BETWEEN THE LINES In the United States, an industry transformed BY ELIUM RESIN® Manufacture, use, end of life... the US wind power industry sees the arrival of Elium resin as a truly disruptive innovation. This is the view of Derek® Berry, engineer at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Colorado and Director of the Wind Turbine Technology Area within the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI), two public organizations partnered by Arkema. What does your collaboration with Arkema consist of? Derek Berry – The reason why we are interested in Elium resin is simple: at the National Renewable® Energy Laboratory (NREL),a US Department of Energy laboratory, we were looking for a way to introduce recyclability into the composite materials used in wind turbines, especially the blades. For the last five years, we have been working closely with Arkema and industrial, institutional and academic partners to make this innovation happen. As part of the public-private partnership, the laboratory provides its research expertise, and evaluation and analysis equipment. “In addition to making wind turbine blades recyclable, Elium resin has revolutionized® how we produce them, more quickly and using less energy, as there is no need to heat the resin.” Derek Berry 18