New Uses

Consider Corn Challenge III Contest Looks to Establish Novel Biomaterials, Products, and Technologies Utilizing Corn

The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) is launching the Consider Corn Challenge III open-innovation contest, looking for participants to answer the call and submit proposals for new uses of field corn as a feedstock for producing sustainable chemicals and products with quantifiable market demand. Learn more about the challenge here.

“Corn is an affordable, abundant, sustainably grown crop that has a myriad of uses and applications, which is why we are holding our third Consider Corn Challenge contest,” said NCGA Market Development Action Team (MDAT) Chair and Iowa farmer Bob Hemesath. “Corn’s cost as a feedstock has benefited greatly by improvements in technology, production and logistics efficiency. With society’s interest in more biobased products, we know we have the solution and that’s corn.”

Previous winners of the Consider Corn Challenge contests have scaled up to the next phase of development, received additional grant funding, entered into joint agreements, and obtained registration for state biobased production incentives.

“As a past recipient of the Consider Corn Challenge award from the NCGA, we have been able to deepen our technology base regarding the differential properties of our novel materials,” said Derek Wells with ExoPolymer. “Due to these efforts, we are currently investigating several targeted market applications and feasibility studies at scale. The CCC award also helped to put a spotlight on our innovative approach, enabling us to raise additional funding and continue our progress. We are grateful for the recognition by the NCGA and are looking forward to further applying our technology for additional valuable uses of this important agricultural product.”

If all nine winners of the Consider Corn Challenge I & II reached full commercialization with products available in the marketplace, the potential for additional corn demand could be approximately 2.9 billion bushels.

“Corn farmers continue to take advantage of the technology that allows them to grow a bigger crop on less land with less resources per bushel, and that means there’s enough carryout available to meet the needs for food, feed, fuel and new uses,” Hemesath added. “This contest is a way to help us think outside of the box and meet the needs of our customers, who are asking for sustainable, biobased products.”

One to six winners will be selected with a total prize pool of U.S. $150,000, split equally between winners. The submission deadline is June 3, 2021, and winners will be announced in September 2021.

At the BIO World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and AgTech in Des Moines, Iowa, the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) announced the winners of the Consider Corn Challenge II. Three winners were chosen, each with a unique technology to improve a product or process using field corn to produce biobased materials.

The three winners of the Consider Corn Challenge II were ExoPolymer, Inc., based out of San Carlos, California, Sumatra Biorenewables, LLC. from Ames, Iowa, and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service in Peoria, Illinois.

Finding new uses of corn is a priority of NCGA. The Consider Corn Challenge contest is an important part of our new uses program as it drives awareness of the enormous potential U.S. corn can contribute to the bio-based products industry. The contest publicly highlights innovative, cutting edge organizations that have recognized the potential of corn-based products in their operations and are on the path to commercialization with products that have the potential to grind large amounts of corn. For example, if the winners of the Consider Corn Challenge I & II all reached full market commercialization with their product, the potential new corn demand would be equivalent to 2.9 billion bushels.

Read testimonials from the Second Consider Corn Challenge

The CCCII prize has helped us with funds needed to continue with the research to bring our technology to the hands of the consumers. Moreover, the platform that the NCGA gave us to showcase our technology has allowed us to form several very useful partnerships taken us closer to our goal of making nylon out of corn. - Nacu Hernandez – Sumatra Biorenewables, LLC

The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) Consider Corn Challenge II (CCC) process was a very valuable experience to me in a number of ways. As with any grant proposal, the process requires you to critically examine the research which you are performing. You must examine the results you have generated to date and hypothesize what value-added products will result from your research years in the future. Those future products must be compared to a sense of what will most benefit the US consumer and the US farm economy. If the research path you are currently on is less valuable than others, then a course correction is needed. The effort put forth in securing funding from the NCGA through the CCC process will have a lasting impact on the research which we are performing within the United States Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) lab in Peoria Illinois. (* The statements expressed herein are my own and do not necessarily reflect, represent or constitute an official endorsement by the Agricultural Research Service or U.S. Department of Agriculture.) - Gordon Selling – USDA ARS

Profiles of the second Consider Corn Challenge Winner Proposals

ExoPolymer, Inc. intends to create a new profile of customizable, polysaccharide-based hydrocolloids that are domestically produced by microbial fermentation using corn as a feedstock. These new hydrocolloids will meet the growing needs and performance gaps in the healthcare, personal care, food, pharmaceutical and energy industries.

Sumatra Biorenewables, LLC develops and produces novel monomers that are incorporated into polyamides and polyesters to provide uniquely valuable properties: notably tensile strength and low water absorption. These superior performance-advantaged materials have wide-ranging applications in the specialty nylon's industry. Opportunities include improved hydrophobicity, anti-static, flame-retardant, or have tuned mechanical strength to meet customer specifications.

USDA Agricultural Research Service: National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research in Peoria, IL plans to use emulsifiers, polymer films, and coatings made from corn starch and vegetable oil rather than petroleum, which could open the door to new products with a smaller environmental “footprint.” The lab continued research on starch-based emulsifiers, positioning America’s corn farmers to grab a share of a global food emulsifiers market.

