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What’s happening with the environmental impact of e-cars?

Nora Szabó

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April 14, 2022

Environmental impact of e-cars: Are they – environmentally friendly or not? There are many arguments in favor of e-cars, but also some against. Here’s a fact check.

TOPICS IN THIS ARTICLE

A look inside the battery of an e-car
How big is the carbon footprint of a battery?
What can be improved in the environmental balance of an e-car?

A look inside the battery of an e-car
The battery is the heart of an electric car and has a significant impact on its environmental footprint. Without it, nothing moves; it stores energy for the charging process, provides power for the engine and is a decisive parameter for the car’s range.

What does it look like inside the battery?
What influence does the battery have on the vehicle’s carbon footprint?

The battery pack: powerful and safe

The battery pack of an electric car should not be thought of as a single component. Rather, it consists of numerous modules with multiple battery cells that are interconnected. In this way, the battery provides the necessary energy for the powertrain.

In addition to high energy and power density, the most important requirements are functionality and safety. The battery itself is therefore encased in a housing made of materials that are robust, flame-resistant and as light as possible. LANXESS is also developing its own solutions for the automotive industry.

Electromobility and Circular Economy Initiative We offer various chemicals for the field of electromobility. Flame retardants, coolants, high-tech thermoplastics for battery and electric powertrain components, but also starting materials for cathode materials and electrolyte components.

To meet the needs of electromobility, we launched our own Electromobility and Circular Economy Initiative in 2020.

Lithium brings the energy
Lithium-ion batteries are the most widely used. Why lithium? The electricity that is needed to power the engine and other units such as the steering, braking unit, heating, air conditioning and on-board computer is nothing more than a flow of electrons. The alkali metal has an important property for the battery: it releases its electrons very easily into the current flow and has a low intrinsic mass. Essentially, the more lithium in the battery electrodes, the higher the capacity. In addition, lithium-ion batteries show limited aging during charging and discharging.

Lithium extraction at LANXESS
LANXESS is also active in the field of lithium extraction. Together with the Canadian company Standard Lithium, we are currently conducting a study on the economic viability and technical feasibility of the industrial production of battery-grade lithium carbonate. A corresponding facility could be built at one of our plants in the United States. LANXESS is currently mining brine for the production of bromine products at this plant. Standard Lithium is contributing an innovative process for extracting high-purity lithium from the brine to the cooperation. We expect the results of the study before the end of the year.

What is the carbon footprint of a battery?
Electric vehicles are considered climate-friendly. After all, no fossil fuels such as gasoline or diesel are burned to power the engine. This also eliminates carbon dioxide emissions.

However, if we look only at the production process, the environmental balance of electric cars is initially worse than that of vehicles with internal combustion engines, according to the German Federal Ministry for the Environment.

Reasons for this include:

A large proportion of the batteries currently come from Asia. There, the share of coal-based power generation is significantly larger than in Germany.
More raw materials are needed, including larger quantities of cobalt, copper and nickel. But the extraction of these raw materials is energy-intensive, associated with high environmental burdens, and in some cases ethically problematic.
Large amounts of CO 2 are also produced in intermediate products such as steel, aluminum and plastics due to the high energy input.

Comparison of CO 2 emissions of “electric cars” vs. conservative vehicles

Over the entire life cycle, however, the climate balance of the e-car compares favorably with vehicles running on gasoline or diesel engines. Significantly less carbon dioxide is produced during driving and energy supply. This overcompensates for the electric vehicle’s poorer carbon dioxide emissions in production, maintenance and disposal. According to the German Ministry of Environment, electric vehicles already produce 30 percent less greenhouse gases than gasoline-powered vehicles. Compared to a diesel vehicle, the figure is 23 percent. With the planned expansion of renewable energies in Germany in the coming years, this advantage will increase further.

What can be done to improve the environmental performance of e-cars?
There is potential for improving the environmental performance of electric vehicles. According to the Swedish Environmental Institute IVL and the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI), the use of renewable energies in production plays a particularly important role here. Usage of such energy currently is still low but increasing more and more.

