Earlier this week Joule Unlimited secured $70 million in funding.  The company happens to have algae facilities that turn carbon dioxide and sunlight into biodiesel and ethanol.  Meanwhile Bio Architecture Lab was able to get seaweed to create chemicals and biofuels.  Both processes use patented organisms to create the biofuel.

As cellphone contracts come up for renewal most people look for a new phone to replace their last one.  One of the top phones to consider is the iPhone and when you purchase a new phone, you always have to get a new case.  INature has developed a fashionable protective case out of biodegradable plastic.

How would you like your banana? As packaging or car parts ? Imagine driving a car where the majority of the parts are made from fruit.  That image may not be too far in the future since Brazilian scientists have discovered that such fruits as pineapple leaves and stems, bananas, coconut shells, agave, curaua and cattails can be used to make plastics that are lighter and stronger than petroleum based plastics. Meanwhile Malasian scientists have developed a fruit based plastic called Fruitplast that is ten percent cheaper to produce and provides durable, biodegradable packaging.

TU Delft doctoral candidate and researcher Jean-Paul Meijnen has shown that bacteria can be “trained” to break down plant waste into the chemicals that are the basis of bioplastics.  The bacteria goes through a little gene therapy, a little evolutionary selection and finally training to achieve this feat.

SOLEGEAR offers bioplastics that range from 15 percent to 100 percent natural materials in two different lines – Traverse and Polysole biocomposites.  Traverse contains 15 to 60 percent natural materials and Polysole contains 100 percent natural materials and organic additives.  Both plastics offer a wider range of possible uses than current corn based plastics.