Today's KNOWLEDGE Share : Solar Trees Could Save Forests From Deforestation

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share

Solar Trees Could Save Forests From Deforestation While Generating the Same Power as Solar Farms

Picture a forested hillside stripped bare, replaced by row after row of black solar panels. That’s the tradeoff many communities face: renewable power at the cost of ecosystems. But a growing body of research suggests it doesn’t have to be that way. The solution may look less like an industrial solar farm and more like a forest solar trees.

Researcher Dan-Bi Um at the Korea Maritime Institute compared conventional flat-panel arrays with solar trees structures designed to mimic real trees, with panels branching upward like leaves. Their results were startling. “Linear arrangements of these structures achieve superior power capacity compared to conventional fixed panels while preserving existing forest cover,” the team reports.

Why Trees Make Better Solar Farms

Unlike ground-mounted panels that demand clearcuts, #solartrees are built and installed vertically into the canopy. This design allows light to filter down to understory plants while still capturing energy above. In simulations using Google Earth satellite imagery, Dan-Bi Um found that solar trees preserved 99% of the forest, compared to just 2% left standing when flat-panel plants were installed. All without sacrificing power output.

Conventional #solarfarms need a lot of land. In #SouthKorea, that’s meant cutting forests to install large arrays of flat-panel plants, a process that “completely destroy the biodiversity of the #forestecosystem,” Um warns. Between 2016 and 2018, deforestation tied to solar farms in the country more than quadrupled.

Solar trees sidestep #deforestation. By placing them along hiking trails or forest boundaries at 20-meter intervals, the researchers showed that 63 trees outfitted with high-efficiency panels could match the one-megawatt capacity of a conventional plant all while leaving the forest intact.

The advantages, of course, go beyond forests. In cities, solar trees provide shade for pedestrians and cars while generating #cleanelectricity. Some models include charging ports for electric vehicles or benches equipped with wireless charging . Researchers also note their cooling effect in urban “heat island” zones, where rising summer temperatures threaten public health.

The Bigger Picture:

This research arrives at a critical moment. Nations have pledged at recent climate summits to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030 while halting deforestation. The problem is that those goals often collide. In South Korea, deforestation tied to solar projects surged from 529 hectares in 2016 to 2,443 hectares in 2018. Similar conflicts play out worldwide, from the Amazon to Appalachia.

source : ZME Science

ExxonMobil Seeks Exit From European Chemicals Sector

ExxonMobil is considering selling its chemicals plants in the UK and Belgium, Reuters reported today based on an article in the Financial Times. The Houston-based #petrochemicals giant reportedly has held early-stage discussions with advisors on possible sales that could bring in up to $1 billion, the news outlets reported.

Europe’s #chemicals industry is in disarray, as it wrestles with high energy costs, US tariffs, and cheap imports from Asia. At the beginning of the year, industry intelligence organization ICIS set the tone with an article that carried the headline, “Europe’s chemical industry, and its economy, face an existential challenge.” The #EuropeanCommission unveiled an action plan to address this issue in July of this year. The initiative to reduce #energy prices and enact safeguards against unfair competition was deemed “too little, too late” by UK-based chemicals company #Ineos. The European chemicals sector overall nodded in agreement. It’s within this context that #ExxonMobil is exploring a divestment of its chemicals assets in Europe.

Exxon owns an ethylene plant in Fife, Scotland, as well as several production sites in Belgium. If it can’t find any buyers, ExxonMobil has also discussed simply shutting them down, according to the FT and Reuters.

This development follows recent announcements of plant shutdowns in Europe.

As reported in #PlasticsToday in July 2025, #Dow is cutting back on European production of chlor-alkali and vinyl, with the closure of its facility in Schkopau, Germany. An ethylene cracker in Böhlen, Germany, and a basics siloxanes plant in Barry, UK, are also on the chopping block.

Vynova announced that same month that it would cease #PVC production in the Netherlands, which has an annual capacity of 225,000 metric tons. The company cited “ongoing economic, regulatory, and market challenges” for the closure.

