Bayer for post tsunami greenhouses

High-performance plastic sheets in polycarbonate from Bayer MaterialScience have been chosen for an agricultural reconstruction project in the disaster area of northeast Japan, hit two years ago by a devastating earthquake and tsunami. The material is used in a new greenhouse of a local farming corporation called VEGi-Dream Kuhara. It has been set up by subsidiary companies of Toyota Motor Corporation in cooperation with the local government. The transparent multiwall polycarbonate sheets have been selected mainly due to their good thermal insulation.
The reconstruction project led by Toyota aims at making agricultural production more environmentally friendly and sustainable. Hence, the new greenhouse is using waste heat from a nearby Toyota automobile plant for warm water generation. The greenhouse serves for growing paprika for domestic use.
The selected plastic sheets are lightweight, durable, and easy to install. The material from Bayer MaterialScience is not only used in agricultural infrastructure but also elsewhere in the construction sector - for instance in roof constructions such as those of the national stadium of Brasilia, Brazil or the Baltic Arena in Gdansk, Poland. Other application areas are in transportation, consumer electronics and medical technology.