existing, modern manufacturing facility and have
access to employees with the knowledge and expertise in the composite
panel business rather than having to build from scratch in a green field
situation." Money will lead the new business after the agreement
closes, which is expected to be in mid-June. Details of the agreement
were not disclosed.
"Dow is investing in businesses that are consistent with its strategy
for growth. In addition, the composite panel products are a natural fit
with other Dow products being sold in home construction and remodeling
that use Dow polyurethane, which supports the company's intention of growing
the polyurethane business. The composite panels also provide an environmental
benefit of using an annually renewable resource, which fits with Dow's
commitment to sustainable development," Money said. "When you
combine Dow's expertise in process technology and polyurethane binders
with the experience in composite board production of the Elie workforce,
we have an excellent opportunity for improving and growing the business."
Money said that Dow has worked closely with Isobord since the plant began
operations in 1998. "We have always believed in the product, and
we continue to believe that it has the potential for strong commercial
appeal with consumers and contractors," he said.
"We commend Dow and are pleased by its decision to enter the composite
panel business. The Isobord panels fit with Home Depot's commitment to
provide consumers with high quality, economically viable products that
relieve pressure on our natural forest resources," said Mark Baker,
executive vice president of merchandising/chief merchandising officer,
for Home Depot. "Agrifiber products represent an emerging market,
and we believe Dow's resources, know-how and reputation will be a strong
factor in bringing environmentally-conserving wood replacement panels
more into the mainstream with consumers." Home Depot is a distributor
of Isobord products.
The Elie site includes a 215,000-square-foot manufacturing facility and
two straw staging areas on 68-acres in Elie, which is near Winnipeg. The
plant began operations in August 1998 and has about 70 employees. Following
a review to determine business requirements, Dow hopes to be able to offer
employment to most of the current employees shortly after the sale closes.
Isobord Enterprises has been in receivership since February. Arthur Andersen
Inc. was named receiver and manager by the Manitoba Court and has continued
to operate the business.
Agrifiber composite panels are made by combining finely chopped wheat
straw with a polyurethane binder. The resulting biocomposite material
is formed, pressed and trimmed to the desired size panels. The wood-replacement
products can be used for kitchen counters, shelving, ready-to-assemble
furniture, cabinets, door core, and floor underlay.
The products have received several environmental awards, including the
Sustainable Development Award of Excellence from the Manitoba Round Table
and the Salute to Clean Air Industry award from the Manitoba Lung Association.
The use of straw and a polyurethane binder helps conserve forest products
by using straw, an annually renewable resource. These composite panels
do not use formaldehyde, which has been raised as a concern with other
composite building materials. Using straw for composite panels reduces
the need to burn straw in the fields, which has been a source of air pollution.
Dow's polyurethanes business, a leading supplier of polyurethane raw materials,
offers one of the broadest lines of polyurethane products in the industry.
Dow's polyurethane raw materials are used in producing rigid foams, flexible
foams, adhesives, sealants, coatings, elastomers and agrifibers, as well
as many other applications. Applications for these products cover a wide
range of end uses, including cushioning for furniture and bedding, carpet
backing, automotive seating and instrument panels, office furniture, flooring,
and insulation for appliances, sheathing and roofing.
June
20, 2001
Source: Clean
Edge News
Back to top
Making
a case for WASTE: President's tax credits for biomass energy development
could be boon for two of the state's thriving industries
Included
in the Bush administration's 163-page energy plan is a call for tax credits
to spur the development of biomass, a form of energy generation that spans
everything from old-style wood burning to futuristic processes such as
extracting ethanol from agricultural waste.
Although Bush envisions biomass playing a tiny role in solving the nation's
immediate energy woes, high-level support for the technology could be
important for two California industries: biotechnology and agriculture.
Sharon Shoemaker, director of the California Institute of Food and Agricultural
Research at the University of California at Davis, is a proponent of using
biotechnology to reinvent biomass as an industry. The aim is to extract
clean energy and mineral byproducts from plant waste, while giving distressed
farmers a new market for harvest leftovers.
"There's no commercial (biomass) plant like this out there yet, but
we're just on the verge of making it happen," said Shoemaker, who
will hold a biomass conference at Davis in June.
California's biomass industry, which contributes about 1.5 percent of
the state's electricity, is based primarily on burning waste wood from
sawmills, forests and orchards.
The keys to reinventing biomass are genetically engineered bacteria and
bioengineered enzymes that can turn cellulose -- the material that gives
plants their strength -- into ethanol in a process similar to fermenting
grain or grapes into alcohol.
In addition to producing ethanol to blend with gasoline, new biomass breweries
would extract valuable minerals from plants and even convert the cellulose
in plant waste into plastic substitutes.
"Some of our members are making shirts that feel like polyester,
but they're made from corn, not oil," said Megan Smith with the American
Bioenergy Association, a Washington, D.C., lobby whose members include
the Palo Alto biotech firm Genencor International.
