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March 2006
A Corn-Fed Combine
DuPont and Tate & Lyle join forces in the push towards a carbohydrate-fueled economy
By Sara C. Shoemaker
Biotech in the state’s well-publicized technology corridor just got much sweeter.
Mega-science company DuPont and British renewable food ingredients manufacturer Tate & Lyle have teamed up to build a $100 million facility in Loudon to annually produce 100 million pounds of a branded bio-material called Bio-PDO (propanediol), a key ingredient found in Sorona, DuPont’s polymer for clothing, carpeting and plastics, which is made from corn sugar.
Tate & Lyle owns Loudon’s former A. E. Staley plant, a corn mill well suited for this kind of carboyhydrate processing because of access to raw materials and proximity to Oak Ridge National Laboratory and U.T.-Knoxville. Factor in the region’s established railroads and interstate systems, and this project could position the aptly named Knoxville-Oak Ridge Innovation Valley for global biotech fame.
With the continuing rise of oil prices, DuPont Tate & Lyle BioProducts (the joint venture’s moniker) hopes its efforts will eventually replace petrochemical products, reducing worldwide dependence on foreign oil.
Production of Bio-PDO consumes 30% to 40% less energy than petroleum-based propanediol, and BioProducts’ officials say the Loudon plant will save the equivalent of 10 million gallons of gasoline per year.
“We’re still years away from a totally carbohydrate-based economy, but we have more incentive to find alternate materials,” says John Halberstadt, president of DuPont Tate & Lyle BioProducts, adding that DuPont’s corporate goal by 2010 is for 25% of its revenues to come from “non-depletable” sources.
Though the global economic payoff
of biotech might still seem distant, the region is reaping immediate benefits.
The BioProducts venture means 50 new manufacturing jobs, and could provide the backbone that existing yet struggling biotech startups need, encouraging even more activity and supporting spin-off companies.
“Having a company of this stature in our backyard makes a strong statement to other companies about the suitability and attractiveness of our state and region for biotechnology enterprises,” says Russ Miller, commercialization manager for ORNL’s technology transfer.
Building a plant of this caliber didn’t come without controversy.
Last summer, Tate & Lyle officials and Loudon County challengers had to settle issues surrounding an air pollution permit before work could begin on the BioProducts’ facility, which should be completed by mid-2006.
“Investors have told us that they put their money where it makes business sense,” Miller says. The valley hopes that once the biotech outpost is built, the venture capital will come calling.
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