In addition, work is being done on other technologies that are more environmentally friendly. Currently, for example, there are some promising pilot projects for the use of combined lithium and sodium-ion battery systems for electric vehicles. These would be more resource-efficient because they do not require cobalt or nickel.

What is the impact of recycling processes?
With regard to a more sustainable use of raw materials in battery production, recycling processes are becoming increasingly important. Legal recycling quotas play a central role here. For example, since 2016, a minimum collection quota of 45 percent has already applied to the member states of the European Union for the recycling of lithium-ion batteries. However, the ISI still sees further potential for recycling the materials contained in the batteries.

Geissmann Renews Its Confidence in Comexi with the Acquisition of a 10-Color F2 MP Press

Nora Szabó

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April 14, 2022

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The flexographic printing press will allow the Swiss company to further strengthen its leadership position in the highly competitive Swiss market

Comexi, a global supplier of solutions for the flexible packaging printing and converting sector, and Geissmann Papier AG, a Swiss company that specializes in the production of flexible packaging, have strengthened their strategic alliance with the acquisition by the Swiss company of a Comexi F2 MP. This central drum flexographic press machine, to be installed at the Dottikon headquarters in early 2022, will allow Geissmann Papier AG to further strengthen its leading position in the highly demanding Swiss market.

“We are very pleased to have Geissmann as a strategic loyal customer for many years,” explains Ramon Jonama, the Comexi Area Manager of this region, who highlights that the F2 MP flexographic press is the third Comexi machine acquired by the Swiss company. Jonama emphasizes that “once again we are able to offer Geissmann the highest quality and technology, as well as impeccable service.” The 10-color F2 MP press achieves these objectives through great mechanical robustness, the most precise electronics and automation at the highest level. Consequently, it is of no importance the difficulty level of print orders; the maximum quality and productivity will be achieved repeatedly. In reference to long runs, the machine effortlessly prints at 500 m/min. Simultaneously, due to the built-in automation, job changeover and set-up are rapidly performed, which greatly increases productivity when runs are short.

Geissmann also benefits from the latest advances in service and spare parts. Comexi has invested a great deal, and constantly integrates the best human team, advanced diagnostic
systems, as well as an exhaustive stock of spare parts that allows all the strategic parts and components ready to ship, etc. As a result, any problem, irregardless of size, is resolved in record time, and all Comexi machines, those installed many years ago as well as recently, unfailingly operate without interruption. Furthermore, production control and traceability are fully implemented.

Founded in 1942 as a family business, Geissmann Papier AG is currently managed by the third generation, with Daniel Geissman as the executive director; the company employs approximately 60 people. In the beginning, primarily mono films and carrier bags were produced. Throughcompany growth as well as high machinery investments, innovation, and new market orientation, Geissmann Papier AG presently produces, for many years, a variety of high-quality papers, films, and complexes. These products are supplied in the form of reels and bags for the flexible packaging industry, primarily food, from a wide range of raw materials.

“We have invested in this flexographic press because we know Comexi’s excellent technology. This press machine has evident synergies with our other Comexi machines, both printing and laminating,” says Daniel Geissmann.

The Comexi F2 MP has been designed to meet long run printing needs of the flexible packaging sector. The F2 MP is the origin and basis of the F2 family, and so it features every ergonomic and robust solution of the F2 family. It incorporates every GeniusTech solution that assists printers to conquer the main challenges they currently face, which include a lack of skilled operators, a job length reduction, and an increased number of job changes, among others.

Between all GeniusTech solutions, maximum importance has been given to all these that focus in providing the highest printing quality at high speed, like the GeniusRun which eliminates the bouncing, the GeniusDry for the maximum drying performances at high speed, and GeniusDoctoring for a trouble-free ink transfer.

Sustainability has also been taken into account in the design of the Comexi F2 MP, so along with the different energy efficiency solutions we can find a dedicated version for Water Base inks, or a hybrid machine for Water Base, Electron Beam or Solvent Base inks

Mondi acquires production assets of Lafarge Cement Egypt to strengthen its position in the region

Nora Szabó

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April 14, 2022

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Mondi acquires production assets of Lafarge Cement Egypt to strengthen its position in the region

Mondi Paper Bags has acquired the paper bag converting lines from Lafarge Cement Egypt, part of Holcim Group.
Mondi’s paper bag production volume in Egypt will increase by around 150-180 million bags annually.
New long-term supply agreement means Mondi will become a key supplier of paper bags to Lafarge Cement Egypt.

