JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #46 - January/February 2009 - 34

FEATURE “Natural fibres” The availability of vegetable fibre resources Developing vegetable-fibre-based composite materials raises the question of resource availability: what is at stake for composites development? To ensure a stable supply, material producers are seeking answers to two questions: What kind of availability at what price? How consistent is the quality? 375,000 hectares to hemp and flax by 2030. To meet these projected needs, fibre producers could take action in three areas: - transferring fibre production from traditional markets to material markets, - increasing the surface areas devoted to production (an increase of 300,000 ha. is equivalent to 1% of France’s total agricultural area, or to 25% of all fallow land in France in 2007), - importing exotic fibres over and above the current annual levels for Europe of 130,000-140,000 MT. In this regard, FRD® has just launched a prospective study to quantify France’s potential hemp stocks: i.e. just how much area could be planted over in hemp, based on the current surface area of 10,000 ha. devoted to hemp and given constraints such as climate and the profitability of other crops? Another goal is to learn more about imports of exotic fibres into Europe. PIERRE BONO, GENERAL MANAGER, & LAURENT AUGIER, R&D MANAGER, FIBRES RECHERCHE DÉVELOPPEMENT® en organizations – either producers of natural fibres (hemp, flax, wood, etc.) or major players in the agricultural industry – have created a dedicated technical centre called Fibres Recherche Développement® to promote the development of vegetable-fibre agro materials in France. By joining forces within FRD®, these producers expect to be able to reinforce their capacity to provide the types of fibres that are in demand by markets for composites with polymer or mineral matrices. The idea is to anticipate the needs of material manufacturers, both in quality and quantity. T Table 1: Examples showing the advantages of a multifibre approach, (source: FRD®). Availability of vegetable fibre resources in Europe According to the FAO, 4.5 to 5 million metric tons (MT) of vegetable fibres, excluding cotton and wood, are grown worldwide each year. Production is concentrated in Southeast Asia (75%), mostly in India and Bangladesh with jute, coir and kenaf fibres. About 10% of global production comes from Europe. France plays a major role here, thanks to the organization of its flax and hemp industries, by producing about two-thirds of the European volumes. However, most of the fibres produced in Europe are going for use in traditional markets like textiles (60% of flax) or speciality papers (90% of hemp), meaning that there still are prospects for transfer to the engineering-fibre market. In France, 88 000 ha were planted in hemp and flax in 2005. But according to a forecast from the French energy conservation agency Ademe, France is going to need to devote about Properties Recommended fibres Potential fibres Reasons High cellulose content Low microfibrillar Existing angle applicaHigh L/D ratio tions Small diameter High mechanical properties Low density Large lumen High length Elongation Existing applications Reinforcement Hemp Flax Ramie Nettle Bamboo Kenaf Sisal Jute Abaca Insulation Cotton Kapok Hemp Flax From a more general point of view, FRD® suggests reasoning out supply choices as part of a “multifibre” approach. Surface area is not expandable, and given the debate on the competition between using agricultural land for growing food and using it 34 jec composites magazine / No46 January-February 2009

JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #46 - January/February 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #46 - January/February 2009