ReSource was recently awarded a federal grant of $1M from the National Science Foundation's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program to advance our technology for production of FDCA, a renewable chemical monomer, to the pilot scale. Following our successful Phase I project, the Phase II award will advance a key step in our furfural-to-FDCA process technology and provide fundamental chemical insight into a challenging class of reactions for utilizing renewable feedstocks in manufacturing of commodity chemicals.
By advancing the ReSource technology for low-cost manufacturing of FDCA from sustainable feedstocks toward commercial application, the Phase II project will have a far-reaching impact on innovation in the chemical industry. ReSource technology will enable high-volume production of FDCA from abundant lignocellulose and CO2 feedstocks in the US, securing opportunities for chemical and materials companies to develop manufacturing capacity for FDCA-based polymers with an ultimate market opportunity of multi-$100B. In addition, replacing energy- and emissions-intensive petrochemical polymers with performance-advantaged polymers made using ReSource FDCA will reduce energy-related emissions and improve the energy efficiency of multiple economic sectors. Finally, FDCA-based polymers such as PEF have very favorable end-of-use options that will help reduce plastic waste and its accumulation in the environment.