LyondellBasell and Sabic also recently revealed that they would be reducing their European footprint.

source : Plastics Today

BMW relies on hydrogen technology

Hydrogen technology is making its way into the BMW Group Steyr site: The company announced the start of series development of the fuel cell system, which will also be produced at the Steyr site from 2028. "After the start of series production of electric motors, the entry into hydrogen technology in development and production is our next big milestone.

This variety of drive technologies gives us the flexibility to continue to respond to global customer demand in the best possible way in the future. This ensures the stability of the location – and thus also employment and innovative strength in Austria," says Klaus von Moltke, Managing Director of the BMW Group Plant Steyr.

To this end, the company is initially investing up to 50 million euros in development and production. In the photo: Markus Steidl, Head of the BMW Group Development Centre in Steyr, Michael Rath, Head of Hydrogen Vehicles BMW Group, Klaus von Moltke, Head of Engine Production at BMW AG, Governor Mag. Thomas Stelzer

Photo: BMW

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share : Japan to fund $400 million bamboo biofuel refinery project in India

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share

Japan to fund $400 million bamboo biofuel refinery project in India

Japan is set to extend up to 60 billion yen (approximately $408 million) in public and private sector funding for a biofuel initiative in India that will convert bamboo biomass into automobile fuel. According to a report by Nikkei Asia, this marks the largest financial assistance by Japanese institutions in northeastern India and aligns with Tokyo’s push towards clean energy solutions.

The funding package will come from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, a government-backed lender, alongside private-sector participants such as Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation. Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) alone will contribute $244 million of the total financing.

 

 PFC to lead Assam bamboo refinery

The project is being spearheaded by state-run Power Finance Corporation (PFC). The initiative comes under Japan and India’s collaboration on sustainable energy.

 

The loan will be channeled through PFC to Assam Bio Ethanol Private Limited (ABEPL), which will operate a new refinery in Assam’s Golaghat district. The facility, nearing completion, will produce biofuels from locally grown bamboo.

 

The refinery is expected to produce 49,000 metric tons of bioethanol annually, which will be sold as a petrol additive in India. It will also manufacture 11,000 tons of acetic acid, used in adhesives and various products, and 19,000 tons of furfural, a raw material for synthetic resins. Leftover biomass will be utilised to generate electricity, ensuring zero waste.

source : Business Standard

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share : Algae powers next generation plastics

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share

From pond to polymer: Algae powers next generation plastics

A team of chemists is pioneering a new approach to creating plastics made from whole-cell algae and common chemical components. These biohybrid plastics are strong, highly adaptable, and fully recyclable.

Confronting the issue

The first plastic-like materials were created from natural substances but were quickly replaced by petroleum-based plastics. These plastics were inexpensive to produce and boasted superior properties such as high durability. Now, their poor recycling ability has led to a mounting environmental crisis, causing scientists to rethink the plastics industry and turn back toward creating biomass-based plastics, or bioplastics.

To tackle this crisis, Assistant Professor Josh Worch and his team invented a new strategy to enhance the renewability and recyclability of plastic materials without compromising their performance. They combined unprocessed biomass, in this case algae, with common chemical components in a ball mill to make tough biohybrid plastics.

The key to creating the robust material is what’s called a mechanochemical synthesis strategy, which the team described in a recent study published in Angewandte Chemie.

The synthesis strategy came from a moment of “serendipitous science,” as Worch put it. The moment the team threw all the algae material and chemical components into a ball mill, which is a high-energy mixer, the story changed.

The ball mill technique shortened the plastic synthesis from two days to just 1 1/2 hours and allowed the biomass to integrate with the synthetic parts of the material, making it a hybrid plastic. It is also a potentially scalable process because milling equipment is commonly found throughout many industries.

“It’s an extremely simple process, making it a very efficient way to create plastic,” said Emily Bird, an undergraduate student who co-led the work along with Meng Jiang, the lead graduate student on the project.

In the plastics world, ball milling is typically used to grind materials down into finer pieces. In a first, Virginia Tech researchers are using it to build more sustainable plastics.

Team members designed the hybrid plastic to include a type of whole-cell algae, known as spirulina, because it is inexpensive and widely available. They also surveyed other types of biomass resources, including agricultural waste left over from crop processing.

