The market
In 2010, the global market for composite natural fiber materials (NCF) exceeded an estimated market value at just over two billion dollars, with an annual growth rate of 15 % in the past five years. The market is expected to double by 2016 to reach $ 3.8 billion, with an annual growth rate made up of 10 % for the next five years, a decade of two -digit growth. With more than 50 % of total sales, Europe is the strongest market with constant demand from the automotive industry which transfers door panels, seats, dashboards and even bumpers of synthetic materials with natural materials. The bumpers and protective garnishes of the cars manufactured from NCF already represent an industry of $ 162 million, which represents nearly 150 million kg of natural materials. The electronics industry is also oriented to NCF for phone and computer boxes. While Henry Ford built a prototype composite car in hemp, it was the Est-German trabant that produced the first cotton and polyester body mounting chain. Companies like Audi, BMW and Volvo turned to the NCF, a decision that was recently followed by General Motors which prompted the United States to become the second region in terms of NCF consumption in the automobile well before the Japan. NEC was in 2006 the first electronics company in the world to use Kenaf and polylactic acid for the mobile phone housing. Johan Museeuw, the Belgian racing bicycle champion who has become a racing bicycle manufacturer, developed the first racing bicycle frame with a flax epoxy resin, a low -cost antivibratory frame, based on centuries of culture linen in his native country. The construction industry, the second important market for composite applications, focuses on plastic wood. The demand for carbon fiber and fiberglass suffers from this new competition due to the low cost and the low weight of NFC derived from flax, hemp, kenaf and the abundance of sisal which was the main raw material of ropes. Lin fibers offer the highest reinforcement and the best resistance to tensile. In the automotive industry, the NCF index is almost 8 times greater than that of steel and 14 times higher than that of aluminum, according to the price/performance ratio which compares the specific resistance to monetary value of the function provided. The rise in prices of oil -based products, the strong government support for green products and the high acceptance of end users push composites of natural fibers in the foreseeable future at record levels.
Innovation
The key factors of innovation in NCFs are reduced costs, ease of maintenance, low absorption of humidity, absence of corrosion and greater uniformity than wood. The construction industry has long been criticized for its excessive use of leafywood such as teak which led to massive deforestation. Now that rice balls and bagasse are competing for window frames, fences, outdoor terraces and wall panels, an increasing number of manufacturers replace rare tropical wood regulated by NCF. Linen, kenaf and hemp replace synthetic materials and metals, thus demonstrating their thermal recycling and insulation properties. With the exception of the rice ball, which is a waste, all other natural fibers are in competition with food for agricultural land, which is one of the major challenges in the search for a sustainable society capable of meet the basic needs, starting with water and food. Carla Wobma and her partner Bob Crebas of the Netherlands, supported by the creative research of Jeroen Bos, rediscovered the pungent nettle for her fibers, a plant with a long medicinal history. It was documented that, from the year 900 AD, people used wild nettles as a textile. It was a luxury for kings. Nettle is one of the nine charming herbs recorded by Anglo-Saxon pagans in the 10th century. This perennial was already used in medieval Europe to rid the body of excess water and to treat joint pain. Nettle offers more than a potential medical treatment, it is as nutritious as spinach and cucumbers, rich in vitamins A and C, with a daily supply of potassium and calcium. As a drink, it offers a source of citric acid and has a long natural shelf life. There is even nettle beer, a popular drink in the United Kingdom. Nettle has been traditionally used with linen as a raw material for textiles and does not require any pesticides since most nettles grow in the wild. It is even a dye, producing yellow from the roots and yellow-green from the leaves. Bhutan is the only country where wild harvesting and production of fiber for clothing are very widespread, especially for men's jackets known as Goh. Bob and Jeroen studied research on production in the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, Germany and the Netherlands, demonstrating that each hectare provides six tonnes of nettles which provide 600 to 780 kg of nettle fibers. Nettle fiber always has a price on the market which is four to five times higher than the price of cotton. This offers a competitive income that compares favorably to € 2,000/ha