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Biotechnology winners in the 2013 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards
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A bio-based oil for use as an insulating fluid for high-voltage electrical transformers and a less wasteful method for producing the chemicals used in polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were among the winners of the 2013 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards announced last week and awarded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

One award went to Cargill Inc. who developed a vegetable-oil-based transformer fluid called EnvirotempTM FR3TM dielectric fluid. As the fluid is based on vegetable, it is much less flammable than petroleum-based mineral oil commonly used in transformers, which may also be toxic to aquatic species. EnvirotempTM FR3TM dielectric fluid is also less hard on the insulating material used in transformers, often cellulose. Testing of a transformer called BEES 4.0, a transformer using FR3TM fluid, across its lifecycle revealed that the carbon footprint is significantly reduced to about 55-times lower than a mineral oil based transformer, for example in terms of raw materials, manufacturing, and transportation phases. The EnvirotempTM FR3TM dielectric fluid is also more biodegradable, less toxic and based on a renewable source material. There has yet to be a known fire or explosion caused by any of the hundreds of thousands of transformers using the Cargill fluid.

In terms of the less wasteful process for making PCR chemicals, researchers at the company Life Technologies devised a three-step process using only one pot to synthesise deoxyribonucleotide triphosphates (dNTPs), which are the DNA building blocks essential in PCR. Conventional processes for synthesising dNTPs entail complex multiple-step processes using various hazardous reagents and chemicals. The Life Technologies process eliminates much of these reagents and improves the process E-factor (the ratio of amount of waste to amount of product) by about a factor of 10. The company implemented this technology in their manufacturing plant in Austin, Texas in 2011 and since then have reduced organic solvent consumption by up to 95% and other hazardous waste products by up to 65%. This has also led to substantial financial savings.

Sources

http://www.scientificamerican.com/articl...me-plating [Accessed 18 December 2013].

http://www2.epa.gov/green-chemistry/2013...cals-award [Accessed 18 December 2013].

http://www2.epa.gov/green-chemistry/2013...ways-award [Accessed 18 December 2013].
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Biotechnology winners in the 2013 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards00