Recycling photovoltaic modules
23.04.2024
"Don't lose it, reuse it!" is not just the exclamation of a puppy from a well-known animated children's series when he creates new objects from supposed garbage. Rather, it shows how important the topic of ‘recycling’ has become in general.
Covestro inaugurates new production line and launches new Desmopan®UP TPU series for Paint Protection Film in the automotive and wind sector
15.06.2023
Covestro has started up a new production line in Taiwan to to produce high performance TPU suited for Paint Protection Film (PPF) grades. The new TPU-based PPF solutions will be offered under the brand name Desmopan®UP.
Renewable energies: Bringing wind power forward with PU resins
26.05.2023
At Covestro's Wind Technology Center, research is being conducted into making wind technology more efficient. To do this, a close look is taken at wind turbines – where are opportunities to use special materials that drive renewable energy? The big goal behind it: Climate neutrality and a circular economy.
Luminescent solar collectors: Silicone makes power generation more flexible and colourful
22.05.2023
Plastics contribute to climate protection. As fibre-reinforced plastics for wind turbines or films for solar cells, they already play an important role in power generation from renewable energies. But the conventional solutions are not equally suitable for every area of application. This is where a new type of material comes into play that was developed at Saarland University.
Solar-powered system converts plastic and greenhouse gases into sustainable fuels
13.04.2023
Researchers at the University of Cambridge have developed a system that can convert plastic waste and greenhouse gases into sustainable fuels and other valuable products – using energy from the sun alone. In the system, two waste streams are simultaneously converted into two chemical products.
SABIC debuts new copolymer resin for PV connectors, delivering highest CTI level to support emerging 1.5KV systems
04.01.2023
SABIC, a global leader in the chemical industry, launched today a breakthrough polycarbonate (PC)-based copolymer resin, well-suited for photovoltaic (PV) connector bodies, that meets stricter performance and regulatory requirements for emerging 1.5Kv solar systems.
No longer gone with the wind: Fraunhofer Institute develops concepts for rotor blade recycling
28.10.2022
After about 25 years, the rotor blades of a wind turbine have usually had their day. But what happens to them then? Together with the Institute for Energy and Circular Economy (IEkrW), the Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy Systems (IWES) is developing concepts in a project that should enable rotor blades to be better recycled and reused.
Covestro invests in the production of more sustainable polycarbonates in Asia Pacific
19.09.2022
Covestro plans to set up its first dedicated mechanical recycling (MCR) plant for polycarbonates at its integrated site in Shanghai. The company also plans to convert an existing compounding facility in Thailand into a mechanical recycling plant.
LANXESS: Entire value chain to become climate-neutral
12.09.2022
The chemicals company LANXESS aims to make its upstream and downstream supply chains climate-neutral by 2050. In order to achieve the so-called Scope 3 targets, LANXESS has launched the Net Zero Value Chain Program. The focus is on sustainable raw materials, green logistics and climate-neutral products.
Energy costs and climate protection in industry and commerce: decarbXpo launches
05.09.2022
A lot is happening in the field energy technology, not least as a result of rapidly rising energy prices. Spurred on by falling costs for renewable energy technologies, innovative storage solutions, intelligent energy management systems and new opportunities are also opening up for industrial and commercial companies.
Climate-neutral with a plan – sustainability in the plastics industry
30.08.2022
Successful business means sustainable business. Because according to KraussMaffei, sustainability has both ecological and economic advantages. Recently, the company reaffirmed its goal of being climate-neutral by 2030. Its strategy includes recycling solutions, energy-efficient construction and heating, and sustainable product development.
Cloeren GmbH invests in solar energy
19.08.2022
Cloeren GmbH has completed installation of a solar power plant at its Micheldorf, Austria facility to move towards carbon neutral manufacturing. The solar plant investment added 200 KW of solar produced energy, allowing us to reduce C02 emissions 90 tonnes per year.
The "new KraussMaffei" is to be climate-neutral by 2030
25.07.2022
The KraussMaffei company confirms a sustainable corporate strategy: Climate neutrality in eight years. The consistent focus is on Circular Economy. One of the largest roof-mounted photovoltaic systems in Europe is currently being built at the new main plant in Parsdorf.
Fresh impulses for wind energy
11.07.2022
Covestro is researching material solutions for sustainable energy generation at its new Wind Technology Center. They are focusing on the optimization and new development of PUR resins in collaboration with customers.
PERC Solar Cells from 100 Percent Recycled Silicon
07.03.2022
In order to be able to reuse silicon, a working group from the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE and the largest German recycling company for PV modules, Reiling GmbH & Co. KG, have developed a solution, in which the silicon in the discarded modules was recycled on an industrial scale and reused to produce new PERC solar cells.
Plastic snowfall in the Alps
21.02.2022
To study how much plastic is trickling down on us from the atmosphere, Empa researcher Dominik Brunner, together with colleagues from Utrecht University and the Austrian Central Institute for Meteorology and Geophysics, have developed a chemical method that determines the contamination of the samples with a mass spectrometer.
Plastics recycling deadlines loom – will companies meet their goals?
06.12.2021
Many of the world's largest consumer product companies, including Cocoa-Cola, Unilever and PepsiCo, have set ambitious targets for replacing virgin plastics with recycled ones – typically 25 percent of their total packaging by 2025. So far, however, most companies have made only modest progress and will need to ramp up their efforts to reach these lofty goals.
Commercially viable production of climate-neutral plastic is possible
01.12.2021
Since the early 1950s, plastics have found their way into almost every area of modern life. Between 1964 and 2014, plastic consumption increased twentyfold, from 15 to 311 million tonnes per year. Not only has environmental pollution from plastic waste increased during this time, but the amount of petroleum its manufacture consumes is large, as are the associated greenhouse gas emissions.
Fraunhofer and the Technical University of Ostrava start German-Czech research collaboration for sustainable production
01.07.2021
In the scope of a future-oriented collaboration in the field of industrial production, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is cooperating with the VSB – Technical University of Ostrava (VSB-TUO). The partners research and develop the potential offered by energy management technologies, artificial intelligence (AI) and intelligent production in industry.