NRC's industrial biomaterials program aimed at automotive and construction sectors

The National Research Council (NRC) has officially announced the last of its initial suite of flagship programs devoted to industrial materials. The venture will see NRC allocate $30 million over five years with an anticipated $25 million from collaborating partners to produce new biomaterials using agricultural and forestry by-products on a project-by-project basis.

The large-scale program will draw on the facilities and expertise of the NRC across the organization to engage in industry-focused projects in the automotive and construction sectors, by far the largest potential users of biomass. The program aims to reduce the use of non-renewable materials and replace them with new biomaterials, lowering the environmental footprint of industry and creating valuable new markets for the agriculture and forestry sectors.

Several projects are already up and running with contracts in place, including two multi-client projects for thermoset polyester biocomposites and structural insulated panels. The scale of the program is expected to accelerate as more industry partners come on board.

The industrial biomaterials program complements others programs exploring the use of biomass. Green Centre Canada and the sunsetting Bioindustrial Innovation Centre (a Centre of Excellence for Commercialization and Research) are focused on the use of biomass in chemical production. FP Innovations has also been active in developing new uses for forestry feedstocks.

"We selected automotive and construction after looking at all sectors using polymers and plastics. The opportunities are a very broad range from low hanging fruit to some that involve major challenges," says Dr Michel Dumoulin, GM of the NRC's automotive and surface transportation portfolio. "We expect the commercialization of a few products but there's the overall impact. We will also determine the environmental impact (of the program) by the amount of biomass used to create wealth in the agricultural and forestry sectors."

Dumoulin says some projects will require the development of pilot and/or demonstration facilities, which will be built on as as-needed basis. As precedent, he points to the existing Magna-NRC Composites Centre of Excellence, a joint project between NRC and the Exteriors and Interiors Division of Magna International, Aurora ON.

Established in 2009 in Concord ON, it included construction of a new facility to house the new centre and has a $10-million commitment on a 50-50 basis. The centre is focused on composite manufacturing and lightweight structures using renewable sources and advanced materials. It was one of the first NRC-industry ventures that exploited the horizontal alignment of NRC?resources championed by former NRC president, Dr Pierre Coulombe (R$, December 21/09).

"The (Magna-NRC) centre mixes carbon and natural fibres to make auto parts and is open to all companies," says Dumoulin. "We will have a need for several pilot and demonstration facilities and we'll look at the whole supply chain."

The automotive and construction sectors are not alone in feeling regulatory and competitive pressure to reduce raw materials and energy consumption, resulting in a growing global market for lower-cost products that are lighter, stronger and less environmentally invasive. The Industrial Biomaterials program aims to develop uses and markets for non-food biomass such as wood, lignin, grain husks, flax and hemp stems to produce bioresins, biofibres, bioplastics and biocomposites.

Lignin is a good example of the type of R&D the program will undertake. By extracting the complex polymer from wood and straw, it can be modified for use in thermoplastics, foams and resins used for composites. Lignin is central to the work NRC is doing with two companies in the program. Lignol is a Vancouver-based biorefinery using solvent-based extraction to fractionate biomass into its principle components of cellulose, lignin and hemicellulose. Enerlab 2000 Inc, St-Mathieu de Beloeil QC, is exploring the potential of introducing lignin into its polyurethane foam insulation.

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