Japanese carbon fibre producer Toray Industries Inc and German car maker Daimler AG have signed a joint development agreement (JDA) to develop automotive parts made of carbon fibre reinforced plastics (CFRP).
30 April, 2010
The US wind industry installed 539 MW in the first quarter of 2010, the lowest first quarter figure since 2007.
30 April, 2010
New renewable energy projects in the first quarter of 2010 increased 250% in terms of value to US$224 billion compared to Q1 2009, according to the EIC’s quarterly report EIC Monitor.
30 April, 2010
SAERTEX has received Germanischer Lloyd (GL) approval for its SAERfix® EP self-adhesive fabrics, confirming their suitability for composite applications in combination with epoxy resins.
30 April, 2010
Hexcel Corporation reports net sales for the first quarter of 2010 of US$263.0 million, 14.4% down on the first quarter of 2009.
29 April, 2010
Indian Energy Ltd has closed project finance with State Bank of India for its 16.5 MW wind farm at Theni in Tamil Nadu, India.
29 April, 2010
The Helios Foundation for Sustainable Development, a not-for-profit venture to improve access to affordable and sustainable energy for low-income communities in developing countries, has been set up by former executives of Scottish Power and Shell.
29 April, 2010
Vestas has entered agreements with EDP Renováveis and four Chinese power producers for the delivery of up to 2298 MW of wind turbines.
29 April, 2010
The US Department of the Interior (DoI) has approved the first US offshore wind farm – the Cape Wind project – off the coast of Massachusetts.
29 April, 2010
Ashland Performance Materials has taken full control of its Brazilian joint venture company.
29 April, 2010
The UK offshore wind industry has reached 1 GW of installed capacity as two offshore wind farms off the coast of Britain began generating electricity: Robin Rigg operated by EON and Gunfleet Sands operated by DONG Energy.
28 April, 2010
Vestas saw a €82 million loss after tax in the first quarter (Q1) of 2010 compared to a profit of €56m in Q1 2009.
28 April, 2010
Boeing has begun a series of extreme weather tests on its 787 Dreamliner aircraft in Florida.
28 April, 2010
Syrgis Performance Initiators has announced a global price increase for its Norox®, Superox® and Andonox® ketone peroxide products sold to the composites market.
28 April, 2010
Small wind power in China could reach 3-10 GW of installed capacity in 2010 if a set of measures laid out by a small wind roadmap for China.
27 April, 2010
From 1 May, Scott Bader will become the exclusive distributor of METYX Composites products in the UK and Ireland.
27 April, 2010
Skykon A/S has acquired facilities of 100,000 m2 at the former Lindoe shipyard in Denmark for the development offshore wind products for projects in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea.
27 April, 2010
EconCore is producing honeycomb cores and sandwich panels made from bio-based plastics.
27 April, 2010
The following stories were the most popular with visitors to the Reinforced Plastics website last week.
26 April, 2010
Eastern Petrochemical Company (EPETCO) has signed a loan contract for 200 million Saudi riyals (US$54 million) from the Saudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF) to build a plant for the production of corrosion resistant E-CR glass fibre in Saudi Arabia.
26 April, 2010
Wind power could reduce electricity prices according to a European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) study.
26 April, 2010
GKN Aerospace is working with Airbus to design and build the fixed trailing edge (FTE) of the composite wings for the new A350 XWB aircraft.
26 April, 2010
SGL Kümpers, together with EADS Innovation Works (IW) and Airbus Operations GmbH, has invented a highly automated process for the production of preforms for use in manufacturing carbon composite aircraft fuselages.
25 April, 2010
Ashland Performance Materials has announced the availability of its full line of high performance Enguard™ gel-coats in India.
24 April, 2010
The Tûranor PlanetSolar composite catamaran will aim to sail around the world powered only by solar energy.
23 April, 2010
Central and Eastern and Europe (CEE) is boosting its renewable energy market making it attractive for investors and suppliers, according to analysts Frost & Sullivan.
23 April, 2010
Owens Corning has established an excellence center for technical fabrics at its manufacturing facility in Zele, Belgium.
