< Previous20 Business Link www.blmforum.net PETROCHEMICAL SPOTLIGHT argue that bio-chemicals are prime to replace oil and natural gas over the new few decades, presenting an interesting picture for the petrochemical industry as we can now convert biomass into ethanol for dehydration to create ethylene. These renewable sources include the direct fermentation of starch and sugar rich biomass like sugar cane and maize starch, and the hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass like wheat and wood. Drax, who was able to set 2021 as its end point for using coal by transforming its coal units in Selby to run on biomass, continues to demonstrate that our region as at the forefront of a major industrial shift. Though the production of bioethanol from lignocellulosic biomass is still mainly in development, the production of bioethanol from sugar and maize can be found in production facilities across the world. In the UK there is the potential to use wheat and sugar beet for manufacturing bioethanol. Bioenergy is particularly popular as it is a sustainable, renewable resource that when used in conjunction with CCS facilities can generate negative emissions, removing CO2 from the atmosphere. Despite this, almost no bioenergy is used in the chemicals sector. This may be because of the difficulties switching from fossil-fuels presents for the industry, as one may have to replace boilers or facilities which represents a huge cost financially, as well as the drastic change this would make to it on all levels. Nevertheless, the industry looks up to the challenge. © Shutterstock /Red ivory Units 4b & 4c, Harpings Road, National Avenue, Kingston-upon-Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire HU5 4JF Tel: +44 (0)1482 440222 Email: esales@eyh.co.uk Web: www.ehy.co.uk eyh .co.uk EAST YORKSHIRE HYDRAULICS Hydraulic engineering - design, build, installation and service. • Complete hydraulic systems • Installation and commissioning • Hydro-pneumatic accumulators • Hydraulic equipment • Cylinders Single Source Hydraulic Solutions Design, build, installation and service of hydraulic systems, cylinders, accumulators and equipment. 16-20.qxp_Layout 1 06/03/2020 10:58 Page 5Subscribe now and receive Business Link every month, delivered to your door Delivery Details Name:............................................................................................ Position:......................................................................................... Company:...................................................................................... Address:......................................................................................... ........................................................................................................ Postcode:....................................................................................... Tel:.................................................................................................. Email:............................................................................................. Payment Details ONLINE www.blmforum.net/subscribe MAIL Armstrong House, Armstrong Street, Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire DN31 2QE EMAIL subscribe@blmgroup.co.uk 1 Years Subscription £31.50 2 Years Subscription £54.60 3 Years Subscription £63.00 1 2 3 Subscription Options VISA MASTERCARD CHEQUE It’s the best value around EXPIRY DATE CARD NUMBER SECURITY CODE (CVC NUMBER) LAST 3 DIGITS TERMS & CONDITIONS : Your subscription will start with the next available issue. Minimum term of 12 months / 1 Year 2 Years 3 Years Please charge my: Subscribe NOW 21.qxp_Layout 1 06/03/2020 10:59 Page 122 Business Link www.blmforum.net FREIGHT, STORAGE AND MOVEMENT L incolnshire and Yorkshire remain premier locations for distribution centres within the UK. With strong links between the North and South of the country, as well as a wide number of ports servicing western Europe, our region contains a vast number of warehouses, business parks, and other dedicated distribution centres. Our region’s potential in the freight industry is well-known. With the advent of Brexit, however, all that may soon be in jeopardy. While we have traditionally been a hub for servicing western Europe, that may soon change, and what manufacturers that do export from the UK to the EU will face their own challenges. As of yet, it’s impossible to quantify the damage and there is still time for cooler heads to prevail, but the Government’s hard-line message, while pleasing to their staunch supporters, will mean little to Brussels and will have long term impact for the region and our economy. The region will soon have its part to play in increasing the number of foreign investors 24 Á Full steam Our region has some of the biggest concentrations of warehouses, roads and docks, but recent political challenges are abound. 