The Agricultural Utilization Research Institute (AURI) works to develop new uses for agricultural products and coproducts, those byproducts that have sometimes been thought of as waste.  AURI, a nonprofit located in Minnesota, identifies or develops value-added uses for what used to be thrown away.   The magazine, BioCycle, has an article about AURI and the work they are doing.

For example, U.S. fuel ethanol production has risen to 6.1 billion gallons per year.  The two coproducts, formerly considered waste products, are dried distillers grains (DDG) and a thick, liquid called syrup.  The DDGs are the granular remnants of the distillation process and have been used as livestock feed for cattle, hogs and poultry.  That market is expanding as research determines the optimal feed rations by species. 

Now, in addition, two ethanol plants in Minnesota have installed gasification equipment, which converts solid waste products such as the distillers grains, left over from the distillation process that makes ethanol, to a synthetic gas that displaces 50% of the natural gas used to power the plant. 

The syrup has also now been tested for its nutritive value and turns out to contain enough high levels of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus to be used as organic fertilizer.  The syrup can also be burned in new types of incinerators, making steam to power the plants. 

“In the past several years, a lot of people have changed their opinions about coproducts,” says AURI’s Alan Doering. “Instead of seeing coproducts as a problem they need to deal with, they’re being recognized as potential new revenue streams.”

The article details a number of other fascinating uses for a range of natural coproducts, including poultry litter fueled power plants, and matting for hogs that is made out of corn stalks.