EAST LANSING, Mich. – MSU biotechnology research that helps turn crops into an environmentally friendly chemistry has become a high-profile export with today’s announcement by a Michigan company and a French firm.

French President Jacques Chirac joined Diversified Natural Products (DNP) of Scottville, Michigan and Agro Industrie Recherches et Dévelopements (ARD) of Pomacle, France, in announcing a joint venture to produce succinic acid from “green” sources. Succinic acid has enormous global demand for everything from industrial solvents and biodegradable polymers to airport runway de-icers. The announcement was in France this morning.

DNP has used science and entrepreneurism – much of it from MSU – to transform an abandoned bean cannery in the fields of northwestern Michigan into a high-tech biotechnology plant and laboratory. Fifteen of DNP’s patents have sprung from the research of MSU University Distinguished Professor Kris Berglund.

DNP’s technology to make succinic acid is notable because it’s “green.” Succinic acid is made from natural sugars, such as Michigan corn or French wheat. It serves as a starting point for chemicals that can: 

• lower the freezing point of water and thus be used to make safer engine coolants and jet runway de-icers;
• find uses in biodegradable industrial solvents that pose little threat of air pollution or ozone damage; or
• make biodegradable polymers for car parts such as dashboards.

The French joint venture is the latest signal of the Michigan company’s momentum. DNP has invested $11 million in the Scottville site, which is about eight miles east of Ludington, assisted by brownfield credits from the State of Michigan. Berglund said that although the value of the new joint venture is proprietary, the international market for succinic acid, which currently derives overwhelmingly from petroleum production, is in the billions of dollars.

“We are using non-genetically modified, natural microbes to make useful products – that’s the common thread of this company,” said Berglund, who is DNP’s chief science officer. “The products we’re developing are exciting, they come at the right time on the market and the interest we’re receiving from literally all over the world is tremendous.”

The succinic acid ARD produces will need to be made into a number of valuable derivatives including polymers. DNP intends to expand its processing facilities in Scottville to address these markets.

Berglund also said other companies, including Toyota, are working with DNP to obtain succinic acid.

“MSU is proud to have helped Diversified Natural Products create a rapidly growing business in Scottville,” said MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon. “Today’s announcement illustrates the value that MSU’s international reputation and faculty entrepreneurship can bring to efforts aimed at economic development in both the Lansing region and state as a whole.”

DNP’s partnership in France is the latest in a series of international partnerships based on MSU technology. MSU announced an agreement with a major Chinese manufacturer of electric railway locomotive engines in June. The university has also licensed technology to Avecia Ltd., the British pharmaceutical and specialty chemical company.

“We’re using the same type of science that’s created medicine to solve one portion of the nation’s energy problem – that 20 percent of imported oil goes into the petrochemical business,” said Paul Jacobson, DNP CEO and chairman. “This is an exciting new industry for Michigan and while it’s a new industry, it takes advantage of the strengths of Michigan.”

Production in France is expected to begin by the end of the year.

DNP is looking ahead to succinic acid production and applications in Scottville. “This is a fantastic opportunity for our community,” said Bill Kratz, director of the Mason County Economic Development. “This community was disappointed to lose a cannery that had been here nearly 100 years. There was a void. What I’m excited about is the opportunities in the future. We’re trying to create the right environment so Diversified Natural Products can be successful. We recognize it will lead to additional jobs and investment opportunities.”

Carefully selected and managed microbes aren’t on the payroll, but are a crucial part of DNP’s workforce. Berglund, a professor of chemical engineering has spent 18 years researching the process. Using organisms originally developed by the U.S. Department of Energy, he and co-workers at MSU, DNP, and Luleå University of Technology in Luleå, Sweden, have devised ways to ferment, separate and purify the succinic acid.

“And these microbes are Michigan residents,” Berglund said. “Because Michigan is very rich in these raw materials, it’s not an outsourcing thing. We can create new uses for local products, produce them locally and at the same time meet a global need.”

Finding agricultural-based chemicals to replace polluting petrochemicals has been a global goal. The trick has been perfecting one that also can compete with petrochemicals’ low cost.

“This is a David and Goliath kind of contest,” Berglund said. “Petrochemicals have been around 100 years to perfect the process. But we’ve achieved a process that not only is efficient and competitive, but also uses carbon dioxide, which makes it a highly efficient, environmentally sound process that can use resources readily available. Now David has a better slingshot.”

DNP is a privately held company which includes investment from Toyota Tsusho Corp., Japan Asia Investment Corp. andTTC-RMA Venture Partners LLC (TRVP). TRVP is a technology investment and incubation company jointly owned by Toyota Tsusho Corp. of Nagoya, Japan, and Roberts Mitani Advisors LLC of New York.