23 April, 2010
Wind energy could meet 50% of the EU’s electricity demand in 2050, according to speakers at the European Wind Energy Conference and Exhibition (EWEC 2010) in April.
23 April, 2010
The TungstenW Biometric wallet is made out of carbon fibre and features a biometric fingerprint reader which ensures only the owner can open the wallet.
23 April, 2010
REpower Systems AG will deliver 44 wind turbines to Al Yel ELektrik, a subsidiary of Akuo Energy SAS, for a Turkish wind project.
22 April, 2010
Zoltek Companies Inc is forming a new subsidiary, called Zoltek Automotive Inc, to speed up the development of high-volume applications for carbon fibres within the automotive industry.
22 April, 2010
DIAB has announced that it has reached an agreement with Gurit, producer of Corecell M-Foam, that Gurit shall remove all comparisons and references to DIAB Divinycell H80 core material products in its marketing materials.
22 April, 2010
Composite panels are being used in the contemporary design of Sheraton Hotel currently under construction Milan Malpensa Airport in Italy.
22 April, 2010
Composite materials specialist Gurit and Elbe Flugzeugwerke GmbH (EFW) have signed a memorandum of understanding to extend their cooperation in the area of floor panel materials for Airbus aircraft.
21 April, 2010
Glass fibre reinforcement supplier 3B and carbon nanotube (CNT) producer Nanocyl have signed a joint development agreement to develop reinforcement solutions for composite applications combining glass fibre with CNT-based sizing.
21 April, 2010
A design for a floating tidal stream power generator is claimed to solve the maintenance issues that plague existing offshore turbine systems, according to the latest issue (163 EN1) of the ICE Energy journal.
21 April, 2010
AkzoNobel Functional Chemicals has announced a price increase for its range of curing agents for thermoset resins in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA).
21 April, 2010
Wind turbine blade manufacturer LM Glasfiber has changed its name to LM Wind Power.
21 April, 2010
Lockheed Martin will deliver a long-range air surveillance radar system to the UK overcoming sensor performance issues commonly caused by the rotating blades of wind turbines.
20 April, 2010
DSM is introducing two bio-based resins for the automotive industry – a bio-based thermoset resin for producing vehicle body panels, and a bio-based thermoplastic resin suitable for use in the engine compartment.
20 April, 2010
Siemens Energy is launching its SWT-3.0-101 3 MW direct drive wind turbine.
20 April, 2010
WinWinD’s delivery of a 24 MW wind farm to Aseri, Estonia, has been confirmed.
20 April, 2010
‘Roadmap 2050: a practical guide to a prosperous, low-carbon Europe’ outlining various scenarios for renewable energy in Europe, has been published by the European Climate Foundation (ECF).
20 April, 2010
JEC Composites reports 27 500 visitors to its 2010 exhibition in Paris on 13-15 April.
20 April, 2010
China took the lead from the United States last year for clean energy finance and investment, although the USA still leads in renewable energy capacity.
20 April, 2010
Countries in East Asia can minimise greenhouse gas emissions without threatening their growth by using renewable energy, according to a new report from the World Bank, but governments must act now.
20 April, 2010
AOC LLC has announced a price increase for vinyl ester resins, unsaturated polyester resins and gel-coats in the USA and Canada.
20 April, 2010
AOC LLC has announced a price increase for all polyester and vinyl ester resins for Asia and the Middle East.
20 April, 2010
3B is launching a new pultrusion mat that is said to produce parts with more uniform colours, high gloss and low surface waviness, as well as high mechanical performance.
19 April, 2010
Cytec Industries Inc's Engineered Materials division has been recognised as Supplier of the Year by The Boeing Company.
19 April, 2010
The following stories were the most popular with visitors to the Reinforced Plastics website last week.
19 April, 2010
Owens Corning says its Composites App Challenge is designed find new applications for composite materials. Total competition prize money of US$250 000 is available.
19 April, 2010
Glasgow-based measurement and testing specialist, TUV NEL, and the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) to assist the growth of the UK’s wind energy industry.
19 April, 2010
AOC LLC has announced a price increase for all polyester and vinyl ester resins shipped to and within Mexico.
