Big green hope: Biomass could be world’s new oil
Working with commercial companies, they are developing high-quality materials based on biomass.
They say it is quite possible that 100% sustainable board for building will be on the market within a couple of years, made from reeds at Wageningen.
This is one of nine projects seeking substitutes for oil-based products.
The board, an environmentally variant on hardboard or MDF, is being made from reeds grown in Dutch nature reserves.
A secret biobased resin is used to glue the reed fibres together, replacing existing formaldehyde-based resins which are harmful to people and the environment.
Also being researched is a sustainable alternative to conventional roofing materials such as bituminous or synthetic roofing.
The goal is to develop a 100% biobased, environmentally friendly alternative that can compete in terms of price and quality.
Bitumen and PVC are often used for high-quality roofing products with a long lifetime, but they are made from fossil petroleum and their production causes relatively high carbon emissions.
An expected shortage of bitumen in the near future further underlines the need for a sustainable alternative.
Wageningen scientist Richard Gosselink says the major technical obstacle is that alternative biomass components are less waterproof and more reactive than bitumen.
“Our research is aimed at finding ways to resolve this issue.”
The Wageningen team are also working on an environmentally friendly resin for securing railway track sections to each other.
And they say starch from maize or potatoes, for example, can be processed to create new polyesters for the construction, packaging, electronics and car industries.
And biobased polyester is being investigated for products such as horticulture crates and luxury packaging.
