US: Oakbio Inc, which develops speciality chemicals using novel microbial production processes, has announced that it has succeeded in producing bioplastic polymers by using only cement plant flue gas and electricity.
The company has developed bioreactors driven by non-toxic microbes that capture carbon dioxide emissions and turn them into sustainable products. Oakbio produced bioplastic polymers at Lehigh Southwest Cement Co's Permanente factory in Cupertino, California.
"Our carbon conversion process yields over 50% bioplastics in microbe biomass by dry weight from inputs of raw flue gas and electricity," explained chief scientist Brian Sefton, who pointed out that Oakbio's technology would help turn carbon dioxide into a feedstock for large-scale manufacturing processes.
According to the company, its process could support full-scale production of bio-chemicals without the use of petroleum or agricultural feedstock, help replace petroleum oil-derived plastics with bio-degradable ones and bolster capture of carbon dioxide to cut greenhouse gas accumulation.