No. 1136
Technology Trend of Application of Environmentally Friendly Materials to Electrical Equipments
Investigation Committee on Applications of Environmentally
Friendly Materials to Electrical Apparatuses
Keyword : Environment, Material, Electrical Equipment, Life-cycle
Although the importance of environmentally friendly technologies for materials, devices, apparatuses and systems is widely recognized, various measures against environmental problems remain within the framework of the existing present technologies in many cases. Therefore, it is urgent to investigate the trend of various environmentally friendly technologies, and to make clear the direction and problems of systematic approach considering the relation between the state of the art and international standard. For this purposes, this technical report gathered up the investigation results regarding following 3 topics, focusing on electric power apparatuses ;
(1) Electrical properties of environmentally friendly materials such as biodegradable materials (polylactic acid, etc.) and recyclable materials (PET, etc.) are investigated and evaluated against the requirements for application to various electric power apparatuses. The current problems, future possibility for application, and development agenda are summarized.
(2) Focusing on thermo-setting resin, which makes it difficult for electric apparatuses to be recycled, the state of art of alternative materials and the development agenda are summarized.
(3) Focusing on not only electric power apparatuses but also various industrial products, application examples of life-cycle assessment (LCA) are investigated. For applying LCA to evaluate the environmentally friendly materials, apparatuses and systems, the required measure or suitable boundary condition are discussed.

©2007. The Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan