Evonik magazine 1/2008

Transcrição

Evonik Magazine
Evonik Magazine
1| 2008
1| 2008
Treasure from the Deep
Manganese and other ores can meet tomorrow’s need for raw materials
1_Evonik_01-08_EN 1
20.02.2008 17:09:42 Uhr
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EVONIK MAGAZINE 1/2008
EDITORIAL 3
In the Land of Limitless Opportunities
Evonik Magazine reports on a journey across the U.S., on the race for raw materials from the
ocean floor, and of course on activities associated with RUHR.2010
Dear readers,
PHOTOGRAPHY: J. KROEMER
Tom Schimmeck knows the U.S. well from his
many trips to the country and his numerous
reports about it for newspapers and magazines. He loves the openness of the people
he’s met in this “land of limitless opportunities.“ One of them is Derrick Freeman,
a barber he met in Hopewell, Virginia, when
Tom Schimmeck
at the Evonik
plant in Greensboro,
North Carolina
he was commissioned by Evonik Magazine
to report on the Group’s major production
locations in Hopewell, Greensboro, and Mobile. After his trip of 2,000 kilometers,
Shimmeck concludes: “The USA is a country that’s worth visiting again and again.“
Constanze Sanders is an expert on business topics, from overall
economic statistics to goods logistics and the search for raw materials.
She worked as a business journalist at Der Spiegel magazine for 15
years. Her office in Hamburg has a harbor view, and she’s particularly
interested in maritime issues. That’s why she took on the assignment
concerning raw materials from the ocean. She spent several weeks
gathering information about the international search for raw
materials on the ocean floor and tracking down the details in talks
Constanze
Sanders
with numerous experts in the field.
Ideas are the stock in trade of Asli Sevindim, the Artistic Director of
RUHR.2010. As a journalist and TV presenter, this lively young woman
generates ideas almost nonstop, because she’s always on the move.
Our author Catrin Krawinkel, though herself a fitness freak, had to work
Catrin
Krawinkel
hard to keep up with Ms. Sevindim as they traveled through the Ruhr
region and explored Essen on foot. Krawinkel reports, somewhat
breathlessly, “When you’re traveling with her you realize very quickly what the term
‘superwoman’ is all about.“
Pleasant reading!
The editorial team of Evonik Magazine
3_Evonik_01-08_EN Abs2:3
20.02.2008 17:18:05 Uhr
6 DEEP SEA
32 RUHRFESTSPIELE
38 AMERICA
50 ASLI SEVINDIM
20.02.2008 17:15:58 Uhr
EDITORIAL
MASTHEAD
3 From the Heights to the Depths
Publisher:
Evonik Industries AG
Christian Kullmann
Rellinghauser Str. 1–11
45128 Essen
Editor in Chief:
Inken Ostermann (responsible for
editorial content)
Coordination Evonik:
Ute Bauer
Art Direction:
Wolf Dammann
Final Editing (Head):
Kurt Breme
Managing Editor:
Frauke Meyer
Picture Desk:
Ulrich Thiessen
Documentation:
Kerstin Weber-Rajab,
Tilman Baucken; Hamburg
Design:
Teresa Nunes (Head),
Anja Giese, Heike Hentschel,
Nadine Weiler / Redaktion 4
Copy Desk:
Wilm Steinhäuser
Translation:
TransForm, Cologne
Publisher and address:
HOFFMANN UND CAMPE VERLAG
GmbH, a GANSKE
VERLAGSGRUPPE company,
Harvestehuder Weg 42
20149 Hamburg
Telephone +49 (0)40/441 88-457,
Fax -236,
e-mail: [email protected]
Management:
Manfred Bissinger,
Dr. Kai Laakmann,
Dr. Andreas Siefke
Publication Manager:
Dr. Jessica Renndorfer
Production:
Claude Hellweg (Head), Oliver Lupp
Lithography:
PX2, Hamburg
Printing:
Laupenmühlen Druck, Bochum
Copyright:
© 2008 by Evonik Industries AG,
Essen. Reprinting only with
the permission of the publisher.
The contents do not necessarily
reflect the opinion of the publisher.
Contact:
Questions and suggestions on the
contents of the magazine:
Telephone +49 (0)201 / 177-3831,
Fax -2908,
Questions about orders or
subscriptions:
Telephone +49 (0)40/68879-139,
Fax -199,
RESEARCHING
6 Treasure from the Deep
At a depth of 5,000 meters, the seabed is rich in the raw materials that the world so urgently needs for further growth.
