Contribution of CFRP to Reduction of CO2 Emissions

Abstract

Synopsis What is critical for reduction of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions is to reduce the emissions from transportation sector that account for approximately 20% of the total. Especially, in the aircraft and automobile fields, improvement of fuel effi ciency by lightening of the body weight of aircraft and automobile is one of the most effective strategies in reduction of CO₂ emissions. For aircraft and automobile, respectively, a 20% and a 30% reduction in weight can be achieved by using Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastics (CFRP) as constructional materials, resulting in a 7% and a 16% reduction in CO₂ emissions. In order to use CFRP as alternative lightweight and high stiffness materials to metals, it is important to design matrix resins to effectively refl ect high specifi c strength and specifi c modulus of elasticity of carbon fi ber in CFRP properties. Furthermore, reduction of production cost and improvements of production effi ciency are required for wide use of CFRP in the aircraft and automobile fi elds. Therefore, cost reduction by various innovation methods for molding and drastic improvement in production effi ciency have been tried in terms of designing matrix resins. Moreover, CFRP have an important part in energy sector such as windmill, hydrogen tank and so on. Matrix resins are expected to play an increasingly signifi cant role in expanding coverage of using CFRP in the transportation and energy sector for reducing CO₂ emissions.