19 April, 2010
DSM Composite Resins, through its subsidiary Euroresins Kompozit Ürünler Tic Ltd Sti (Euroresins Turkey) (ERT), has outlined plans for closer cooperation with Turkish company Dyo Boya Fabrikalari Sanayi ve Tic AS (DYO).
19 April, 2010
Ashland Performance Materials has announced a toll manufacturing and distribution agreement with Boytek Resins of Turkey. Boytek currently distributes Ashland’s Derakane® epoxy vinyl ester resins in Turkey.
19 April, 2010
Cray Valley has announced a further price increase for all unsaturated polyester resins and their derivates sold to the composites and cast polymer industries in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.
19 April, 2010
Hexion Specialty Chemicals Inc has announced a price increase for all of its polyester and vinyl ester resins for the composites market in North America.
19 April, 2010
Global standards for wave and tidal power devices are being developed by the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC).
16 April, 2010
Windstream Wolfe Island Shoals Inc will develop Canada’s first offshore wind farm.
16 April, 2010
Oil giant BP says it will spend over US$1 billion in 2010 on alternative and renewable energy.
16 April, 2010
The EU can switch to 100% renewable energy by 2050, according to RE-Thinking 2050, a report from the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC).
15 April, 2010
Global wind power capacity could increase by 160% over the next five years, according to the Global Wind Energy Council’s (GWEC) annual wind industry forecast.
15 April, 2010
Ocean Power Technologies Inc has won a US$1.5 million award from the US Department of Energy (DoE) for the development of OPT's next generation PowerBuoy® wave power system.
15 April, 2010
Platina Partners LLP is buying 52 MW of the 140 MW Fruges wind farms in Pas de Calais, France, worth €71.3 million.
15 April, 2010
The UK Crown Estate is inviting expressions of interest for a tidal energy project in the Inner Sound between Caithness on the Scottish mainland and the island of Stroma.
15 April, 2010
StrutTech, a US manufacturer of reinforced plastic strut support systems, is trading in its pultruded strut channels made of vinyl ester and polyester for a pultruded profile made of polyurethane.
15 April, 2010
MISTRAS Group Inc has delivered two ultrasonic immersion systems for inspection of carbon composite components to HITCO Carbon Composites Inc.
14 April, 2010
The US Navy and the US Department of Agriculture have launched a partnership to promote the use of renewable energy.
14 April, 2010
Future opportunities for glass reinforced plastics in Brazil, Russia, India and China (the BRIC countries) are good, according to Chuck Dana, group president of the Owens Corning Composite Solutions Business.
13 April, 2010
GDF SUEZ has completed the construction of its first UK wind farm project at Craigengelt, near Stirling, in Scotland.
13 April, 2010
The first major solar facility in India will be used to power a stadium to be used in this year’s Commonwealth Games.
13 April, 2010
Hexion Specialty Chemicals Inc has opened its new epoxy resin plant in Esslingen, Germany. It produces epoxy resins and bonding pastes used in the manufacture of large composite wind turbine blades.
12 April, 2010
Eneco UK Ltd has received the rights to develop a 51 MW wind farm on the Lochluichart Estate in the Scottish Highlands from Infinergy, which has developed the project through to Section 36 consent.
12 April, 2010
DONG Energy has submitted a binding tender to build a 400 MW offshore wind farm outside Denmark.
12 April, 2010
A solar powered airplane has taken its first major test flight from an airfield in western Switzerland.
12 April, 2010
Boeing has announced that all test requirements were successfully met during the 787 Dreamliner’s ultimate load wing and fuselage bending test. This follows a thorough analysis of the results from a test on the 787 static test airframe.
12 April, 2010
Ashland Performance Materials is increasing the price of its complete portfolio of resins and gel-coats produced and sold in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) from 1 May.
09 April, 2010
Composites manufacturer Janicki Industries provided tooling for most of the carbon fibre components of the BMW ORACLE Racing yacht – the winner of the 33rd America's Cup. The company also manufactured moulds for the yacht's wing sail.
09 April, 2010
Siemens will deliver 208 MW worth of wind turbines to two wind projects – one in Germany and one in Canada.
09 April, 2010
REpower will deliver 15 wind turbines to Poland and 18 wind turbines to Italy, totalling 67.65 MW.
