The market
The global asphalt and bitumen market is expected to reach 124 million metric tonnes in 2011, a turnover estimated at $ 74.4 billion. Prices were as low as $ 115 per metric tonne delivered to the refinery in 1999, reaching $ 200 in 2005 and more than $ 600 in the summer of 2011. Demand should increase by 2.1% per year until 2013. There is a slowdown compared to previous years, mainly due to the slowdown in growth in China, which nevertheless remains the main growth market in the world. The segment that is experiencing the best growth in developing countries is not bitumen for roads, but rather for roofs, which already represent 10% of total production, against 84% for road surface. A small remaining part is used to waterproof the boats. The demand for asphalt in roofing products currently represents a relatively low part of total roof demand, thus offering growth opportunities in Asia (except in Japan) and Latin America. China will become the second largest national market in the world for asphalt roofs after the United States
A ton of asphalt 46 centimeters deep covers a square meter. The asphalt emulsions and the modified asphalt with polymers display gains while traditional asphalt cement is delayed on the market. One of the main changes is the replacement of non -porous asphalt, which causes aquaplating, by porous asphalt which offers greater safety to road transport. In addition to the leading traditional refineries in the world belonging to well-established multinationals like Exxon Mobil, BP, Chevron and Shell, the Latin American Society Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) has taken a dominant position on the international scene since Venezuela has Some of the largest bitumen deposits in the bituminous sands of L'Orénoque, with reserves valued at 300 billion barrels, equaled only by Canadian reserves of Alberta with 310 billion barrels. If these reserves were used at the current consumption rate of 4.4 million barrels per day, these countries could supply the world for about 400 years.
Innovation
While the bitumen was used to waterproof the boats and buildings in the cities of Babylon and Carthage There are millennia, its properties were also used in ancient photography since bitumen on tin plates exposed to light gives Black and white images. Later, it was also used as an acoustic insulation in computers and household appliances. While most of the asphalt is extracted, it could also be produced from renewable sources such as sugar, molasses and starch from rice, corn and potatoes. However, today, most of the bitumen is made from residual oil after refining and used engine oil.
The main challenge of the asphalt remains the massive production of waste, because the roads must be coated regularly due to wear and tears. In Europe, asphalt is now recycled 80%, twice as much as paper, glass, plastic and aluminum recycled together. The Federal Highway Administration in the United States estimates that 91 million tonnes of asphalt is scraped or strawberry on the roads during resurfacing and enlargement. From this massive volume, 73 million tonnes are recovered. However, this enormous volume requires transport and shipping from the road to reconditioning centers, which leads to additional traffic jams due to the fact that recycling and mixture of 10 to 25 % of the old asphalt in a new Mixture is done off site.
Hisashi Hosokawa pursued a remarkable career as a career civil servant at the Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry (today Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry), especially as director General of the International Trade Policy Office, and has concluded its mandate to the government as Deputy Minister of International Affairs. After compulsory retirement, Mr. Hosokawa made the exceptional decision not to be parachuted in a comfortable position within the industry or a government organization (known as Amakudari), he decided to become a entrepreneur. Since he also assumed important responsibilities in terms of environment, he looked at the key industries in which he estimated that specific innovations could orient the industry towards sustainability. Given the volume of asphalt and the challenges that the industry is faced to transform ordinary asphalt waste into porous asphalt of superior and better value, it has brought together a consortium of Japanese industries and a group of experts . From an existing technology, it has developed a system that not only recycled asphalt on site, but also transforming the old paving material into porous asphalt of superior quality, thus going beyond the Mixture of 10 to 25 % of old materials. Its proven technology and process requires only a mixture of 30% maximum, depending on the mixture of asphalt to be put on, new materials in order to restore the road surface. He then created the company Greenarm Co. Ltd. Based in Tokyo to market these solutions. Mr. Hosokawa called “eco-shipping” his approach to asphalt recycling and other industrial conceptions which he is developing, differentiating this manufacturing methodology.
The first cash flow
Mr. Hosokawa and his Greenarm team, including Professor Atsushi Kasahara, an eminent civil engineering academic who had launched the idea, quickly progressed in the design and manufacture of an equipment train and they have successfully proven The effectiveness of technology with a government project after initial tests in Japan. With previous technology, a series of probes had been undertaken with porous asphalt in Italy before the Turin Winter Olympic Games (Italy) in 2006. Greenarm also participated in a first major contract with the Department of Works From the government of the State of Delhi (India) through a local joint venture in preparation for the 2010 Commonwealth Games, which made it possible to recover 820,000 square meters of municipal road surfaces. The anterior technology of in situ recycling has also demonstrated its higher performance in terms of synchronization and quality of the surface, completely rehabilitating the old asphalt.
The Nhai (National Highway Authority of India) introduced compulsory recycling for the restoration of roads by emphasizing in situ recycling. The equipment preheated equipment train the surface asphalt mixture, easily scarifies it on the road, reconditions it in the desired mixture on the spot, by re-using 100% of the reconditioned asphalt and mixing it with a small part of new material. Porous asphalt manufacturing technology has an additional asphalt particle separation unit as a function of their size after scarification and before mixing, and a double finisher which poses porous asphalt and mortar under-hander in tandem . Using what we have is one of the fundamental principles of the blue economy, avoiding transport and securing on -site recycling, thus reducing costs and the use of materials. In this case, this is a reduction in the material of a factor 9. This provides sufficient financial incentives to justify investments.
The opportunity
The construction of roads imposes a heavy tribute on the environment. The conversion of roads into porous roads ensures that rainwater follows natural drainage. Aquaplating is not only dangerous for drivers, it also prevents water cleaning through a natural filtration process which leads to the accumulation of waste and toxins on the road and around. While asphalt / bitumen producers are some large multinationals, road manufacturers are universally local businesses which are strongly anchored in the regional economic fabric. The change of equipment necessary for the application of the business model described above implies rapid depreciation of existing capital investments. Since equipment generally has a long service life, this results in resistance to change, especially when the machines are not amortized in full. This opens an opportunity window for the entrepreneur to make the difference. However, porous asphalt produced from the existing road asphalt and a minor addition of fresh materials reduces mining and navigation, and helps restore the water table. It is a change in the rules of the game that anyone who has a sense of risk is ready to take.
