USB’s strategic partnerships to use soy inside Goodyear and Ford products are featured prominently in a new report from USDA that documents the progress and value in use of soy in industrial uses that offer performance, economic and environmental benefits. USDA’s “An Economic Impact Analysis of the U.S. Biobased Products Industry: 2018 Update” reports that biobased products contributed $459 billion to the U.S. economy in 2016, a 17% increase from 2014.  The report authors acknowledge USB as well as feature USB’s collaboration with Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company to develop and then promote award-winning tires that contain soy to achieve a performance breakthrough. The report also includes a case study on Ford’s innovation with soy and other plant-based materials. The case study highlights Ford scientist Alper Kiziltas who had joined USB’s Collegiate Biobased Network when he was a graduate student and interested in expanding his network of connections with scientists who work with soy. The USDA report states that strong bioproducts sector growth led to a total of 4.65 million jobs in 2016, an increase of more than 10% in two years. The growing bioeconomy also leads to environmental benefits, which include reducing the use of fossil fuels and associated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The report shows potential reductions of GHG emissions of 60%, with analyses indicating that up to 12 million metric tons of CO2 equivalents may have been reduced in 2016.

To read more about Alper Kiziltas, click here. 

To view the full report from USDA BioPreferred, click here.