WORTHINGTON, Ohio — The Ohio Soybean Council and the Ohio BioProducts Innovation Center, in conjunction with Polymer Ohio, launched an initiative that will accelerate the innovation and commercialization of soy-based industrial products.
“Cell to Sell”
Funded in part by the council and the soybean checkoff, the “Cell to Sell” Soy Technology program is a web-based portfolio management and communications system that leverages resources to address unmet market needs.
It also provides a credible, timely source of information to assist Ohio agricultural, manufacturing and research collaborators in the commercial development and utilization of soy-based products.
Powerful resource
“Cell to Sell” will be a powerful resource for collaborators in the bioproducts industry, and will help to enhance the global competitiveness of Ohio chemical and polymer companies via utilization of bioproducts, with an emphasis on soy-based products.
The network generated by this resource includes suppliers, manufacturers, commodity organizations, researchers and other industry leaders.
In this age of dependence on petroleum-based products, entrepreneurs and researchers, fascinated with the potential of soybeans, are forging new and remarkable industrial uses for this remarkable crop every day.
In fact, soybeans have already become a biodegradable, raw-material substitute for many revolutionary commercial products.
Industrial products
Industrial products derived from soybeans include industrial lubricants, adhesives, plastics and foams, as well as innovative energy solutions such as soy biodiesel.
These products help provide solutions for problems related to environmental sustainability, dependency of foreign oil and job creation in America.
Soy-based technologies
In an effort to promote and commercialize the most promising soybean-based products and materials, the Ohio BioProducts Innovation Center, along with the Ohio Soybean Council and PolymerOhio, is leading a yearlong effort to assess current national soy-based technologies.
Kirsten Dangaran, an Ohio BioProducts Innovation Center research scientist, said the first step in the project is the creation of a database of current soy technologies.
Technologies where soybeans could serve multiple uses across the supply chain would be of particular interest.
For example, technologies where oil is extracted from soybeans and used as a sort of lubricant for the automotive or airline industries, and then reblended as a potential new product would have value.
Database
Industries, individuals and other organizations pursuing such bio-based technology development may submit their technologies to the “Cell to Sell” initiative database at http://www.obic.us.
Submissions will undergo an initial assessment and be returned to the submitter with recommendations regarding resources to advance the commercialization objective.
For more information on the project, or to participate, contact Kenneth Anderson at kenneth.anderson@obic.us.
