Using palm oil as an alternative ingredient for ABS is a bad idea. Thousands of acres of tropical forests have been converted to palm oil plantations, and this would just accelerate that trend.
Thanks for your comments. I'm aware of the palm oil problem, which is not insignificant. I decided to report this anyway, because finding a substitute for styrene is a big deal, since it's also bad for the environment. Humans aren't the only beings that are affected by it. Since this material is still in R&D it's possible that BASF, which has a deservedly good rep in sustainability consciousness, might be looking for an alternative to palm oil.
Oh no probs, it was an extremely interesting article, I'm glad you posted it. I was just highlighting issue of sustainability. Which it is clear you are aware of.
I don't think we should have to trade off one sustainability factor against another, in this case, a styrene alternative vs using palm oil. Actually this is a three-way tradeoff, since it's a creative way to reduce and make use of CO2.
What a cop out you two are just cranky ....trees are wood ..they make stuff out of wood ...if palm oil makes stuff you can't make with wood...why woodnt you....get real
For 3D printing to make the jump from rapid prototyping to manufacturing, engineers will need to find easier ways to move products from their CAD screens to their printers.
Gigabit and PoE are two networking technologies moving ahead in tandem as industrial users power remote Ethernet devices such as IP security cameras at 1,000 Mbps over existing CAT5 cable.
New versions of BASF's Ecovio line are both compostable and designed for either injection molding or thermoforming. These combinations are becoming more common for the single-use bioplastics used in food service and food packaging applications, but are still not widely available.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 5
Early in my career, I worked as a draftsman and remember the days of drawing on vellum with numbered pencils and Mylar with plastic lead. This was a fun experience in the sense that I ...
I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
A lasting memory from my first job as an engineer in an auto assembly plant is standing on hard concrete at six in the morning, vending-machine coffee clutched in hand, listening to ...
For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
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