(595c) Life Cycle Analysis of Polyols from Soy Oil or Castor Oil

Polyols for flexible foams are a class of materials currently made from petrochemical feedstocks, but which can be made largely from renewable resources such as soy oil or castor oil. A “cradle to gate” life cycle analysis was conducted for functionally equivalent polyols made from conventional feedstocks, soy oil and castor oil to understand the potential environmental benefits for using the renewable feedstocks and the key contributing factors to the environmental profiles of each material. Use of the renewable feedstocks offers significant advantages in reducing fossil resource use and greenhouse gas generation. The magnitude of the benefit depends critically on the assumptions made about farm inputs and outputs.