Kalistani Major History

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University of Kalistan inaugurates partnership with University of Delaune
Lourenne laboratories bring valuable bioengineering expertise to Biopolymer Program
Delaune, United Kingdom of Lourenne
April 8, 5487


Kalistani Bioengineering Graduate Student Lindsay Johnson tests plants for natural plant oils in Yoshimi

The KNP backed BioPolymers project, launched two and a half years ago, welcomes a new Partner in the effort to discover plant-based and renewable sources for oils which can be converted both to biodiesels and plastics. So far, Kalistani scientists working at the University of Kalistan in Yoshimi, Duchy of Suldanor, has noted promising sources in the seeds of several flowering bushes which are either native to Suldanor, or do very well when introduced. Now, the University is joined by Lourennais researchers from the University of Delaune, in Delaune, Carrolleux, Lourenne, who will be conducting complimentary and parallel research on plant based polymers. A friendly competition to identify the most efficient sources for oils which can produce biopolymers has been kicked off, and Kalistani students look forward to working in both countries with their Lourennais colleagues.

"Its so exciting that a world leader in green and renewable technologies like Lourenne is on board with this project," said project leader Dr. Brittney Giovanni. "We know that Lourenne has a long history of creating sustainable, environmentally friendly energy resources. They have excellent research infrastructure, and being able to work with their scientific establishment will lead to major breakthroughs. Additionally, Lourenne's soil composition and diverse climates will allow us to expand our search for efficient sources of natural oils that can serve as building blocks for polymer research."

University graduate students have already identified canola oil as a very efficient source of biodiesels. "We are also experimenting with soybean oil," said Giovanni. "Our first crop of soybeans was promising, but we are engaging our genetic engineering department to develop soybeans that produce even higher yields. We are also looking at olive oils, but we do not grow olives in Kalistan: this could be something we could work on in Lourenne, if their soil and climate supports the growth of olives for oil." Other promising sources of plant based oils for biodiesels are palm, sunflower and corn oils. "Widescale cultivation of many plants that we might consider otherwise is not environmentally sustainable. Palm, for example, requires a huge geographical footprint and a lot of water, and that sort of undermines the purpose of creating green polymers."

Giovanni says scientists are looking into chemicals necessary to link monomers from vegetable oils and plant oils into polymers, making them flexible, and take on the properties of plastics for consumer products, industrial applications, and manufacturing. "The trick is to find an environmentally friendly catalyst material that will cause these monomers to link and plastify. We look forward to working with Lourenne on this. We know how to do it with crude oil, but we still have a lot of research and experimentation to do on the plant based sources."

While breakthroughs are still several years away, the work should go quicker with Lourenne's addition to the project. "We are a lot closer on the biodiesels," said Giovanni. "We're basically waiting for the high yield soybeans to be crafted, cultivated and then planted on a large scale. The plastics will be more of a challenge." Giovanni also noted that large scale biodiesel infrastructure is being built separately in and around Lucid Valley, which is nearest to the experimental fields, and is above the Morass. "KNP is planning on cutting the ribbon on the first biodiesel factory in as early as July of next year, and it should be ready to begin processing soybean and other plant oils to create a high octane biodiesel additive to regular diesel at first," said Giovanni. She also noted that KNP and MoCo are working on starting to test new diesel engines that can run on pure biodiesel, without any petroleum as a base.

"The new MoCo engines are probably a decade away," said Giovanni. "KALMILINCO will also begin working on biodiesel replacements for their diesel electric fuel cell powersources." Both of those projects are much longer term than the KNP research program. Meanwhile, now that Lourenne is onboard, the bioplastics program is viewed as an almost certain eventual success.