USDA Announces Release of Report Charting Path to Commercialization of Cellulosic Nanomaterials

- by Lynn L. Berge­son, Novem­ber 26, 2014, JD Supra Busi­ness Advisor

On Novem­ber 24, 2014, the U.S. Depart­ment of Agri­cul­ture (USDA) announced that the U.S. For­est Ser­vice (USFS) has released a report that details the path­way to com­mer­cial­iz­ing afford­able, renew­able, and biodegrad­able cel­lu­lose nano­ma­te­ri­als from trees. 

The report, enti­tled Cel­lu­lose Nano­ma­te­ri­als — A Path Towards Com­mer­cial­iza­tion, is the result of a May 2014 work­shop that brought togeth­er a wide range of experts from indus­try, acad­e­mia, and gov­ern­ment to ensure that com­mer­cial­iza­tion efforts are dri­ven by mar­ket and user mate­ri­als needs. 

The USFS, in col­lab­o­ra­tion with the Nation­al Nan­otech­nol­o­gy Ini­tia­tive, orga­nized the work­shop.  Par­tic­i­pants includ­ed over 130 stake­hold­ers from large vol­ume indus­tri­al users, spe­cial­ty users, fed­er­al gov­ern­ment agen­cies, acad­e­mia, non-gov­ern­ment orga­ni­za­tions, cel­lu­lose nano­ma­te­ri­als man­u­fac­tur­ers, and indus­try consultants. 

Accord­ing to USDA, the work­shop gen­er­at­ed mar­ket-dri­ven input in three areas:  oppor­tu­ni­ties for com­mer­cial­iza­tion; bar­ri­ers to com­mer­cial­iza­tion; and research and devel­op­ment roles and priorities. 

Issues iden­ti­fied by par­tic­i­pants includ­ed the need for more data on mate­ri­als’ prop­er­ties, per­for­mance, and envi­ron­men­tal, health, and safe­ty impli­ca­tions, and the need for a more aggres­sive U.S. response to oppor­tu­ni­ties for advanc­ing and devel­op­ing cel­lu­lose nanomaterial.