Author Archives: The Polyurethanes team

Plastic Fantastic: Look around round round

Posted on May 10, 2012 by The Polyurethanes team

Here’s a cryptic question for our readers: What malleable substance do you not always see yet use every day? Answer: Plastic! Plastic has incredible qualities and is applicable in many different aspects of modern life. You can find it in refrigerators and freezers to improve food conservation, building insulation to reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions, clothing and footwear to ensure comfort whilst remaining fashionable, automotive applications for better fuel efficiency and passenger protection, coatings and adhesives for enhanced durability and furniture for desired comfort. As you see, the applications and uses of plastics are limitless in meeting the world’s needs. For a great video on how plastics like polyurethane improve lives and protect the planet, check this out: Seeing that the impact of plastic knows no boundaries, please find the video in العربية, 中国的, Hrvatski, Deutsch, Français, Italiano, 日本の, Magyar, Nederlands and Русский.

Jogging away from commitment: the Energy Efficiency Directive

Posted on April 27, 2012 by The Polyurethanes team

Horsens, located on the Danish coast and set against a backdrop of rolling hills and valleys, is a particularly charming city. The city has access to a lovely harbour opening onto the Kattegat, a continuation of the Baltic Sea or North Sea depending on your view. No, no, it wasn’t the Kattegat that EU Member States used to water down the draft Energy Efficiency Directive (EED); they did that quite well by themselves! From 18 to 20 April, Energy and Environment Ministers held an informal meeting in Horsens to discuss, amongst others, the EED. In between jogging around the Danish countryside, the Ministers found time to agree that the foundation of future energy policy should include energy efficiency. The noble nature of this consensus, however, was somewhat insincere as the Council text released on 4 April (see our previous blog here) significantly weakened important energy efficiency targets (Articles 4 and 6), and even deemed deep building renovations (Article 3a) “unacceptable”. This “weak and confusing” mandate was (finally) addressed by the European Commission last week when it circulated to those in attendance a ‘non paper’ contrasting the Member State’s accepted provisions from 4 April and its initial proposal. The non paper is the first Commission document on the EED since its draft proposal more than a year ago. According to the non paper, the EED has been watered down so much that only 38 per cent (!) of initial savings proposed could still be achieved; for those more number oriented, the … Continue reading →

UTECH Europe 2012: Versatility, and sustainability and comfort! Oh, my!

Posted on April 20, 2012 by The Polyurethanes team

It’s been a very special week for the world of polyurethanes. The past few days the city of Maastricht, the Netherlands, hosted the leading international exhibition and conference for the global polyurethanes industry: UTECH Europe 2012. UTECH Europe is a unique happening; it allows thousands of attendees to update themselves on the latest technologies, materials and equipment used by industry in addition to showcasing the sheer breadth of applications polyurethanes provide. This year the show was completely sold out and included over 100 exhibitors! Of course, with our own very special project (the Polyurethanes Passive House), we decided to join the party: The Passive House was very well received and enjoyed much attention at UTECH. Providing a living example to showcase the environmental and economic benefits of polyurethane applied to the most modern construction standard, passive housing, really was a great opportunity to not only tell but show the world that innovation lies at the heart of polyurethanes. Besides featuring the Polyurethanes Passive House, another UTECH highlight was ISOPA Secretary General Dr Wolfram Frank opening the Conference session on ‘Safety, Health and Environmental Sustainability Issues’. His speech addressed ISOPA’s past and current achievements, and future opportunities and challenges for the polyurethanes industry. “ISOPA promotes the highest standards of best practice in the distribution and use of diisocyanates and polyols through its ‘Walk the Talk’ programme.” “The programme”, Dr Frank stated, “focuses on the behavioural safety of everyone involved in the industry through an ongoing process of information exchange and dialogue. … Continue reading →

The not-so-little differences? A transatlantic divide over Passive House standards.

