Green Energy News | November 18, 1996

November 18, 1996 – Vol.1 No.34

ENERGIES... week of November 18,1996

MARIJUANA PLASTICS. Car maker Daimler-Benz may use hemp fibers from the cannabis sativa plant to reinforce weight-and-energy saving plastics used in automobiles. Researchers at the German company have been experimenting since 1991 with alternatives to glass fiber reinforcement such as flax and coconut fibers. The legalization of a newly developed strain of marijuana, low in resins, makes the new composite material possible.

Hemp fibers, long used to make rope, provide stiffer reinforcement in plastic than flax, may be more economical to grow and are environmentally sound as they can be grown without the need for insecticides. Glass fibers are considered an environmental and health concern. Glass-reinforced-plastic, for example, cannot be recycled without creating dangerous glass dust particles which could be inhaled.

UV DAMAGED PLASTICS. According to scientists in Britain, energy efficient PVC (polyvinyl chloride) clad thermopane windows may be degrading under increased ultraviolet radiation from a thinning ozone layer in the northern latitudes. Plastic frames for windows and doors may change color and distort rendering them useless and requiring replacement.

It is possible to make make PVC’s that are UV resistant. Many other PVC products are designed to be used outdoors and be maintenance-free, such as siding, guttering and fencing. Those using PVC’s in extreme northern or southern latitudes should check with manufacturers about UV protection in their products.

OZONE STILL THINNING. Despite the ban on chloroflurocarbon (CFC) manufacture in much of the world, scientists warn that the ozone layer is still thinning over the northern hemisphere and continent-sized holes still appear appear over Antarctica. The causes may be older CFC’s still in use and illegal traffic in banned refrigerants along with global warming. Older air conditioning and refrigeration equipment still in use makes a lucrative market for bootleggers. Global warming, heat trapped by greenhouse gases in the lower atmosphere, is causing temperatures to fall in the stratosphere. The lower temperatures cause high level ice clouds to form which make ozone destruction more likely.

The ozone layer can repair itself, but some think that this won’t happen until well into the next century, until large quantities of damaging CFC’s disappear completely from use. The global warming factor, however, adds another new equation to the problem.