After ethanol and mineral byproducts have been extracted from plant waste,
biomass plants would burn the remaining material, called lignin -- the
substance found in peat bogs. Left alone over geologic time, lignin would
compress and turn into coal.
Evidence of Bush's interest in biomass surfaced earlier this year, when
the administration slashed research budgets for alternative energy sources
such as wind and solar power, but barely touched biomass research. Some
of that money came to Northern California biotech firms. Genencor and
Novozymes Biotech in Davis each recently won competing $15 million research
contracts to cut the expense of turning cellulose into ethanol.
"Today the enzymes used in the process cost 45 cents per gallon of
ethanol produced," Novozymes President Glenn Nedwin said. "We
want to get it down to 5 cents a gallon."
From political and policy viewpoints, Bush's affinity for biomass is clear.
Gregg Morris, director of the Green Power Institute -- a Berkeley nonprofit
that performs alternative energy research -- recalled a recent ethanol
conference in Las Vegas.
"One of the agricultural lobby guys said that whenever he visits
administration officials, he brings a map that shows which states voted
for Bush," Morris said. The map showed solid Republican support in
the farm-belt states that would benefit most from biomass techniques that
provide new markets for field waste.
The policy rationale for biomass energy was laid out in a 1999 article
titled "The New Petroleum" that appeared in the influential
journal Foreign Affairs. The authors, Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., and
former CIA Director James Woolsey, warned that America was headed for
economic disaster and another Gulf War unless it reduced oil imports.
The vehicle, they said, was to use biotechnology to turn abundant farm
waste into ethanol.
"If genetically engineered biocatalysts and advanced processing technologies
can make a transition from fossil fuels to biofuels affordable, the world's
security picture could be different in many ways," they said, making
another oil embargo or Mideast war less likely.
The nation annually consumes about 120 billion gallons of gasoline and
produces about 1.9 billion gallons of ethanol.
The new biomass fever must be tempered by recognition that today's biomass
industry is controversial and subsidized, and the futuristic processing
plants envisioned by boosters exist only in the pilot stage.
California, for instance, has 29 biomass plants in operation, fueled primarily
by wood waste, Morris said. An equal number of biomass plants has been
idled or dismantled for a variety of reasons, including a lack of wood
for fuel. The fastest way to ramp up the wood supply would be thinning
the state's forests, but that could stir environmental opposition, Morris
said.
In the Midwest, biomass has a different, though no less controversial,
meaning. In the grain-producing states, biomass means turning corn kernels
into ethanol. The same kernels that might get popped in the movie theater
or fed to the livestock are instead put through an ethanol conversion
plant.
Two factors make this possible. First, corn kernels are rich in starch,
which is relatively easy to ferment. The stalks and the cobs -- which
contain the cellulose so valued in biomass dreams -- are thrown away because
they aren't economical to convert.
Second -- and steeped in controversy -- is a 53-cent-per-gallon federal
subsidy that helps put it on par with competing petroleum products. Free
market groups, such as the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C., have attacked
this as a handout to the corn belt that primarily benefits one company
-- Archer Daniels Midland -- the nation's leading ethanol producer.
Backers of the new biomass are counting on that subsidy to help support
the challenging task of taking ethanol from cellulose waste. "Without
the 53-cent- a-gallon subsidy, the corn ethanol industry wouldn't be here
today," said Mike Bryan of BBI Associates, a Colorado firm that conducts
feasibility studies for ethanol plants. "The cellulose ethanol industry
will need similar support for a while."
Although much of the talk about biomass centers on futuristic applications,
the newest aspect of the Bush energy plan benefits the oldest form of
biomass - - burning waste to generate power.
Smith, the Bioenergy Association lobbyist, said Bush has proposed giving
biomass power generators access to an existing, but unused, tax credit
of 1.7 cents per kilowatt hour.
When Congress enacted the credit in 1992, it was intended for biomass
generators who burned plant matter specifically grown to harvest as fuel.
"This has cost the treasury nothing, because nobody does it,"
said Morris, the Green Power expert in Berkeley.
Bush has proposed making this credit available to biomass furnaces that
burn waste wood, something that would benefit California biomass generators.
San
Fransisco Chronicle, May 18, 2001
Back to top
$1.2
MILLION AWARDED TO RICE STRAW DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS
Each year
approximately 500,000 acres of rice are cultivated in the Sacramento Valley,
producing about 1 million tons of straw. California's moratorium on rice
straw burning has left growers with limited options and high costs for
straw disposal. In 1997, the Rice Straw Demonstration Fund was created
to provide cost-sharing grants for projects that promote self-sustaining
commercial uses for straw.
Seven grant
requests were received for fiscal year 1999-2000. Based on the results
of the review process, five projects were awarded a total of approximately
$1.2 million. These projects have the potential to use as much as 800,000
tons of rice straw annually after five years. The winning proposals are:
- Kuhn
Hay to open markets, establish infrastructure and develop a treatment
protocol for rice straw export to Japan.
