Soy-based asphalt technology discovered by accident at Iowa State University will be nationally available for commercial use next year. Researchers, who have been testing the product for roughly a decade, recently launched SoyLei Innovations, which is developing the rejuvenator product, which is a compound made of soybean oil that is mixed with recycled asphalt.
Rejuvenator can reduce paving costs by as much as 80% compared to projects that use new materials, Eric Cochran, a chemical and biological engineering professor at ISU, said. Each acre of its pavement uses thousands of pounds of soybean oil.
A nearly one-acre test site will be on display at the Farm Progress Show in Boone from Aug. 30.-Sept. 1.
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