DOE Awards Corn Growers $889,632 For New Uses

August 31, 1999

The Department of Energy has awarded the National Corn Growers Association $889,632 to develop new uses for corn. The three-year program will focus on developing and commercializing "polyols," catalysts derived from corn that can be converted to value-added chemicals.

A polyols project now underway requires 250 million bushels of corn to supply the total domestic demand for polyol compounds such as antifreeze, aircraft de-icing fluid and ingredients for personal care products and prepared foods.

The next generation of these catalysts, beyond polyols, will increase the demand for corn three or four fold, says NCGA, perhaps as much as an additional billion bushels in the next 10 years. "This research represents substantial and very real commercial value for all corn growers," says NCGA board member Bob Boeding, Lawler, IA.

NCGA and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory of Richland, WA, and Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, will develop research on corn-based commodity chemicals taht will be commercially competitive without government subsidies.

The DOE grant is a matching funds grant, meaning corn growers must match the $889,632 with funds or in-kind efforts. It is NCGA's intent "to develop corn grower ownership potential in this commercialization project and to benefit from the investment for years to come," Boeding says.