Primer on Bioproducts - BIOCAP Canada

shampoo,cosmetics,soapshingles,deck boards,insulationbiofuels,lubricants,car partsSource:Bioproducts Canada Inc.paper,packaging,clothing, fabricfibreboard,linoleum,carpetingpaints, solvents,cleaners,fertilizersBioproducts and theCarbon Cycle — continuedCarbon dioxide (CO 2) is the inorganicform of carbon that is incorporatedinto living organisms throughphotosynthesis, a process that storesenergy from the sun in carbonbasedmolecules within the biomassof vegetation and other organisms.Our bodies get carbon and theenergy it stores by eating plants andthe animals that eat plants.Today, most societies get the energyand chemicals they need from fossilfuels — oil, coal and natural gas.These come from ancient plantmaterial and other biomass that hasbeen sequestuesteredered undergroundand away from the active carboncycle for many millions of years.When we use fossil fuels, we openthe active carbon cycle to anadditional source of carbon (fromCO 2emissions), throwing the naturalcycle off-balance. The resultingincrease in the concentration ofCO 2in the atmosphere has beenlinked to climate change.Hemp, a plant long outlawed because of its close relatedness tomarijuana, is used as an ingredient in clothes, cosmetics,moisturizers and lotions. It could also be blended into the plasticof interior car door panels and dashboards to make them strongerand more durable.The use of biomass, on the otherhand, has the potential (if managedproperly) to be a “CO 2neutral”source of energy and chemicals,essentially closing the carbon cycle.The CO 2absorbed by and incorporatedin this biomass could be enough tooffset the CO 2generated bybiomass industry processes.PRIMER ON BIOPRODUCTS11