- BC International
(BCI) and the Rice Straw Cooperative (RSC) to evaluate the degradation
of stored rice straw and its effectiveness for making ethanol.
- Broken
Box Ranch to develop a commercial scale composting plant utilizing rice
straw and livestock waste. Organic compost will be sold in bulk to nearby
rice growers who are looking for alternative soil amendments.
- Arkenol
Holdings, LLC to further research into the commercial production of
ethanol from rice straw.
- Smith
Ranches to evaluate the logistics and effectiveness of producing rice
straw silage for cattle feed.
The full
text of grant awards proposals is available at: http://www.arb.ca.gov/rice/ricefund/rfsr051500.pdf
Excerpt
from: Carbohydrate Economy
NEW
REPORT LOOKS AT USES FOR RICE STRAW IN COLUSA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
California
law mandates that open burning of rice straw be reduced to 25 percent
of historic levels by 2001. In an attempt to provide growers with an alternative
to this traditional means of rice straw disposal, a new study commissioned
by the Western Regional Biomass Energy Program and conducted by the Rice
Straw Feedstock Joint Venture looks at the issues surrounding alternative
forms of rice straw utilization. It focuses on Colusa County, California,
the largest rice-producing county in the state.
The report
examines rice straw availability; collection, transportation, and storage
issues; possible end uses for rice straw; and ways in which these factors
can be integrated to provide viable alternatives for rice farmers in California.
Applications for rice straw discussed include energy generation, building
materials, paper production, erosion control, animal feed, and chemical
production. Updates on projects currently using rice straw for various
applications - particleboard, housing and sound walls, erosion control
mechanisms, and animal feed and bedding are provided.
To access
a copy of this report, visit Western Regional Biomass Energy's web page
at: http://www.westbioenergy.org/ricestraw/
Back to top
FIBERBOARD
GOES INTO PRODUCTION IN PLUMMER, IDAHO
Plummer,
ID - In less than six months, Pacific Northwest Fiber has gone from a
start-up company on paper to a factory in full production. The Plummer-based
Pacific Northwest Fiber fabricates particleboard from the straw residue
of bluegrass seed fields in eastern Washington and northern Idaho. The
facility was established in March 1999.
The plant
is a joint venture of Seeds, Inc., Tekoa, WA; the Coeur d'Alene Tribe
and Prairie Forest Products of Hutchinson, KS. According to Pacific Northwest
Fiber's General Manager, Dave Bauermeister, board production began on
August 1. "The plant will use a significant portion of the straw
that was produced in the 1999 and 1998 seed crops in Spokane County."
The plant in Plummer represents a $5 million investment in equipment and
provides 35 jobs and a payroll exceeding $1 million annually.
For more
information, contact: Dave Bauermeister at (208) 686-6800.
STRAWBOARD
MAKERS NUMBER THREE IN NORTH AMERICA
Three North
American manufacturers now produce particleboard made of [residual] wheat
straw instead of wood: PrimeBoard, Inc. in Wahpeton, North Dakota; Prairie
Forest Products, in Hutchinson, Kansas; and Isobord Enterprises, Inc.
in Elie, Manitoba. An [annually renewable] agricultural product, strawboard
generally sells for the same price as wood particleboard. It can replace
wood particleboard or medium-density fiberboard in non-structural applications
like furniture, cabinets, store displays, door panels, moldings, and other
fixtures. Strawboard is about 97 percent straw and three percent methylene
diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI), a resin that is five times as expensive as
urea formaldehyde, the most common wood particleboard resin. Though formaldehyde-free,
the petroleum-derived MDI resin is classified as a hazardous air pollutant,
and at least two strawboard makers are working to develop a vegetable-based
resin. Strawboard's nail- and screw-holding capacity and moisture resistance
outperform competitors. It machines smoothly, offering a superior laminating
surface. An acre of wheat usually produces about a ton of straw. Generally
farmers harvest only about half of this for strawboard leaving the rest
on the field for soil nutrition, and [in the Midwest], farmers harvest
a field for strawboard only once every two to three years. But in the
state of Washington, where fertile soil and irrigation produce as much
as two to three tons per acre, farmers frequently burn straw in the field
since there is too much to plow into the soil. The burning has created
air quality problems and led to strong interest in developing a local
strawboard plant.
Clip from:
The Carbohydrate Economy, Spring 99, p. 12.
For more
information, contact:
PrimeBoard: http://www.primeboard.com
Prairie Forest Products: 316-665-7000
Isobord Enterprises: http://www.isobord.com
ARISA
PROCEEDS WITH PLANS FOR NON-WOOD PULP MILL IN AUSTRALIA
Arisa LTD
(Melbourne, Australia) says it is going ahead with plans for a $31.5 million
public float this year to raise funds to develop a paper pulp mill in
western Victoria. The company is launching its second private share issue,
seeking to raise $2.21 million. The mill would be the first in Australia
to make non-wood market pulp using wheat straw to produce about 38,000
metric tons/yr for the domestic market.
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