Dec 14 2009
Arkema today showcases its latest innovations at the service of sustainable development at the Palais de la découverte.
Climate change, inadequate access to drinking water, dwindling natural resources, and increasing demand for energy, such are the major challenges facing the dawn of the 21st century, to which only industrial innovation will be able to deliver solutions.
With the countless consequences that it might bring about, climate change is without doubt a crucial issue in environmental and sustainable development terms. At a time when the Copenhagen Summit is about to map out decisive directions for future generations, industry, particularly the chemical industry, is in a position to offer concrete answers to the environmental challenges of the next few decades. Arkema is committed to making its own contribution over the long term, and so has resolutely opted for the path of eco-technologies.
"We currently allocate directly over 50% of our R&D expenditure to innovation in every area which contributes to the development of eco-technologies", states Thierry Le Hénaff, Arkema Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
Arkema’s R&D efforts indeed focus on ground-breaking projects in line with the development of eco-technologies:
- saving energy and conserving natural resources (lightweight and high-performance materials, bio-sourced polymers);
- new energies (photovoltaics, heat pumps, batteries);
- managing drinking water (nanostructured filtration membranes).
The constant improvement of processes, in particular towards greater energy efficiency, of optimum safety levels, and of the management of environmental constraints is also a major focus of Arkema’s R&D work.