Chemical startup Pyran LLC makes a compound that can be used to manufacture environmentally-friendly paint and plastic chemicals. Anchored in work undertaken at the University of Wisconsin, Pyran is using catalytic engineering to convert feedstock derived from renewable wood and crop waste resources to manufacture 1,5-pentanediol (1,5-PDO), a key chemical used to make paints and plastics. The process - validated by both the US Department of Energy and a large chemical company - and the resultant materials created are estimated as coming in at less than 50% of the costs of competing oil-based processes but, critically, the Pyran effort constitutes a renewable product.
