27th Impact for Breakfast Zurich

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How to tap the potential of industrial Hemp in rural areas to create renewable biomaterials (from waste resources)

Industrial Hemp exhibits enormous potential as a versatile and fast-growing cellulose resource for carbon capturing and materials production. The hemp straw contains biomass in the form of hurds/shives and fiber, often discarded as farming waste with no further use. However, there’s more to this picture than meets the eye!  Hemp hurds can be used for energy and biochar production or processed to replace concrete in lightweight applications; hemp fiber can be quickly processed with low tech and high labor into ropes and textiles.  In combination with recycled plastics or renewable resins, hemp can be formed into high-performance materials capable of replacing fiber-reinforced materials or even steel in construction applications.

Join us to learn more about recent material science technology and historical knowledge on renewable resources that have been partially forgotten centuries ago! Reintroducing a hemp material value chain with state-of-the-art technology can initiate an economic and ecological revolution in the construction, textiles, and plastic industries.  This is especially in rural areas with no established and scaled production accompanied by a typically high dependency on imports; locally grown resources can boost the economy sustainably while sequestering carbon, preventing deforestation, and creating jobs in multiple industries. 

Speakers

• Arthur Groh, Material Scientist (M.Sc. Chemistry) and CTO of Spaceafrica
• Fabian Cöllen, Entrepreneur (B.Sc. Economics) and CEO of Spaceafrica

Date: 25.05.22

Time: 9 am – 11 am