13 April 2022 – Mondi Paper Bags, part of Mondi Group, a leading global packaging and paper manufacturer, has acquired the paper bag converting lines from National Bag and Egypt Sack, two subsidiaries of Lafarge Cement Egypt, a major cement producer in the country. The acquired production lines will increase Mondi’s capacity by around 150-180 million bags annually and strengthen Mondi’s position in the Egyptian paper bag market. Mondi Paper Bags already operates two plants in Egypt and with this acquisition will become a key supplier of paper bags to Lafarge Cement Egypt.

“Lafarge Cement Egypt is part of leading global building material company Holcim Group who has been a key global customer of Mondi Paper Bags for years. We are excited to have signed a long-term supply agreement with Lafarge Cement Egypt and to servicing them locally in Egypt. The collaboration will offer Lafarge access to our latest innovations, industry expertise, strong plant network and customer service. Thanks to Mondi’s vertical integration, Lafarge will further benefit from our high quality kraft paper,” said Claudio Fedalto, Chief Operating Officer of Mondi Paper Bags.

“We are pleased to now expand Holcim’s and Mondi’s global and long-standing cooperation also to Egypt and are looking forward to jointly serving the building industry in the region,” said Solomon Baumgartner Aviles, CEO, Lafarge Cement Egypt.

Sustainable packaging takes centre stage at Westfalia Fruit’ in France

Nora Szabó

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April 14, 2022

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Westfalia Fruit’s business in France, has launched a new range of environmentally and consumer friendly packaging for avocados that dramatically reduces and replaces the use of plastic, eliminating altogether the use of black plastic which is difficult to recycle, whilst successfully maintaining fruit quality. These industry leading initiatives, were stringently researched and developed in advance of a new law banning plastic packaging on most fruit and vegetables, which came into effect in France from New Year’s Day 2022. Cucumbers, lemons and oranges are among the 30 varieties banned from being wrapped in plastic according to the new law.

These sustainable packaging alternative solutions include options with no plastic, or a significant reduction in plastic, reflecting Westfalia’s industry leadership in environmental sustainability including waste and carbon emission reductions.

Zero plastic options include a cardboard tray with a paper label or a paper band, that are fully compostable. Both are made with Forest Stewardship Council materials, guaranteeing that the cardboard used has been sourced from sustainably managed forests that consider people, wildlife and the environment in the long term. The FSC is the only timber certification scheme endorsed by the conservation organisation WWF. A heat seal film option includes recyclable plastic which contains a QR code on the packaging directing consumers to details of where they can recycle their plastic rubbish. A paper lid is also in development for this packaging.

Additional solutions include an FSC certified string bag and zero packaging natural laser marking on the skin of the avocado itself permitting logo & messaging placement.

“We have worked hard to remove plastic from our packaging to contribute to solving the plastic waste challenge and to lower our carbon footprint. We are delighted to take a proactive approach in implementing industry leading initiatives, enabling compliance to respective laws whilst offering a host of solutions for our customers and consumers,” said Johnathan Sutton, Group Safety & Environmental Executive at Westfalia Fruit.

The packaging initiatives have been introduced and adopted as solutions by a wide range of retailers in France.

SINGLE-POINT CONCENTRCITY EXTRUSION TOOLING FROM GUILL

Nora Szabó

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April 14, 2022

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Guill Tool & Engineering (West Warwick, Rhode Island) introduces a new single-point concentricity extrusion crosshead that uses micro-fine adjustment screws for precise concentricity adjustment. The precision of concentricity reaches 0.008” or finer per revolution. This single point concentricity adjustment is a unique Guill innovation for the extrusion of thin-walled jacketing and precision ID/OD tubing. One adjustment bolt controls 360° of adjustment.