“This is one of the most exciting parts of our ball milling approach, since we believe the technique is generalizable to many different materials,” said Worch.

Complete recyclability

The new hybrid plastic is both robust and highly adaptable. It can easily be remolded into new shapes or even completely broken down. The team can separately recover the algae and chemical components in the hybrid plastic to be used again.

“These features make the plastic highly versatile, ensuring that it does not end up as waste itself,” said Jiang.

Original publication: DOI 10.1002/anie.202510449

source : Virginia Tech News

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share : Preheating Pellets in Extrusion

 Today's KNOWLEDGE Share

🔥 Preheating Pellets in Extrusion: Advantages That Transcend Hygroscopicity

While the preheating of hygroscopic polymers such as nylon and PET is widely acknowledged as a best practice in extrusion, its application to ostensibly non-hygroscopic materials—like PVC, polyethylene (PE), and polypropylene (PP)—remains largely underexplored. However, this thermal pre-conditioning offers a suite of process optimizations that extend well beyond moisture mitigation.

The integration of pellet preheating systems prior to extrusion introduces meaningful enhancements in operational efficiency, energy management, and mechanical longevity.

🧪 Thermodynamic Proximity to Glass Transition (Tg)

Elevating the thermal state of the polymer feedstock to approach its glass transition temperature facilitates the onset of plasticization. This thermodynamic head-start alleviates the mechanical burden on the extruder screw, reducing shear stress and accelerating the attainment of a homogeneous melt phase.

⚙️ Enhanced Processability

By initiating the extrusion process with preheated material, the system demands less incremental thermal energy and torque. This fosters superior melt uniformity, minimizes rheological fluctuations, and enhances dimensional stability—particularly critical in precision applications.

🔧 Attenuation of Mechanical Fatigue

Reduced initial resistance during feeding and plastification translates to lower mechanical loads on drive components, including motors, gear assemblies, and screw elements. This diminished operational stress extends the service life of critical hardware and mitigates long-term maintenance demands.

⚡ Optimized Energy Utilization

By front-loading thermal energy into the material stream, the dependency on barrel heating zones is mitigated. This redistribution of thermal input significantly curtails electrical consumption, particularly on continuous, high-throughput lines—yielding measurable reductions in operating costs.

♻️ Elevated Throughput, Minimized Waste

Accelerated stabilization of the melt process reduces startup scrap and enhances first-pass yield. The result is a leaner, more efficient production cycle with improved material utilization and reduced environmental impact.

📌 Strategic Insight:

Even in polymers with negligible moisture affinity, controlled thermal pre-conditioning imparts considerable processing and economic advantages.

In an industrial landscape increasingly defined by sustainability, energy consciousness, and performance optimization, pellet preheating emerges as a deceptively simple yet highly effective lever for operational excellence.

#extrusion

Plastic Energy and Sabic produce first recycled oil at Geleen

Plastic Energy and Sabic have produced the first batch of pyrolysis oil, branded as Tacoil, at their Sabic Plastic Energy Advanced Recycling joint venture in Geleen, the Netherlands. The oil is derived from hard-to-recycle post-consumer plastic waste that would otherwise be incinerated or landfilled. The start-up marks a key step on the facility’s path to full commercial operations expected later this year. Tacoil can be used as a replacement for conventional naphtha in existing petrochemical plants, enabling the manufacture of food-contact packaging, medical-grade plastics and other high-quality products. According to the partners, polymers made from this feedstock will increase the commercial availability of circular polymers that brand owners have used in consumer and packaging applications since 2019.

Plastic Energy’s patented Tac chemical recycling process breaks down mixed plastic waste using heat in an oxygen-free environment. Once fully operational, the Geleen plant is designed to recycle 20,000 tonnes of plastic waste per year. The technology has been demonstrated at industrial scale at the company’s facilities in Spain and is designed to integrate into the existing plastics value chain.

In Europe, less than 30 percent of an estimated 32 million tonnes of plastic waste is currently recycled. The Spear facility is set to be the first example of a third-party chemical recycling technology being integrated into an existing petrochemical site, and is intended to help support the European Union’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation objective for all packaging to be fully recyclable by 2030.

source : Plastech