SusChem defines future technology requirements for Energy Storage and sustainable Polymer Composites

Today (19 June 2018), the European Technology Platform for Sustainable Chemistry (SusChem) is publishing two white papers outlining the future research and innovation requirements for Battery Energy Storage technologies and the technology and non-technology requirements for integrating Polymer Composites fully into the Circular Economy.

The two papers are designed to stimulate debate on future research and innovation programmes, including Horizon Europe, in the two areas. Both papers have been produced by expert teams for SusChem and give a view of the current market, the technologies and the opportunities and challenges ahead.

In both cases a through-the-value-chain holistic European innovation programme is needed, an approach that SusChem has championed before in response to other complex societal challenges.'

Battery Storage
The ‘Battery Energy Storage’ paper investigates the current state of battery storage technologies in Europe, the main challenges, and suggests actions for the future. The paper builds on the views of stakeholders in the European battery value chain and, in particular, the chemical industry and raw material suppliers.

“The increase of Renewable Energy Sources has highlighted the next challenge: storage of energy when demand is lower than the supply. Among the different technologies, batteries have the highest cost reduction potential now. The growing need for European energy independence and security pushes for more 'in-house' developments and installation. European players should focus on developing battery cell production capacity in Europe in order to complete the value chain and allow a full integration, from material to final batteries,” comments Anne.-Chloe Devic, coordinator of the SusChem Materials Working Group.

Composites for circularity
The ‘Polymer Composites Circularity’ paper examines the technology and non-technology requirements to ensure that these advanced materials, that are featuring in an increasing number of applications, can be successfully integrated into the circular economy.

“The growing demand of polymer composites, together with the increase in number of applications raises the question: what will happen to all the composite waste that is generated either from production or end-of-life parts? Although significant efforts have been made in Europe, including the Circular Economy Package and, in particular, its Plastics Strategy, the fibre-reinforced polymer space is not really included in the focus as yet, Developing and ensuring a systematic circular ecosystem for these materials needs to be a priority,” commented Anne-Chloe Devic

The two papers will be available and discussed at the SusChem Annual Stakeholder event (#suschem2018) to be held on 20 June in Brussels.

You can download the two papers here:

• Battery Energy Storage
• Polymer Composites Circularity

Both papers were authored by the SusChem Materials Working Group in collaboration with international consultants Bax & Company.

SusChem publishes Polymer Composites Brochure

SusChem has just published a new brochure on ‘Polymer composites for automotive sustainability’. The brochure is the result of a collaborative effort involving stakeholders all along the automotive value chain in Europe. Automotive composites are a growing market that is driven by efficiency and emissions issues. The market for global automotive composite materials is forecast to reach €3.72 billion by 2017. This represents a real opportunity for the European chemical and composites industry. 

The automotive industry faces a new challenge aligning material properties, product design and production or assembly processes - especially in larger volume production series vehicles – but could take more advantage of the potential of composites for light-weighting vehicles. The demand for weight reduction is driven by the demand for better fuel efficiency and reduced emissions to comply with EU legislation. In 2007 over 500 million tons of CO2 emissions were estimated to be due to cars in the EU; it is estimated that savings due to composites light-weighting result in a potential 1.4% improvement here.

SusChem’s role
From its inception in 2004, SusChem identified advanced materials as an enabling technology critical to achieving its vision and mission. SusChem has set innovation priorities for advanced materials to be adopted in key end user markets including automotive and highlighted 'Multifunctional light-weight construction' as a priority for smart, green and integrated transport in its Strategic Innovation and Research Agenda (SIRA).

The SusChem Working Group on Composites Materials for Automotive pulled together experts from the chemical industry, the automotive industry, the automotive parts suppliers as well as academia and recommended the publication of the brochure as well as a wider consultation with the established competence centres in Europe.

In October 2013 SusChem and the automotive R&D association EARPA organised a joint workshop, “Exploring cross-innovation opportunities on automotive composites and bio-based materials” in Frankfurt. The outcomes of this workshop, as well as feedback collected by a stakeholder consultation held as a follow-up exercise, are summarised in several key conclusions and recommendations within the polymer brochure.

Key objectives
The brochure integrates specific input from key stakeholders across the value chain, including those involved in production equipment, and provides concrete recommendations to enable faster progress in advanced composites light-weighting innovation uptake in the European automotive industry.

A set of specific R&D&I challenges are defined for advanced composite materials including:

• Novel and innovative polymer composite raw materials with enhanced recyclability properties
• Low cost adaptive, flexible and efficient manufacturing and assembly processes specific to the high-volume automotive industry
• Multi-attribute design optimisation that works even in case of a multi-material architecture
• Automated joining techniques for multi-materials and composites
• Invisible damage identification and repair techniques for composite parts

A key wider-scale objective is the establishment of an EU-wide programme to ensure adequate support for automotive composites research and innovation in the long term.

As well as this coordinated R&D&I programme, the establishment of a European Automotive Composites Competence Network is proposed. This network of R&D&I clusters can improve the coordination between local knowledge hubs.

For further information on SusChem activities in this area contact Jacques Komornicki at Cefic.