Posted on April 19, 2012 by The Polyurethanes team

It isn’t just the Royale with Cheese, as famously quoted by Vincent Vega in Pulp Fiction, that seems to be dividing Europeans and Americans. Beyond the obvious examples of language, government and traffic rules, the transatlantic divide will soon appear in yet another field – this time in the certification of optimum energy-efficient passive houses. The first passive house, built in Darmstadt, Germany, in 1991, has a maximum heat load of 7.4W/m² and is currently still in use. Leading to a wave of new passive housing developments in subsequent decades, these houses are kept ‘passive’ by using existing internal heat sources, solar energy and the minimal heating of incoming fresh air. The Darmstadt-based Passivhaus Institut (PHI) continues to monitor buildings, ensuring that measured energy consumption for heating remains below 15kWh/m² per year and total primary energy consumption is below 120kWh/m² while not leaking more air than 0.6 times the house volume per hour, thus guaranteeing comfortable indoor temperature without a conventional heating system. Over 15,000 passive houses have been built in Germany alone, while 17% of all new single-house projects in Austria are passive houses. Widely diverse in architecture and design, passive houses have gained popularity due to their ability to save up to 85% more on energy bills than regular constructions and for their creative use of materials. The first polyurethane-insulated house in Belgium for example, is being constructed in Evere. PHI standards officially arrived in the US in the late 2000s. However, the shaky alliance between PHI and … Continue reading →

Travelling through ‘the door of the desert’ on the Sun

Posted on April 12, 2012 by The Polyurethanes team

Step 1: Open Wikipedia. Step 2: Type ‘Ouarzazate’. Step 3: Enjoy. If you’ve gotten this far, you’ve found yourself privy to ‘the door of the desert’: Ouarzazate. Located in Morocco, Ouarzazate is both a city and capital of the Ouarzazate Province. For a long time, the city acted as a crossing point for African traders en route to Europe; more recently the city has developed into a noted film-making location for cinema classics including ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ and ‘Gladiator’. What Wikipedia fails to highlight is that the city will be part of the Solar Impulse Mission 2012! As you might remember from our previous blog, the Solar Impulse is a long-range solar powered plane project which uses high-tech polymer materials and energy-saving lightweight solutions, including carbon nano-technology, innovative polyurethane adhesives and lightweight polyurethane foams. In July 2010, the Solar Impulse HB-SIA made history by becoming the first solar-powered airplane to fly through a complete daylight cycle, thereby establishing three World Records. This spring, the Solar Impulse will attempt to set another record by flying more than 2,500 km fueled exclusively by solar energy! Its destination? You guessed it: Ouarzazate. The city was chosen as it is set to construct the largest thermo-solar power plant EVER built; Morocco intends to build five solar-thermal/photovoltaic complexes by 2020, generating over 2,000 megawatts and preventing the emission of 3.7 million tons of CO2. The flight, set for May or June, will act as a dress rehearsal before the curtains rise for the Jules Verne-esque … Continue reading →

Negotiations for EU energy savings deal to start on April 11

Posted on April 4, 2012 by The Polyurethanes team

Today, the Council published two very important documents. The first one is the Council’s comments and “preliminary position” on the position adopted by the European Parliament ITRE Committee; the second one is a document from the Council Secratariat which basically defines the scope within which the Danish EU Presidency will negotiate with the Parliament. For those who do not follow these things in much detail, this first paragraph may sound like overkill! Thus, we will summarise in clear terms: 1 – On 28 February, the European Parliament’s Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) Committee adopted a report by a large majority. This report is the Parliament’s basis for negotiation with the other co-legislator: the European Council. 2 – By means of a separate vote, the European Parliament’s ITRE Committee also gave Greens/EFA MEP Claude Turmes (Luxembourg) a mandate to negotiate with the Council in what is called an “informal trialogue”. 3 – The informal trialogue is a procedure that basically aims at fastracking the European Union ordinary legislative procedure and pave the way for adoption of a text at first reading. 4 – The Council agreed on a preliminary position on 29 March 2012, which was made public today, as well as preparatory document for the first informal trialogue, set to take place just a week from today on 11 April 2012 in Brussels. We will delve into the details in a later post on the respective positions of the Council and the Parliament, however this much can already be euphemistically … Continue reading →

Racing to safety: Formula 1 adopts polyurethane safety blocks

Posted on March 8, 2012 by The Polyurethanes team

Singapore, Silverstone, Monaco, Monza, Barcelona, Abu Dhabi – all these places have at least two things in common: they all host Formula 1 races, and were amongst the first to adopt new replacing racks of old tires as safety barriers on the high-speed race tracks. Spectacular overtaking manoeuvres and high-speed duels between virtuoso pilots are what the public yearns for. Unfortunately this is not a risk-free sport and accidents happen. Research on how to install higher security measures for drivers has long focused on the car’s cockpit; however, a new system was recently introduced that significantly improves driver safety on the racing track. Old tires are being gradually replaced by a new generation of safety blocks which make spinning off the track less hazardous. Polyurethanes are used to allow drivers like Scott Speed to get out the car safely. These safety blocks are made of polyurethane foam with impact absorption properties up to 40 per cent higher than tires. Each block weighs 120kg and measures 1.5 x 1.2m. In order to make them easily interlocked, they always have a convex and a concave end. The polyurethane block is shaped around a steel sheet, which is then filled with polyurethane rigid foam. Filling the block is the most complicated part of the production process because the manufacturer needs to avoid any deformation. The block must also be held together tight for another 15 minutes after the filling, to allow polymerisation. In the wake of the safety blocks’ great success on the … Continue reading →