for corn and € 1,000/ha for sunflower. While most natural resources require an annual plantation, nettles are perennial plants requiring water. This allows a spectacular change in inputs of energy, work and capital compared to cotton. Jeroen Bos and the Crebas family have released nettle fibers by experimentation with heated vacuum cylinders to extract the fibers. They piloted a test factory which combines the decomposition, fermentation and purification of water, all working with rainwater and which generates for each ton of nettle treated from 50 to 55 cubic meters of cubic meters Biogaz which contains up to 75 % methane. Jeroen focused on optimizing the process, including the use of self-generated gas to dry the fibers. The use of fermentation principles that have been described in other cases (see case 51) suggests that the manufacture of gross fibers from nettles could produce all the energy necessary from its own operations, which would make it possible to achieve a goal of zero emission provided that different waste flows are combined. Then, the NetL team plunges the raw fibers into glycerin, a natural by-product of the manufacturing of soap, which allows the production of individual fibers. A process of agriculture and manufacturing that uses what it has, has the potential to produce its own energy and recycle water by continuously extracting more nutrients and matter, which is kept simple while obtaining production High quality at a competitive cost, provides a perspective on how to apply the principles of the blue economy. This is why nettle fibers may well be called "a blue fiber".
The first cash flow
In 2006, Bob Crebas created NetL, and Carla refined the spinning with Italian, British and French experts, while the Nettle Fil is knitted in fabric in Lithuania and the Netherlands according to its innovative creations for women. The couple then created a 48 -hectare nettle park, set up an integrated production system ranging from agriculture to finished products, the first line of clothing being offered on the international market in early 2012. In a first phase, There could be four agricultural sites in Europe, while bringing together expert companies and generating a request to replace cotton fibers with high intensity of water and pesticides that have even lost the favor of the Chinese (see case 77 ). The potential is strong, and the business model is competitive even if the cost price is not up to the price of cotton today, the value generated both for the customer and the environment provides multiple Profits and income that are urgently necessary to orient the clothing industry towards competitive sustainability. However, they quickly realized that the design of the cathode is only half of the solution for a brand new battery concept. They must also redraw the anode. A team made up of doctoral students works on how to obtain a complete concept. The vision is to have a fully renewable battery. Meanwhile, they are trying a fully recyclable polymer known as Polypyrrole, a 100 % recyclable oil derivative that has been known to industry for more than three decades.
The opportunity
While Netl develops the park and clothing, other entrepreneurs like Paul Van Zoggel, also Dutch, join the effort. The portfolio of innovative products includes the design of a series of new fibers spun from Nettle, wire based on alginate and silk, the Fibervirate of the blue economy. The treatment water is rich in organic matter and, although it does not have the appearance of a soup, it contains vitamins, iron and potassium, which is at least an ideal enrichment of the soil, And could be treated to extract a natural mixture of nutrients. However, by studying the properties of nettle fibers and learning the success of linen, the first NCF product is ready to be tested: a bread box and a drinking cup. The Dutch aerospace laboratory has recognized the specific rigidity compared to fiberglass, while traction resistance is higher than that of any other natural fiber and envisages the latter as an option for the future. The passage from cotton to nettle in textiles is a remarkable improvement on all levels. This completes linen, kenaf and hemp with a wild plant that can be cultivated on degraded and even contaminated land (however you should not drink treatment water). This creates jobs and offers a desirable additional to a market that will face a strong increase in demand for fiber, both in industry and consumers. Nettle offers a return to traditions that already existed there is a millennium. The vision could well be to combine the nettle which cleans the contaminated land with algae, which clean the contaminated air of CO2 and the water loaded with organic matter, while jointly ensuring that we use agricultural land in a judicious way, that we have air to breathe and drinking water. There are entrepreneurs who join the movement in Germany, take the risk and, thanks to the innovative pre-order business model, innovators open the way to surf the market dynamics.
