Time is running out to submit an application for the National Corn Growers Association’s (NCGA) Consider Corn Challenge III. The contest, aimed at establishing novel biomaterials, products, and technologies utilizing corn, closes June 3, 2021.
“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,” said NCGA Market Development Director Sarah McKay. “We know there are other technologies out there that can utilize field corn as a feedstock for producing sustainable chemicals and products with quantifiable market demand.”
Learn more about the Consider Corn Challenge III submission process and find out how successful winners have moved closer to commercialization by watching a recent informational webinar. Consider Corn Challenge II winner Derek Wells, CEO and founder of ExoPolymer, participated in the webinar to share his experience of the process and the benefits he’s received from participating in the Challenge.
Specific application areas being considered for this Challenge include:
- Biobased materials from novel mixes of corn-derived plastics
- Compostable plastics with high tensile strength, such as netting or packaging materials
- Heavy-duty fuels or drop-in chemicals (e.g., sustainable aviation fuel; biodiesel derived from corn glucose, bunker fuel, etc.)
- Carbon fiber
- Other high-value molecules
Submissions are due on June 3, 2021, at 4:00 PM CDT. A total prize pool of U.S. $150,000 will be split equally between one to six winners, based on the strength of competing submissions. Winners will be announced in September 2021.
You can learn more about the challenge here. You can view a recent informational webinar here.