22-25.qxp_Layout 1 06/03/2020 11:01 Page 1www.blmforum.net Business Link 23 FREIGHT, STORAGE AND MOVEMENT ahead © Shutterstock /tonton 22-25.qxp_Layout 1 06/03/2020 11:01 Page 224 Business Link www.blmforum.net FREIGHT, STORAGE AND MOVEMENT coming to our shores, both in terms of making our region more attractive to investors, but also in making the region itself accessible, despite Brexit. The amount of high-quality warehouse space has been declining year-on-year, not just within our two counties but also nationally. This is due more to a lack of speculative developments taking place during the credit crunch, than any weakness in the industry. Now with the economy recovering, companies are expanding to new premises and purchasing warehouse space, without their being enough new builds to sustain it. Now however, a new wave of speculative developments are taking place across Lincolnshire and Yorkshire, with many of these also securing tenants in the speculative stage. A large amount of this is centred around the Leeds and Wakefield area, particularly with Wakefield being a distribution hub close to the M1. The import and export market has become more flexible and modular, meaning that the amount needing to be shipping can change on a day-by-day basis. Purchasing warehouse space can therefore be too expensive for such uncertain terms, while flexible storage solutions from a third-party supplier allow companies to tailor what they need as they need it. This also helps companies to keep the processes as lean as possible and save costs, something everyone has had to embrace in the wake of the recent recession. On everyone within the shipping industry’s minds, however, has to be the Brexit and more importantly, how it will be implemented. While the Government have declared Brexit “done” the reality is that it has barely even started. The historic decision by the British voting public to part ways with the European Union is a complex geopolitical situation, the tendrils of which spread out into the UK’s abundant industries, but none more so than those relying on import and export. © Shutterstock /hxdyl 22-25.qxp_Layout 1 06/03/2020 11:01 Page 3www.blmforum.net Business Link 25 FREIGHT, STORAGE AND MOVEMENT Trade is one of the key through-lines that connects all arguments regarding the Brexit in context to just about any industry. Either as a positive force or a negative one, the result is a major disruptive force when it comes to the import and export of food and beverage products, both to and from Europe. For some, it can be used as leverage to usher in change for the better, yet others claim it will hinder any growth prospects for domestic food producers, as well as making the UK unattractive to foreign investors. Some predictions claim that Asian companies will set up European bases in either Germany or France, bypassing the UK altogether, as it no longer retains its attractive ‘gateway to Europe’ credential. The future is uncertain, but that is as it has ever been. Companies who have the foresight to take advantage of what might be a turbulent situation could see themselves rising to new heights. And at the end of the day, it is clear that import and export will never truly die. Good news for the shipping industry. © Shutterstock /Patrick Foto D Davies Turner Celebrating 150 years of pioneering service YEARS 22-25.qxp_Layout 1 06/03/2020 11:01 Page 426 Business Link www.blmforum.net MATERIALS AND COMPONENTS A critical issue impacting the building materials and components industry is sustainability, with a major need to improve environmentally friendliness to mitigate climate change. The joint government and industry strategy Construction 2025 has set out targets for halving construction related emissions whilst reducing project delivery times and construction costs. UK construction uses over 400 million tonnes of material annually and is thus the nation’s biggest consumer of natural resources, but it also wastes approximately 100 million tonnes of this. Further, construction is accountable for sixty per cent of total UK waste generated. In addition, the energy needed to construct and run buildings accounts for almost forty per cent of global carbon emissions, with eleven per cent associated with building materials and construction. If we single out cement, this one material is the source of eight per cent of global CO2 emissions. The development and use of sustainable materials and components with lower embodied carbon is skyrocketing in importance with architects and builders seeking a greener future where buildings are improved past simply adding solar panels and biomass boilers. The ancient building material cob, which is a mixture of straw and soil, is having a resurgence, and can be produced without the CO2 intensive processes employed for materials like steel, concrete and cement. Cob has been utilised for homes for hundreds of years in England, eco options eco options Envisioning Playing a major role in climate change, as a key source of CO2 emissions and waste, the building materials and components industry is seeking a sustainable future. 26-29.qxp_Layout 1 06/03/2020 11:03 Page 1www.blmforum.net Business Link 27 MATERIALS AND COMPONENTS however with somewhat weak structural and thermal characteristics it has been overlooked recently, failing to meet regulations. However, the University of Plymouth has created new cob mixes, re- engineering the material to meet today’s regulations, with the University’s cob better trapping heat. As cob doesn’t need to be heat treated and can be made from soil sourced at a building site, the possibility of building more sustainability is unlocked, with reduced construction waste and carbon emissions in comparison to using conventional masonry materials. The cob material is to be piloted by selected architects. Many are also looking at the potential of constructing buildings from mycelium, a dried fungus made into bricks that are biodegradable, low density and thus lightweight, hold