The movement of the Iron&Steelmaking(I&S)industry towards Net-Zero emissions and digitalized processes through disruptive,breakthrough technologies will be achieved through the use of Hydrogen.The biggest chal...The movement of the Iron&Steelmaking(I&S)industry towards Net-Zero emissions and digitalized processes through disruptive,breakthrough technologies will be achieved through the use of Hydrogen.The biggest challenge for the refractory industry is to continue to meet the performance expectations while,at the same time,moving to a more sustainable production direction.The complexity and urgency of these technological changes,highlighted by the European Green Deal,requires ambitious,international,interdisciplinary and intersectoral projects,bringing together institutes from across the global value chain,to carry out cutting edge research.The European Union,through its flagship doctoral training program,MSCA,has,and continues to support research and development as well as the promotion of the refractory industry in Europe.An introduction to two MSCA projects and some of the results achieved are highlighted within this article.展开更多
The European Green Belt developed from the wasteland of the former death strip along the iron curtain over decades to a green life line of biodiversity. It is an ecological network with a unique natural and cultural h...The European Green Belt developed from the wasteland of the former death strip along the iron curtain over decades to a green life line of biodiversity. It is an ecological network with a unique natural and cultural heritage, an emotional human and political history, meaning and transformative power. Due to the former border situation, it is a transnational green infrastructure with biodiversity hotspots in a more and more fragmented, intensively used and degraded European landscape and connects people from 24 European countries and valuable landscapes. But now, nearly 30 years after the peaceful transition in 1989, the gaps in the European Green Belt cover already 50%. These gaps are not protected and are subject to adverse effects, like ongoing landscape fragmentation and ongoing chemo-industrial agriculture. Alarming signals of a new death zone are not only the gaps within the European Green Belt, but generally and closely related the mass extinction of species, climate change, resource depletion, financial and economic crisis, demographic change, emigration, unemployment and/or precarious work worldwide. To save the European Green Belt and life on earth there is a great need ofa 2^nd transformation to a life-sustaining world.展开更多
Global plastics production is expected to exceed 400 million tons and reach 600 million tons by 2060.Their synthesis currently accounts for approximately 3%of global greenhouse gas emissions.Approximately 60%of all po...Global plastics production is expected to exceed 400 million tons and reach 600 million tons by 2060.Their synthesis currently accounts for approximately 3%of global greenhouse gas emissions.Approximately 60%of all polymers are produced for single-use.Examples include shopping bags,packaging materials,mulch films,and soluble polymers for cosmetics and other purposes.Currently,only a portion of single-use plastic is recycled or disposed of in incinerators or landfills.An estimated 20%is not disposed of properly and pollutes the global environment,especially the oceans.In response to these challenges,the United Nations,European Union,and many nation-states are developing regulatory frameworks that encourage the chemical industry to produce plastics with a smaller environmental footprint and often support this through research funding.Possible solutions include:(1)the use of green energy,green hydrogen,bio-based feedstocks,or CO_(2) in synthesis;(2)the reuse or recycling of plastics through conversion or pyrolysis;and(3)the production of biodegradable polymers.The German chemical industry contributes approximately one-third of polymer production in the EU.It is embedded in the EU regulatory and research landscape and anchored in the European Green Deal,which aims for carbon neutrality by 2050.In this paper,we describe how BASF and Evonik,two leading German chemical companies with strong but different polymer portfolios,respond to the call for greener polymers and how technologies are being developed to make polyurethanes,a particularly important and difficult-to-recycle family of elastomers and duromers,renewable and circular.Reducing the environmental footprint of plastics requires not only innovative materials but also proper governance,regulatory and collection systems,and public willingness to cooperate.In an international comparison of these competencies,expressed by the"polymer management index"(PMI),Germany achieved a top position.展开更多
基金the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No.764987.The CESAREF project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation programunder grant agreement No.101072625.
文摘The movement of the Iron&Steelmaking(I&S)industry towards Net-Zero emissions and digitalized processes through disruptive,breakthrough technologies will be achieved through the use of Hydrogen.The biggest challenge for the refractory industry is to continue to meet the performance expectations while,at the same time,moving to a more sustainable production direction.The complexity and urgency of these technological changes,highlighted by the European Green Deal,requires ambitious,international,interdisciplinary and intersectoral projects,bringing together institutes from across the global value chain,to carry out cutting edge research.The European Union,through its flagship doctoral training program,MSCA,has,and continues to support research and development as well as the promotion of the refractory industry in Europe.An introduction to two MSCA projects and some of the results achieved are highlighted within this article.
文摘The European Green Belt developed from the wasteland of the former death strip along the iron curtain over decades to a green life line of biodiversity. It is an ecological network with a unique natural and cultural heritage, an emotional human and political history, meaning and transformative power. Due to the former border situation, it is a transnational green infrastructure with biodiversity hotspots in a more and more fragmented, intensively used and degraded European landscape and connects people from 24 European countries and valuable landscapes. But now, nearly 30 years after the peaceful transition in 1989, the gaps in the European Green Belt cover already 50%. These gaps are not protected and are subject to adverse effects, like ongoing landscape fragmentation and ongoing chemo-industrial agriculture. Alarming signals of a new death zone are not only the gaps within the European Green Belt, but generally and closely related the mass extinction of species, climate change, resource depletion, financial and economic crisis, demographic change, emigration, unemployment and/or precarious work worldwide. To save the European Green Belt and life on earth there is a great need ofa 2^nd transformation to a life-sustaining world.
基金the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research(BMBF)for funding part of the work within the Kopernikus Initiative(‘Power-to-X’)under contract number P^(2)X-^(03)SFK2J0.
文摘Global plastics production is expected to exceed 400 million tons and reach 600 million tons by 2060.Their synthesis currently accounts for approximately 3%of global greenhouse gas emissions.Approximately 60%of all polymers are produced for single-use.Examples include shopping bags,packaging materials,mulch films,and soluble polymers for cosmetics and other purposes.Currently,only a portion of single-use plastic is recycled or disposed of in incinerators or landfills.An estimated 20%is not disposed of properly and pollutes the global environment,especially the oceans.In response to these challenges,the United Nations,European Union,and many nation-states are developing regulatory frameworks that encourage the chemical industry to produce plastics with a smaller environmental footprint and often support this through research funding.Possible solutions include:(1)the use of green energy,green hydrogen,bio-based feedstocks,or CO_(2) in synthesis;(2)the reuse or recycling of plastics through conversion or pyrolysis;and(3)the production of biodegradable polymers.The German chemical industry contributes approximately one-third of polymer production in the EU.It is embedded in the EU regulatory and research landscape and anchored in the European Green Deal,which aims for carbon neutrality by 2050.In this paper,we describe how BASF and Evonik,two leading German chemical companies with strong but different polymer portfolios,respond to the call for greener polymers and how technologies are being developed to make polyurethanes,a particularly important and difficult-to-recycle family of elastomers and duromers,renewable and circular.Reducing the environmental footprint of plastics requires not only innovative materials but also proper governance,regulatory and collection systems,and public willingness to cooperate.In an international comparison of these competencies,expressed by the"polymer management index"(PMI),Germany achieved a top position.
