1,000,000,000!
von Heinz Gupta
A billion people go hungry every day, without enough to eat. That is almost one seventh of mankind. 8.8 million people die annually from hunger and there are more and more every year.
The well-intentioned, expensive appeals to the G20 countries do not change anything. Hunger happens not only in the African bush or the jungles of Asia, there are starving people even in the USA, the world’s richest country – one study this year found, about 37 million people are suffering from starvation including 14 million children.
Is that not a shame for humanity?
But it gets even worse: 40 % of the world’s food production is spoiled or destroyed. 2 million kg of bread are thrown away every year in Vienna. The daily amount of bread destroyed in Vienna would be enough to supply the population of the smaller city of Graz (“We feed the world”, documentary film by Erwin Wagenhofer, 2005).
Is that not sacrilege?
Why do I write that?
Politically, we can not change anything anyway. Much of the money donated by governments and private individuals, to help feed the starving, is flowing into the pockets of cynical rulers. Many political and economic structures and dictatorships are so well entrenched that only a comet impact could create a change.
But we can help a little.
Who?
The “Greens” may forgive me: The chemical industry!
How?
No, not by new, hazardous pesticides or even the use of genetic manipulation!
If one of the many insulating foams supplied by BASF, Bayer MaterialScience (BMS) or other companies is used, the efficiency of the cool chain could easily be improved. The food stays fresh for longer, even in the domestic refrigerator, with lower energy consumption.
If materials such as ion exchange resins, such as those from Lanxess, are used in water treatment equipment and plants built in developing countries, many people could drink clean water.
If one of the new UV-protection agents offered by BASF would be used in greenhouse-films, they can last for several years and thereby reduce the cost of food production.
If one uses the newly developed polyethylene material, as offered by Borealis and others, for sewage pipes, you could quickly build long lasting sewage systems that are needed in both developing countries and in some German municipalities.
Rotor blades for wind turbines can be made with the use of carbon nanotubes in the epoxy matrix to make them lighter and durable. The rotor surfaces could also be coated with polyurethane coatings using materials from BMS. These prevent the formation of water droplets and in cold weather the formation of ice on the blades, which could lead to dangerous imbalances during their operation. Solvent-free coatings systems, such as those offered by BMS, could also eliminate the release of many tonnes of solvents into the environment.
A different “paint problem” exists on the hulls of ships that need to be painted regularly with highly toxic anti-fouling agents, to prevent the adhesion of snails and other marine life that reduce the speed of the ships and increase their fuel consumption. New polyurethane marine coatings using materials from BMS result in cohesive, non-cracking layers thus preventing the adhesion of living creatures without the help of toxics.
And finally the many newly developed thermoplastic materials for use at high temperatures, that easily flow and yet retain their shape allow the production of lighter, more energy-efficient vehicles through their use in various components.
All these materials give us an answer to the growing hunger for energy. Perhaps they can also help to avoid the use of agricultural land for the cultivation of fuel crops and allow its use once more for food production to feed a growing world population.
These are just some of the many innovations being presented at K 2010, that could help us to improve the world a little.
Go and see them!
Your Heinz Gupta