Plastics and polyurethanes: protecting our planet in style

Posted on February 24, 2012 by The Polyurethanes team

Europe’s 2020 targets aim to reduce our GHG emissions by 20%, have renewables shape 20% of our energy mix and increase our energy efficiency levels by 20%. Realising these targets requires not only political will but also innovation to create light, efficient and sustainable technology. Today, polyurethanes and the plastics family are leading to way to increasingly energy efficient technology which uses less, but delivers more!   This PlasticsEurope video shows how plastic helps reduce our energy footprint in ways we often take for granted. For example, did you know that: Over their lifetime wind turbine blades constructed from polyurethanes generate more than 140 times the amount of energy it took to produce them; Insulation panels recoup the energy used to create them in only four months; Modern cars and aeroplanes use polyurethanes not just in seats and furnishings, but also in body panels, floors and wings. The reduced weight means we can decrease fuel consumption without cutting comfort! The polyurethane and plastics industries are busily continuing to develop better products to help us save money and support the environment in our daily lives. For more information on the energy efficiency contribution of polyurethanes, have a look at our wind turbines blog or visit our polyurethanes passive house website.

Conservatives claim victory over EU Energy Savings Bill

Posted on February 17, 2012 by The Polyurethanes team

Last night, we guessed that a deal had been secured by European Parliamentarians on the Energy Efficiency Directive. In fact, the answer came a few minutes after our blog was posted from Peter Liese and Richard Seeber, two German MEPs from the Christian Democrats (EPP). The two MEPs published a press release claiming victory on the deal. Liese and Seeber were particularly happy that the main amendments they called for on behalf of the Parliament’s Environment Committee (the lead committee was the Industry committee) were included: “Achieve more flexibility for the implementation” of the directive; “Assuring the 20% target”; Alignment with EU’s carbon trading scheme (ETS). It may not have any significance, but we couldn’t help but notice that the other main players on the directive, the Liberals, Greens and Social Democrats, have not reacted officially yet. Similarly, it’s odd that Markus Pieper, who was shadow rapporteur for the Christian Democrats -not Liese or Seeber - would let his colleagues take credit for the win… It will all become much clearer once we actually read the compromise text. Is the compromise a real setback for energy efficiency enthusiasts like Turmes (MEP Greens), Hall (MEP Liberals) and Thomsen (MEP Social Democrats)? Will this compromise give enough leeway for the Parliament to negotiate with the Council? At least, for Mr Liese, it seems to be celebration time! (Disclaimer: the photo below was NOT taken yesterday after the negotiations!)      

Did MEPs agree on EU Energy Savings bill today?

Posted on February 16, 2012 by The Polyurethanes team

Today, the European Parliament’s political groups were to finalise the compromise amendments on Claude Turmes’s report on the Energy Efficiency Directive. This is interesting because this compromise text will be the one that will be voted on 28 February in the Parliament’s Industry, Transport and Energy Committee – ITRE in EU jargon. Except for major suprises, this text will end up being the Parliament’s position on the directive. Today’s negotiations were supposed to last until lunch time between representatives of the main political groups. However, no news yet (at least officially) on whether a deal was struck; considering what EurActiv wrote on Tuesday, it did not seem like positions had changed very much from what we have described on this blog so far. In a nutshell, there is a large consensus for an ambitious approach on the directive from the far left (GUE-NGL), the Liberals (ALDE) and the Social Democrats (S&D). This consensus extends to a significant share of the Conservatives (EPP), whom have immense difficulties finding a common voice behind the divisive Markus Pieper (shadow rapporteur for the EPP group). At the same time, Claude Turmes still needs a large consensus with all major political groups on an ambitious Parliament position if he wants to stand a chance in negotiations with the European Council; a Council that stands firmly on its ground. Reading between the deceiving lines of diplomatic talk, the statement on Tuesday by the Council’s Danish Presidency was a warning to the Parliament. It seemed to say “if … Continue reading →