09 April, 2010
VISTAGY Inc has announced that Sinomatech Wind Power Blade Co Ltd of China has purchased its FiberSIM® composites engineering software to help streamline its design-to-manufacturing process.
09 April, 2010
The US wind energy industry employs 85,000 people, according to the annual industry market report released by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA).
08 April, 2010
The USA has made US$37.5 million available over the next five years to support the US-China Clean Energy Research Center for research into clean and renewable energy.
08 April, 2010
WindWinD says its new wind turbine facility, based in Hamina, Finland will produce 3 MW wind turbines and increase its total capacity potential tenfold.
08 April, 2010
Pattern Energy Group LP and Manitoba Hydro-Electric Board have entered into a 27-year power purchase agreement for the 138 MW St. Joseph wind farm in the Manitoba community of St. Joseph.
08 April, 2010
Vestas has announced three wind turbine supply deals to the USA, Australia and Turkey over recent weeks totalling up to 460 MW.
08 April, 2010
Australia must invest billions in renewable energy over the next decade to achieve its 2020 target of lower GHG emissions, according to Siemens.
08 April, 2010
Lewcott Corporation's FM5LF polyester prepreg is designed for tubular radome applications. It is currently being used in high performance antennae radomes for military vehicles such as the Humvee, MATV and MRAP.
08 April, 2010
Testing of the Bombardier CSeries aircraft’s composite demonstrator wing is under way. The new aircraft is scheduled to enter service in 2013.
07 April, 2010
A consortium of 23 companies led by GKN Aerospace has won a competition for a £5 million prize awarded to British business to develop innovative composite manufacturing techniques for high-performance, high-value products.
07 April, 2010
The UK Government has pledged £4 million to a partnership to fund a new radar system for the Greater Wash to address wind turbine interference.
07 April, 2010
Carbon composites are being used to strengthen the West Gate Bridge in Melbourne, Australia.
07 April, 2010
The UK Government will invest up to £5 million for marine energy development in the UK.
07 April, 2010
Carbon fibre producer SGL Group and car maker BMW Group have announced that their joint venture, SGL Automotive Carbon Fibers LLC, will build a carbon fibre manufacturing plant in Moses Lake, Washington, USA. US$100 million will be invested initially and 80 local jobs created.
07 April, 2010
The Governor of Virginia has signed renewable energy legislation aiming to make the state ‘the energy capital of the east coast.’
07 April, 2010
The Renewables Obligation in Britain should be replaced with a carbon price, says the Institute of Directors (IoD) in its response to a government consultation.
07 April, 2010
VISTAGY Inc has announced that aerospace company BAE Systems has upgraded to its FiberSIM® 2009 composites engineering software as it migrates from the CATIA V4 computer aided design (CAD) platform to CATIA V5.
06 April, 2010
Consumption of all renewable energies in the United States last year increased by 5.5% over 2008 levels.
06 April, 2010
The Teijin Group has unveiled a 'super-lightweight' electric concept car made with proprietary technologies including carbon fibre composites, polycarbonate resins and bio-derived polyester.
06 April, 2010
The following stories were the most popular with visitors to the Reinforced Plastics website last week.
06 April, 2010
“Intractable by design, therefore significantly challenging to recycle,” is Jan-Michael Gosau’s assessment of the technological task of reclaiming carbon fibres from epoxy-predominant carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) because the continuous reinforcement is chemically well bonded to the crosslinked matrix resin.
05 April, 2010
Ragasco AS, a producer of composite LPG containers in Norway, is in the process of acquiring Composite Scandinavia AB, a Swedish company which also produces composite LPG containers.
03 April, 2010
Resin Systems Inc's RStandard® polyurethane composite utility poles have withstood a direct hit by a tornado in Texas and weathered the harsh conditions of a Scandinavian winter.
02 April, 2010
The following stories were the most popular with visitors to the Reinforced Plastics website during the month of March.
01 April, 2010
A US$1.1 million grant by the Ohio Third Frontier Advanced Energy Program is funding a research project to fabricate composite wind turbine towers from resin supplied by Ashland Performance Materials.
01 April, 2010