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[GreenBiz.com > News > Design & Innovation, Materials]

NEC Makes Cashew-Based Bioplastic for Electronics

By GreenerDesign Staff
Published August 27, 2010
Tags: Design & Innovation, Materials

TOKYO, Japan — Electronics company NEC has developed a bioplastic made with an extract from cashew nut shells and plant cellulose that is twice as strong as another bioplastic typically made from corn starch.

NEC says its using only non-edible plant resources to make its bioplastic, which is 70 percent plant material. That portion is mainly cellulose that is modified with cardanol, an oil-like material taken from cashew shells and a byproduct from cashew processing.

The company says its material is twice as strong, more than twice as heat resistant and molds in half the time as bioplastic made from polylactic acid resin, which is typically derived from corn starch or sugarcane. NEC's bioplastic is also three times more water resistant and almost one and half times more heat resistant than bioplastic made from cellulose acetate.

NEC plans to continue research on the bioplastic and work towards mass production of the material, expecting to make it available for use in electronics by mid-2014.


[GreenBiz.com > News > Energy Efficiency, Government, More...]

German Army Enlists Johnson Controls to Boost Energy Efficiency

By GreenerBuildings Staff
Published August 27, 2010
Tags: Energy Efficiency, Government, More... Energy Efficiency, Government, Renewable Energy, Resource Efficiency, Retrofits, Sustainable Sites

DIEZ, Germany — As the U.S. military musters efforts to lighten its environmental bootprint, the German Army also is striving to march down a green path and has enlisted Johnson Controls Inc. to retrofit the Oranienstein base in Diez.

The 9-acre facility that houses the medical command center for the German Army occupies a historic site whose distinguishing features include a 17th castle, Schloss Oranienstein (pictured left) and a museum.

Johnson Controls announced yesterday that it had signed a 10-year energy performance contract with the German Army and has already begun the retrofit at Oranienstein, where energy costs are currently about 475,000 a year (almost $606,000 in U.S. dollars).

The project, which is scheduled for completion before the end of the year, is expected to deliver annual energy cost savings of 49 percent and an annual reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 55 percent.

The 1.3 million-euro project (about $1.7 million USD), whose costs will be covered by the savings realized during the 10 years of the performance contract, emphasizes renewable energy, lighting upgrades and stepping up the building control system on the site.

The project calls for:

> Replacing an 850kW oil boiler by a woodchip boiler.
> Installing two mini-gas fired combined heat and power plants (CHP).
> Constructing a gas pipeline for the CHP.
> Changing the warm water supply in several buildings.
> Installing a central water-softening plant.
> Replacing lighting.
> Installing meters and modernizing controls and the monitoring station at the site.

Johnson Controls also has an efficiency retrofit underway at the Germany Army base in Aulenbach, where performance targets following the project are a hefty 69 percent reduction in annual energy costs and a 76 percent reduction in GHG emissions.

Johnson Controls' projects with the U.S. military include a $34.1 million energy efficiency and conservation project at the naval base in Guam, an energy savings performance contract with the army's Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, and an energy savings performance plan at Fort Bliss in Texas