strong insulation properties and are fire resistant. Sourced from agricultural waste, the process of creating mycelium materials involves biological growth, which is less expensive than high energy consuming manufacturing. Mycelium materials have already been analysed for uses such as building insulation. Naturally fire-retardant straw bale also has its place as a renewable resource for a variety of uses from replacing concrete, plaster and wood to fibreglass and insulation. Indeed house builders are increasing their use of the material, stacking bales and plastering them with clay or lime, to make buildings water resistant. Cork is another material up for consideration in eco-friendly construction. Made from the tree bark of cork oak, it does not rot or absorb water and is fire resistant as well as durable and lightweight, reducing transport pollution. With noise absorption properties, the renewable and recyclable source can be, and is, used well as flooring and insulation. The use of cork, however, is widening with solid bricks of expanded cork used to construct homes. Moreover, unlike tree felling for timber, cork oak is stripped by hand every decade, meaning the tree is left unharmed, and waste cork from various industries can be utilised. However, cork is often shipped from the 28 Á © Shutterstock brizmaker © Shutterstock StockHastic Thermal insulating compressed cork and hemp fibre panels with finishing 26-29.qxp_Layout 1 06/03/2020 11:03 Page 228 Business Link www.blmforum.net MATERIALS AND COMPONENTS Mediterranean, which may depreciate its green credibility for importers. Bricks made with cigarette butts are also on the cards. Australian researchers have found that in adding cigarette butts to bricks one can reduce the amount of time and energy required to bake them in traditional methods. Infusing just one per cent of cigarette waste in fired-clay bricks saves approximately nine per cent of energy required to fire them and doesn’t affect brick quality. Strong insulators, using the cigarette butts also makes use of a significant waste source - 1.2 million tonnes of cigarette butts are thrown away each year. Further innovations include transparent wood, timbercrete, hempcrete and more - the development of sustainable building materials and components is truly expansive. Alongside new alternatives, recycled materials are coming into focus, including use of recycled concrete, with recycled bricks and reclaimed wood commonplace already. A group of infrastructure organisations (the Major Infrastructure - Resource Optimisation Group) in the UK has called for the creation of a national resource exchange mechanism (REM) to enable the trade of surplus components © Shutterstock /ambrozinio 26-29.qxp_Layout 1 06/03/2020 11:03 Page 3www.blmforum.net Business Link 29 MATERIALS AND COMPONENTS and building materials, and encourage reuse of materials in construction, reducing waste, costs, environmental impact and creating a circular industry. The group’s white paper highlights that the mass spread of digitalisation in construction will make the formation of a REM easier. Real time data tracking will help in the trade of materials between projects and give REM users frequent information of what materials are available. Offsite and eco-friendly modular construction is another way in which the industry’s carbon footprint issues are being addressed, with conscious specification and use of sustainably produced and local materials. With advances in lightweight but insulative materials, and the current high demand for housing, modular construction has increased in popularity, whether it be employed for a house or office. Presenting increased construction speeds, offsite construction also offers a highly controlled method of planning and constructing buildings. Error is minimised, stringent quality control made easier with factory manufactured units and eco- friendly process planning and designing is enabled. Offsite construction in a factory also facilitates waste reduction as the sections of each building are created with precision, using only what is required, removing the chance of over ordering and other waste factors. Sustainability can still certainly be affected by the transport of modular components if building sites are a far distance, thus it is important that they are sourced and made as locally as reasonable. As modular building grows, there will be purpose for more modular building factories, allowing them to be produced closer to developments to diminish transport emissions. Aside from the environmental challenge to the building materials and components sector, new bans and legislation are causing controversy. For example, warnings have been given over the damage to the structural timber sector Government’s plans to tighten the ban on combustible material on external walls of buildings will do. The ban will affect materials such as cross laminated timber which has a lower carbon footprint than materials like concrete, masonry and steel. It would reduce the height of the ban from 18m to 11m, which could affect many more residential developments. The sector will continue to face challenges throughout 2020. Aside from legislation and environmental consciousness, it will also be waiting for confirmation and reassurance that construction companies will be able to access the EU building materials market without costly tariffs. 26-29.qxp_Layout 1 06/03/2020 11:03 Page 4Next >