Furfural, the pre-cursor to furfuryl alcohol (FA), is made from agricultural residues. The majority of furfural is made from corncobs. See "Corncobs=Rocket-Power!" (Furfural: Science Behind Rockets)

Furfuryl alcohol was one of components used in hypergolic propellants which are fuels that ignite spontaneously. They also ignite in the absence of oxygen (i.e. in space). These mixtures have been (and can be) used as hypergolic starter fluids to ignite liquid rocket fuels in space .. e.g. when flying to the Mars!

Then: Rocket Fuel

The WAC or WAC Corporal was the first sounding rocket developed by the USA [1]. The main engine, hypergolic aniline+furfuryl alcohol. The Wac Corporal became the first U.S. rocket to reach space [2].

Then: Starter Fluid

The Nike Ajax was the first in the US army's family of guided missiles, and the world's first operational, guided, surface-to-air missile system[3]. It used furfuryl alcohol mixture as a hypergolic starter fluid and a 50-50 kerosene:gasoline aviation fuel.

Now:

Amateur rocketry groups across the world are experimenting with FA/white fuming nitric acid (WFNA) propulsion engines. E.g.: Copenhagen Suborbitals' Spectra, a concept liquid rocket engine, uses WFNA as the oxidizer to furfuryl alcohol fuel [4]. The clip below gives a great overview and insight on the choices of rocket propellants and in particular how the FA/WFNA system works.

NB: In the above clip there's a reference made to the first moon lander's navigation/propulsion system: Our mentor, Dr. Karl Zeitsch, was a member of the team that develop the fuel for the RD4 thrusters that were used on the Apollo command and the lunar modules!

Download from DalinYebo.com .

References:

[1] Wikipedia

[2] jcrocket.com

[3] nikemissile.org

 [4] ing.dk/blog/spectra-testen

PTMEG (Poly Tetra Methylene Ether Glycol) or polytetrahydrofuran is a polymer, which is used for the manufacture of (1) Spandex fibre (e.g. Lycra® - Invista) and (2) polyurethanes . Although it is currently made from crude-oil derived chemicals, the synthesis of its green equivalent starts with furfural furan  THF PTMEG.

Major PTMEG Uses

1 Spandex is a synthetic fiber (polyurethane-polyurea copolymer) known for its exceptional elasticity. It is strong, but less durable than its major non-synthetic competitor, natural latex [1]. The largest consumers of spandex is China, which has in excess of 500,000 tpa production capacity. For years the annual growth rate has been between 2% and 5.5% and spandex trades in the order of US$900/t - US$1,000/t.

2 Polyurethanes: PTMEG is a polyol in formulations for rigid and flexible polyurethanes, which go into industries, such as automotive, packaging and furniture. They are used e.g. as foams, coatings, adhesives, sealant etc. There is a growing demand for green polyols. Some of them are made e.g. from maize or soya. Global markets [2] for green or bio-polyols are predicted to exceed 1 million tpa by 2018 at an estimated market worth of US$3bn.

Converting furfural into polyurethanes (and other polymers) is an effective form of carbon sequestration!

Commercial furfural production started in 1922 and many of the fundamental research work was already done in the 1940-1950s, when the crude-oil based hydrocarbon revolutions almost "killed" the furfural industry. Little R&D has since been undertaken and that is why furfural is the Sleeping Beauty of all the bio-renewable chemicals, bioplastics and polymers. One day [3], instead from crude-oil, skin-hugging outfits, swimwear, etc. will be made from clean, green and biorenewable furfural.

References:

[1] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spandex

[2] finance.yahoo.com

[3] "Prince" required 

Also see:

Top 30 bio-renewable chemicals.

Green chemical building block.

By-Products