Finding New Uses of Field Corn: A Versatile, Abundant, Sustainably Viable Industrial Feedstock

U.S. corn represents a sustainably produced, economically competitive, and extremely flexible feedstock for bioproducts. U.S. corn farmers continue to adopt new innovative production practices. As a result, their production efficiency continues to improve year-over-year, producing more with less. However, these advances now support production that greatly exceeds annual U.S. corn demand. Additionally, new technologies are being deployed that will provide clean product streams (sugar, lipid, proteins) as feedstocks for processes. At the same time, consumers worldwide continue to demand additional bio-based products. This confluence of available corn-based feedstocks and consumer demand represents an extremely exciting opportunity for stakeholders in the sustainable bio-materials industry.

At the end of the 2018/2019 market year, there were over 2.2 billion bushels of U.S. corn ending stocks. Since 2000, corn production is up 4.7 billion bushels, average yields have grown by nearly 40 bushels/acre, U.S. total corn production is up 45% and corn yields have increased by 29%.

This is why finding new uses of corn continues to be a priority of NCGA. The Consider Corn Challenge contest is an important part of our new uses program as it drives awareness of the enormous potential U.S. corn can contribute to the bio-based products industry. The contest publicly highlights innovative, cutting edge organizations that have recognized the potential of corn-based products in their operations and are on the path to commercialization with products that have the potential to grind large amounts of corn. For example, if the winners of the Consider Corn Challenge I & II all reached full market commercialization with their product, the potential new corn demand would be equivalent to 2.9 billion bushels.

Resources

Read testimonials from the first round of winners of the first Consider Corn Challenge

NCGA’s Consider Corn Challenge offers not only support for ongoing research through the grant money, but also provides intangible benefits such as access to media attention through news releases, radio interviews, and other consumer and ag visibility. NCGA’s network in media relations, federal government, state governments, and the corn industry is a huge benefit as a part of the contest which can be used to remove barriers to your commercialization. I would encourage anyone with a new use idea from field corn to take part in the contest.
- Iowa Corn Promotion Board

The consider corn challenge had an efficient application process and it allows companies to fully communicate their strengths. The contest is a great opportunity for small chemical development companies to publicize their company and technology. Being an Austrian based company, we can confirm that it is truly a global competition. Annikki had not publicized its technology prior to the contest. When we saw the consider corn challenge with a $25,000 prize we decided to start publicizing our chemical process. After receiving the award, we received investment offers and were contacted by companies wishing to partner in off-take agreements.

- Annikki

We saw this contest as a wonderful opportunity to showcase our technology and share the true vision we have in our technology that it will expand renewable fuels and ultimately increase corn demand.

The largest benefits of the contest were a combination of networking and disseminating what our technology offers ethanol producers. NCGA introduced us to ethanol producers which has been fantastic, we receive inquiries after being recognized as one of the winners of the contest, and our technology/vision has been disseminated for producers to ponder.
- Vertimass

Profiles of the first Consider Corn Challenge Winner Proposals

NCGA selected six winners focused on developing biosourced materials from corn such as malonic acid, furandicarboxylic acid, monoethylene glycol, aromatic chemicals (benzene, toluene, xylene), and unsaturated polyester resins. These chemicals offer great potential as starting materials for biobased plastics, coolants, adhesives, etc. used in a wide variety of products.

Lygos

The Berkley, California, company is producing Bio-Malonic acid (Bio-MA) from renewable sugars using cutting edge biotechnology. It is used today in diverse markets, including high-tech composites and coatings, electronics, flavors & fragrances, and pharmaceuticals. Traditionally Malonic Acid is currently made in China from petroleum, through an expensive process that employs hazardous chemicals. Lygos’ system uses non-toxic chemicals and mild conditions resulting in an environmentally friendly process with superior economics that can be deployed in the U.S.

Annikki

Technology to produce FDCA (furandicarboxylic acid), a replacement for petroleum-derived terephthalic acid for plastic bottles, fibers, and nylons was the winning entry from the Chicago, Ill. company. FDCA is a versatile bio-advantaged molecule with the potential to replace 100 million tons of petrochemicals. FDCA is not only 100 percent renewable, it also provides superior performance properties. This allows plastic soda bottles to be lighter, use less energy in manufacturing and extend the shelf life for carbonated products.

Iowa Corn Promotion Board

This technology developed by Iowa corn farmers, is for the production of MEG (monoethylene glycol). MEG has a range of diverse applications from coolants and heat transfer fluid to packaging material. Today, many major consumer products groups are searching for ways to reduce their packaging’s environmental footprint and Iowa Corn’s bio-renewable MEG may be the answer. Millions of tons are produced annually with a value estimated to be more than $25 billion.

Vertimass

Vertimass of Irvine, California, is seeking to produce aromatic chemicals using renewable corn ethanol to replace petrochemicals. The markets they are targeting are very large: tens of millions of tons, and a value in excess of $100 billion annually. This process represents a potentially very large new market, diversifying opportunities for ethanol plants and increasing corn utilization.

Sasya

Sasya, of Maple Grove, Minnesota, is producing methylmalonic acid which can compete in methyl methacrylate markets for making acrylic glass, and adhesives. The methyl methacrylate market is estimated to be 5 million metric tons and is worth more than $7 billion.

South Dakotas State University

SDSU’s efforts are focused using renewable precursors such as glycerol and lactic acid to make unsaturated polyester resins (UPRs). Today, UPRs are used to make large plastic tanks, as a binder in fiber glass sheets and other reinforced plastics.

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