The Carbohydrate Economy

a quarterly newsletter published by the Institute for Local Self Reliance, 1313 5th Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414; 612/379-3815, 612/379-3920 (fax), www.ilsr.org; $35 per year

This new publication from the Institute for Local Self Reliance’s midwest office in Minneapolis highlights developments with carbohydrate-based products and technologies, which the publisher claims may carry us beyond the petroleum age. The first 16-page issue (Fall 1997) of

The Carbohydrate Economy includes an overview article on new agricultural fibers that are providing alternatives to conventional wood-based paper and lumber products, news on specific companies that are developing everything from plastics to particleboard out of agricultural carbohydrates, a fascinating history of hemp as a fiber source, and an update on soy-based printing inks.

Among the tidbits we picked up from

The Carbohydrate Economy was the fact that energy-giant Enron has acquired one-third interest in Kafus Capital Corporation. Kafus owns 80% of Kenaf Paper Manufacturing, which is building a $130 million kenaf-fiber newsprint mill in La Sara, Texas, and the company recently bought majority interest in CanFibre Group Ltd., a manufacturer of fiberboard from urban wood waste. (And we thought Enron—which owns half of Solarex and wind equipment manufacturer Zond Corporation, controls a big chunk of natural gas distribution in the U.S., and has recently been buying electric utility companies—was limiting its empire to energy!)

We also learned about the automobile door seal manufacturer Schlegel Corporation of Rochester, New York and their efforts to replace the hazardous solvent methylene chloride with a safer alternative. The company, which employs 500 workers, saved $72,000 the first year and expects to achieve annual savings of $22,000 by switching to Tarksol™, a solvent derived from pine trees that is made by Terpene Technologies, Inc., also of Rochester. Even though Tarksol costs twice as much per gallon as methylene chloride, the dramatic savings were achieved because not as much is required, waste disposal is much less expensive, and environmental compliance would have required a one-time fee of $50,000, plus $10,000 per year in ongoing expense.

The Carbohydrate Economy does not carry advertising and is printed with soy inks on 100% recycled paper—including 20% post-consumer recycled paper and 20% recovered, chlorine-free kenaf fiber. Though much of it is not related to buildings, this publication is certain to be well-read in the

EBN office.