Workshop Description

This two-day international workshop brought together forty-four representatives of government, industry, and the research community to review the state-of-knowledge of the impacts of bio-based materials.   The workshop worked to build a consensus regarding appropriate methods for assessing the impacts and sustainability of biobased material use.

Results and Proceedings

Background Materials:

Agenda
Plenary Speakers and their writings
Participants List
Papers and Required Reading
Workshop Brochure [PDF 373KB]
Contact Information
Workshop Features
Related Activities

Post-Workshop Evaluation of Participants' Perspectives (Q-Method)

Contact Information

Questions regarding the workshop should be addressed to Prof. Robert Anex.
Robert Anex, Workshop Convener
Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering
Iowa State University

270 Metals Development Building
Ames, IA  50011-3020
(515) 294-6576
email: rpanex@iastate.edu

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• Presentations by leading international researchers from industry, academia, and government.
• Breakout sessions to develop ideas on how to advance the assessment of bio-based materials.
• Opportunities to share knowledge and shape the future of the debate over the sustainability of bio-based material use.
• The workshop included an evening at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History. 

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John Doran
US Department of Agriculture and
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
sample writing: Soil Quality Options

Tillman Gerngross
Thayer School of Engineering
Dartmouth College
sample writing: How Green are Green Plastics?

Olivier Jolliet
Sustainable Development Group
Laboratory of Ecosystem Management
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
sample writing: Life Cycle Assessment of Biofibres Replacing Glass Fibres as Reinforcement in Plastics

Carl Muska
Safety, Health and Environmental Manager
DuPont Bio-based Materials

Ramani Narayan
Chemical Engineering and Material Science
Michigan State University
sample writing: Review and Analysis of Bio-based Product LCAs
sample writing: Environmental Footprint/Profile of Biobased, Biodegradable Products

John Sheehan
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
US Department of Energy
sample writing: An Overview of Biodiesel and Petroleum Diesel Life Cycles
sample presentation: Life-Cycle Analysis of Ethanol from Corn Stover

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To make the workshop more productive, participants were asked to review a set of short readings prior to attending the workshop. 

The reading materials are posted at: www.abe.iastate.edu/biobased/readings.htm

In addition, we provided sample writings for each of the workshop plenary speakers. These selected articles cover a range of topics germane to the workshop and provide a useful overview of different ways to look at assessing biobased products.  These items are linked by title in the speakers list above.

RELATED ACTIVITIES

Special Issue on Biobased Materials

A special issue of the Journal of Industrial Ecology has been devoted to examining the environmental implications - good and bad - of increased use of bio-based materials and fuels, including biopolymers, bio-ethanol, biodiesel and bulk commodity chemicals and intermediates derived from biomass.  This special issue, edited by Robert Anex, is now available free in full text at MIT Press: BBM Special Issue

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