Don't know if anyone has posted this before, but I find it interesting how one of LEC's development partners has already shown that Lignols HP-LTM boards exceed standards for both the Canadian and US markets. This alone is huge IMO. atb
Biofuels and renewable chemicals company Lignol Energy Corporation have announced the development of a resin adhesive which is renewable, making use of their High-Performance Lignin (HP-LTM). The resin will be used for making Oriented Strand Board (OSB).
Lignol President and CEO, Ross Maclachlan:
“The successful development and trial of our first renewable chemical product based on our High-Performance Lignin is an exciting milestone for our company. This achievement demonstrates that our strategy to develop commercial applications for the green chemicals produced at our pilot-scale biorefinery is delivering results. For Lignol, this paves the way to enormous worldwide markets for High-Performance Lignin formulations in other applications like particleboard, plywood and MDF for the composite wood products industry. The potential volumes needed to supply these markets would require production from multiple commercial-scale Lignol biorefineries.”
Canada-based Lignol have been developing cellulose to ethanol technologies for fuel production and several offshooting technologies for producing chemicals from intermediate sugars or ethanol. The new adhesive is derived from one of the company’s products, HP-LTM; a resin containing renewable lignin blended with a polymer known as pMDI. This high performance lignol based resin is to be used as a core component of OSB, which is a wood composite material commonly used in construction. OSB is comprised of wood and a resin, the substitution of the existing resin for the Lignol resin would make these panels more renewable. Production of OSB in the US in 2005 was in the region of 25bn square feet, indicating a large market for potential product expansion.
Previous attempts to make lignin resins for use in these boards failed to meet industry standards; however this product is tougher and makes the grade, being cheaper and greener. Lignol has partnered with FPinnovations to develop the product; FPinnovations had done the initial performance testing of the HP-LTM boards to find their performance exceeded the standards required by Canadian and American regulators. The finished boards are expected to be cost-competitive with existing products, making boards containing the resin an attractive option for construction operations seeking ways to green their business.