Features of the single-point crosshead include a patented cam-lock deflector for quick changeovers, with a residence time of one minute at .5 lb/hr material flow, optimized usage with extruders measuring ½” and ¾”, and a max die ID of .250.”

Additionally, the Guill single-point crosshead offers great flexibility to its users. It not only accepts both vacuum and micro-air accessories, but is also ideal for pressure and sleeving applications. Fluoropolymer designs are available upon request.

Enhanced Ergonomics for Consumer Electronics

Nora Szabó

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April 14, 2022

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KRAIBURG TPE is enthusiastically developing TPE solutions for consumer electronics to meet new trends that focus on sustainability, safety, and functionality. Thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) are fast gaining popularity among industry players thanks its durability, flexibility, and reliability in consumer electronics applications – including a wide range of products and devices for entertainment, communication, and recreation.

Designing for Flexibility and Consistency
KRAIBURG TPE’s compounds offer a variety of material solutions for the consumer electronic markets. These include good mechanical properties such as resistance to scratches, abrasions, and chemicals, and allow for colourful and soft-touch designs. The compounds are also free from heavy metals and other substances like latex, PVCs or phthalates to assure hazard-free use of the devices among the consumers.

Furthermore, to ease safety concerns, KRAIBURG TPE has selective TPE compounds, certified as per the UL94HB flammability, which determines the material’s burn rate once ignited to prevent a fire risk.

Typical consumer electronic applications include watch and wrist bands, headphones, ear tips, game consoles, wireless automatic sensor, car phone holders and chargers, virtual reality (VR) devices, remote controls, and more.

Assortment of color options available
Besides benefiting from the compounds that display a wide processing window, KRAIBURG TPE offers worldwide color consistency quality, with various colorability options available for consumer electronic product designers and manufacturers.

World’s first LED lights developed from rice husks

Nora Szabó

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April 14, 2022

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Milling rice to separate the grain from the husks produces about 100 million tons of rice husk waste globally each year. Scientists searching for a scalable method to fabricate quantum dots have developed a way to recycle rice husks to create the first silicon quantum dot (QD) LED light. Their new method transforms agricultural waste into state-of-the-art light-emitting diodes in a low-cost, environmentally friendly way.

“Since typical QDs often involve toxic material, such as cadmium, lead, or other heavy metals, environmental concerns have been frequently deliberated when using nanomaterials. Our proposed process and fabrication method for QDs minimizes these concerns,” said Ken-ichi Saitow, lead study author and a professor of chemistry at Hiroshima University.

Since porous silicon (Si) was discovered in the 1950s, scientists have explored its uses in applications in lithium-ion batteries, luminescent materials, biomedical sensors, and drug delivery systems. Non-toxic and found abundantly in nature, Si has photoluminescence properties, stemming from its microscopic (quantum-sized) dot structures that serve as semiconductors.

Aware of the environmental concerns surrounding the current quantum dots, the researchers set out to find a new method for fabricating quantum dots that has a positive environmental impact. Waste rice husks, it turns out, are an excellent source of high-purity silica (SiO2) and value-added Si powder.

The team used a combination of milling, heat treatments, and chemical etching to process the rice husk silica: First, they milled rice husks and extracted silica (SiO2) powders by burning off organic compounds of milled rice husks. Second, they heated the resulting silica powder in an electric furnace to obtain Si powders via a reduction reaction. Third, the product was a purified Si powder that was further reduced to 3 nanometer in size by chemical etching. Finally, its surface was chemically functionalized for high chemical stability and high dispersivity in solvent, with 3 nm crystalline particles to produce the SiQDs that luminesce in the orange-red range with high luminescence efficiency of over 20%.

“This is the first research to develop an LED from waste rice husks,” said Saitow, adding that the non-toxic quality of silicon makes them an attractive alternative to current semiconducting quantum dots available today.

“The present method becomes a noble method for developing environmentally friendly quantum dot LEDs from natural products,” he said.

The LEDs were assembled as a series of material layers. An indium-tin-oxide (ITO) glass substrate was the LED anode; it is a good conductor of electricity while sufficiently transparent for light emission. Additional layers were spin-coated onto the ITO glass, including the layer of SiQDs. The material was capped with an aluminum film cathode.

The chemical synthesis method the team developed has allowed them to evaluate the optical and optoelectrical properties of the SiQD light-emitting diode, including the structures, synthesis yields, and properties of the SiO2 and Si powders and SiQDs.

“By synthesizing high-yield SiQDs from rich husks and dispersing them in organic solvents, it is possible that one day these processes could be implemented on a large scale, like other high-yield chemical processes,” Saitow said.

The team’s next steps include developing higher efficiency luminescence in the SiQDs and the LEDs. They will also explore the possibility of producing SiQD LEDs other than the orange-red color they have just created. Looking ahead, the scientists suggest that the method they have developed could be applied to other plants, such as sugar cane bamboo, wheat, barley, or grasses, that contain SiO2. These natural products and their wastes might hold the potential for being transformed into non-toxic optoelectronic devices. Ultimately, the scientists would like to see commercialization of this eco-friendly approach to creating luminescent devices from rice husk waste.

https://www.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/

Light, oxygen turn waste plastics into useful benzoic acid

Nora Szabó

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April 14, 2022

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Styrofoam egg cartons, hard plastic compact disc cases, red drinking cups and many other common products are composed of polystyrene, a type of plastic that makes up a third of landfill waste worldwide.

“In terms of plastic production and end-of-life waste streams, we are on the road to an unsustainable future,” said Erin Stache, assistant professor of chemistry and chemical biology in the College of Arts and Sciences.

But there’s good news: Stache has discovered a new path for polystyrene waste that includes being upcycled into benzoic acid, a chemical with wide commercial demand, through a mild process that uses light, an oxygen-rich environment and an abundant iron-based catalyst. The reaction can even take place in a sunny window.

In line with her lab’s mission to tackle environmental concerns through interesting chemistry, the new process is mild, climate-friendly and scalable to commercial waste streams, Stache said. It efficiently produces benzoic acid, a product stocked in undergraduate and high school chemistry labs and also used in fragrances, food preservatives, and other ubiquitous products.

Moreover, the process is tolerant of additives inherent in a flow of consumer waste, including dirt, dyes and other types of plastics.

Polystyrene (PS) plastics vary widely in form, use and texture – from light, airy Styrofoam to hard CD cases, and many forms in between. All these products are similar in chemical composition, Stache said.

“The difference is in how they are processed,” she said. “Polystyrene foam, or Styrofoam, is filled with air, like a meringue, whereas a hard plastic CD case is solid polystyrene.”

At the molecular level, polymers (plastics) are composed of hundreds of small molecules called monomers assembled into long molecular chains through complicated processes, Stache said. Breaking down a polymer can be similarly intricate.

The researchers found that optimized conditions require a PS sample in acetone exposed to LED light in an oxygen-rich environment, using an iron chloride catalyst for 20 hours. In the optimized process, PS broke down to 23% benzoic acid. Other products included smaller plastic molecules that can be repurposed in other ways.

Last summer, Stache’s lab ran some degradation experiments in a sunny window; in a place with strong year-round sunlight, the reaction could be done outdoors.

“The advantage of using light is you can get exquisite control over the chemical process based on some of the catalysts we’ve developed to harness the white light. If we can use sunlight to drive the process, that’s a win-win,” Stache said, noting that many existing polymer recycling require heating a polymer for melting and processing, which usually requires fossil fuel.

To test the tolerance of the process to other materials mixed with the PS plastic, the researchers used several products, ranging from packaging materials to coffee cup lids.

They found that three items – a white coffee cup lid, Styrofoam and a clear lid – degraded efficiently. A black coffee cup lid degraded less efficiently, possibly because the black dyes inhibit light penetration, Stache said.

“These results signify that our system could efficiently break down commercial samples of PS, even with additional composite and insoluble material,” she said.

To demonstrate scalability and potential commercial application, the researchers created a setup with two syringe pumps and two LED lamps in a 3D-printed photoreactor. The efficiency of the breakdown process at the large scale was similar to that in small batches.

“If we can make the process even more efficient, we can think about how to commercialize it and use it to address waste streams,” Stache said.

https://www.cornell.edu/