Funding-Critical Agricultural
Materials; July 7, 2009
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In
FY 2009, the Critical Agricultural Materials Program will support the
development and demonstration of novel, environmentally friendly technologies for
use in paints and coatings, and adhesives for composites. The program will also
support and give priority to proposals that include a life cycle analysis
objective, comparing the biobased product with a
fossil-based counterpart using the Building for Environmental and Economic
Sustainability model (BEES) developed by the National Institute for Standards
and Technology (http://www.bfrl.nist.gov/oae/software/bees/bees_USDA.html
). This model measures the environmental impact of every stage in the life
cycle of a product, and is currently being used by USDA for the Biopreferred Program (http://www.biopreferred.gov)
CSREES anticipates that projects supported by the Critical Agricultural
Materials Program will result in products, specifically paints, coatings and
adhesives that can help federal agencies, state entities and companies meet
their environmental goals. CSREES also anticipates that the BEES model will
help identify gaps in product development that warrant further research in the
functional and environmental performance of the product(s).