(NewsNation) — Researchers at Iowa State University think they may have found a solution to help soybean farmers struggling to find buyers for their crop.
American farmers are continuing to struggle as the U.S.-China trade war wages on, with China not purchasing any soybeans from the U.S. in September.
According to China’s General Administration of Customs, imports from the U.S. fell to zero, while their buying power in Brazil and Argentina increased.
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It’s the first time since 2018 that this has happened, and it’s far down from the 1.7 million metric tons the country bought last year. That’s left U.S. farmers with unsold product.
Scientists at the university have an innovative solution in mind. They want to turn soybeans into asphalt and say they have already proved it’s possible.
The discovery happened by accident, when a freshman college student added too much oxygen to a soybean oil mixture.
He noticed the chemicals thickening and creating a sticky substance similar to the composition used in traditional asphalt.
So he, along with professors and advisors, patented the innovation and began thinking of ways to use it to strengthen American roads.
The bioasphalt can be combined with other recycled gravel to create an asphalt substitute or used to add 20 or even 30 more years to the life of a repaved road.
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The scientists are rigorously testing different blends to determine the durability and longevity of the bioasphalt under different conditions.
It shows promise as a way to rejuvenate dying roads when sprayed on existing pavement, giving the road a facelift, adding five to seven more years of life, and saving money on construction.
“We have 80,000 miles of unpaved roads in Iowa alone. It’s pretty crazy. So you see pavement everywhere, but the need for new pavement is, is just extreme and ongoing,” said Professor Eric Cochran. “And keeping existing pavement in good shape is also an ongoing headache for departments of transportation.”
The happy accident discovered years ago is already being brought to scale at manufacturing facilities all across the country, and the National Center for Asphalt Technologies is currently in the process of getting it greenlit by more than a dozen departments of transportation across the country.
