Page Talk, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March T 7, 1998 Renewables Industry Vision Predicts New Uses For Corn, Soybeans LONG BEACH, Calif. The raw materials used to manufacture bumpers on cars, carpet fibers, and plastic pack aging material will soon ori ginate from com and soybeans produced by America’s farm ers. The markets for these prod ucts and others have led growth industries such as chemical, biotech, and wet-mill proces sors to closely study tapping the tremendous unused poten tial of renewable com and soy bean crops as future production and energy resources. An in dustry-led, long-range strategic vision was announced by members of a unique public/ private coalition to launch a Research and Development (R&D) partnership to begin making this vision a reality. “The federal government supports this strategic vision which unites industry to poten tially invest millions of dollars in research and development of new products and processes which use renewable plant and crop-based resources,” said Colorado com grower Tim Hume, a member of the Na tional Com Growers Associa tion’s (NCGA) Com Board. “The resulting research and develop ment investments by government and pri vate industry partners involved will stimulate new initiatives and generate more use and greater demand for renew able crops like com and soybeans which is welcome news for this country’s com and soybean growers,” said Hume. “The use of agricultural products a renewable resource to make consumer goods and to fuel major industrial activi ties will cut costs, require less energy, and reduce waste,” said Secretary of Energy Federico Pena. The NCGA initiated and led the efforts involved to develop the Plant/Crop- Based Renewable Resources 2020 Plan with a broad-based coalition of U.S. agri cultural, forestry, and chemical industry members. Known as the “2020 plan,” it serves as a strategic vision to developing greater industry usage of renewable plants and crops, trees, and agricultural wastes for chemicals, materials, and other products. Major industry publications support this view. In a recent edition of Chemical and Engineering News, the editors of fered their forecast of what will happen in the chemical industry. They expect that plants rather than fossil resources will be come the primary feedstock for oils and plastics. This vision recognizes that sustaining U.S. economic growth depends on having a secure supply of raw materials and that additional renewable resources for indus trial production and energy needs must be accelerated. It also takes into account the growing trend toward partnerships be tween government and private industry to funding national R&D initiatives. R&D results should in turn create new business ventures, more jobs, and devel op environmentally-friendly renewable energy and chemical sources to fuel do mestic core manufacturing capabilities. “This is a significant effort toward de veloping a unique and exciting relation ship between federal agencies and the pri vate sector,” noted Energy Secretary Pena. “This new agreement is critically important to Ameri can agriculture,” said Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman. “The U.S. Department of Agri culture’s research program has a proud history of developing new technologies that have added significant value to com modities and created economic returns benefiting all Ameri cans.” “We believe that developing plant and crop-based renew able resources provides a vi able alternative to the current dependence on non-renewable diminishing fossil fuels. De veloping these home-grown re sources can contribute to our economic growth and national security,” said Doug Faulkner, agriculture team leader in the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Industrial Technologies. The strategy behind this planning has three phases. The first phase developed the 2020 Vision derived from industry goals. The second phase will draw a technology roadmap of industry priorities and mile stones, which leads to the final phase of implementing re- TT€RSH€V mtm equipment co., ir 717-393-5807 1 -800-432-0988 “YOU PLAN ALL WINTER WHAT SEEDS TO SOW” LET US PLAN HOW TO HANDLE THE FRUITS OF YOUR EFFORT WITH QUALITY INSTALLATION GRAIN BINS GSI AIR STREAM We Have 24 Hr. Service FANS AND HEATERS Technicians Available To Assist • full-line AUGERS You 365 Days A Year • transport augers /Sin?\ Airstream Automatic Batch and Continuous Flow Grain Dryers. search and development of new technologies created by industry partnerships. The plan envisions developing crop based renewables infrastruc ture required to supplement in dustrial use of petrochemicals. Vision goals include attaining fully integrated manufacturing capacity to win 10 percent of the basic chemical building blocks from renewable bio products by 2020, and a SO per cent market share by 2050. Contributors to crafting the 2020 plan include industrial and commodity associations, major corporations, state agen cies, and environmental groups. Industry members will lead the process to prioritize technology needs, develop strategies, which utilize new technologies, commit re sources, direct R&D partner ships, and then use the results. The DOE’s Office of Industrial Technology will facilitate the partnership process by coor dinating industry participation, commit federal resources, pro vide access to national labs, and disseminate program re sults. “ This bold visionoary plan reveals the potential of devel I oping plant and crop renew ables as additional sources of materials which can be used as industrial building blocks. It gives those involved direction to develop specific technical goals related to this plan. The next step is to integrate public and private industry’s renew able crop and plant research ef forts to meet our future needs,” said NCGA’s Director of Re search and Business Develop- Here Are Facts ST. LOUIS, Mo. Wallie Hardie serves as chairman of the board of the National Com Growers Association (NCGA), a producer-based commodity organization with 30,000 members headquartered in St Louis. Its mission is to enhance com profitability and usage to improve the quality of life in a changing world. Hardie farms 2,300 acres nearFairmount, N.D. where he grows com, soybeans, and sug ar beets. Hardie is a founding mem ber of the North Dakota Com Growers Association. Prior to becoming NCGA chairman, Hatdie served as NCGA presi dent, vice president, chairman M* (GSI) FARM storage bins E HANDLE A FULL LINE PRODUCTS TO STORE, DRY AND HANDLE YOUR GRAIN PRODUCTS (o®im miws PENNSYLVANIA MASTER CORN GROWERS ASSOC, INC. • WET TANKS • FEED BINS • GRAIN BINS • FLEX AUGER SYSTEMS We Stock Parts For: GSI, Bazooka, DMC, Farm Fans, and Hutchinson Call Today And Talk To One Of Our Sales People • BUCKET ELEVATORS • GRAIN DRYERS • STIRATOR SYSTEM 1-800-432-0988 “If It’s Worth The Investment, Then You Need The Best” TT€RSH€V Mi EQUIPMENT CO., INC. SYCAMORE IND. PARK . wsT 255 PLANE TREE DRIVE LANCASTER, PA 17603 ment Dr. Todd Werpy. The 2020 plan was unveiled during the General Session at this year’s Commodity Classic, the combined convention and trade show hosted by NCGA and the American Soybean As sociation (ASA). Nearly 4,000 growers, government, and in dustry representatives attended this year’s event. To obtain a copy of the 2020 Vision, call toll-free, (800) 363-3732. About Hardie of its Government Relations Committee, and chairman of its Research and Commercializa tion Committee. Hardie also served as co-chairman of “Global Positioning Corn: New Thinking for a New Age,” the organization’s long-range strategic planning process. Haidie has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in agricultural economics from North Dakota State University. Prior to farm ing full time, Hardie worked as a research specialist for the University of Minnesota Agri cultural Experiment Station in St. Paul, Minn. He also worked as a farm management special ist for the Cooperative Exten sion Service at North Dakota State University. 717-393-5807 FAX 717-291-1534
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