Companies and researchers from around the globe are looking for ways to raise this treasure from the deep
INFORMING
22 Energy Consumption
Evonik Magazine’s energy map not only shows how much primary energy is consumed by individual countries but also
illustrates which nations would have to take the lead in cutting consumption
PHOTOGRAPHY: MARUM BREMEN (TOP LEFT), LAURENT PHILIPPE (TOP RIGHT), JOHANNES KRÖMER (BOTTOM LEFT), NORBERT ENKER (BOTTOM RIGHT); COVER: WILDLIFE, BGR, OKAPIA (FROM LEFT)
CONTENTS 5
SHAPING
24 The Inventors
An inventive trio: in conjunction with Professor Paul Roth from the University of Duisburg-Essen, Dr. Andreas Gutsch and
Dr. Gerhard Hörpel — both of whom work at Evonik Industries — created the modern lithium-ion battery
DEVELOPING
30 Saving Money and Protecting the Climate
Using solar cells, geothermal energy, and an innovative environmentally friendly roofing tile, Evonik Industries is not only
enabling people to cut their domestic bills, but also helping to protect the environment
EXPERIENCING
32 Kevin Spacey to Star in Ruhrfestspiele Again
The Old Vic Theatre Company from London will once again participate in the Ruhrfestspiele — alongside many
renowned stage actors from Germany and abroad
INFORMING
36 Evonik at Hannover Messe
Evonik Industries AG will present its innovations at Hannover Messe this year. In Berlin and Brussels, the new German
company introduced itself to ministers, business officials, and members of the German and European parliaments
TRAVELING
38 On the Road Again
On his trip through the U.S., Tom Schimmeck traveled all the way from New York to the deep south. Along the way,
he visited historic sites and Evonik Industries’ state-of-the-art production plants
INSPIRING
50 Never a Dull Moment
Writer, journalist, and TV host Asli Sevindim is always on the move. That’s been especially true since she became cultural
director of RUHR.2010. One of her key tasks is to present the Ruhr region to its best advantage
DEBATING
56 Are Managers’ Salaries Too High?
In Germany, high salaries for managers and low wage increases for employees have sparked a heated debate about
remuneration for business leaders. Some experts have even suggested that salaries be curtailed by law
LIVING
58 Hooked on Virtual Reality
Augmented reality is meant to create a closer link between the virtual and the real worlds. While some people are thrilled
by its potential, others fear its impact. But the real question is: how will we deal with it in our daily lives?
Cover picture: Zircon, Manganese nodule, Tin
The designations AEROSIL®, FAVOR®,
SEPARION®, and STOKO® are registered trademarks of Evonik Industries AG or its subsidiaries.
All trademarks in the text are set in capitals.
20.02.2008 17:16:01 Uhr
6
SHAPING
DEEP SEA
Energy from the Sea
The oceans hold vast amounts of raw materials and energy sources. With
precious metals prices soaring, mining at depths of up to five kilometers
is attracting business interests — the battle for deep-sea prospecting rights is on
Active black smoker
20.02.2008 16:52:42 Uhr
7
TEXT CONSTANZE SANDERS
HAWAII AND HANOVER aren’t as far
Depth in meters
Massive sulfides
0
200
1,000
2,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
The visible steam of minerals from a black smoker comes
from the earth’s magma: cold seawater seeps through
cracks in the earth’s crust and is heated by upward-flowing
magma. At a temperature of approximately 400 degrees
Celsius, it shoots up like a geyser, bringing metal along
with it. Polymetallic sulfur compounds then sink to the
ocean floor, where they become solid massive sulfide deposits. Active black smokers can be found at depths of up
to four kilometers along the margins of the continental
plates, where they continually spew out valuable substances containing lead, copper, zinc — and even gold and
silver. Each of the currently known deposits consists of up
to 100 million tons.
7_Evonik_01-08_EN 7
PHOTOGRAPHY: MARUM-FORSCHUNGSZENTRUM OZEANRÄNDER, UNIVERSITY OF BREMEN
3,000
apart as it seems — at least now that the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR), which is headquartered in Hanover, has leased ocean floor segments in an
area stretching 4,000 kilometers across the
Pacific. These segments, one of the richest
raw material regions in the world, are littered
with manganese nodules as big as potatoes
(around two billion tons of ore in all). They
could be vital for Germany’s economic survival. “Our goal here is to help safeguard a future supply of raw materials,” says HansJoachim Kümpel, the new BGR president.
There is real concern in Germany about
ensuring a reliable supply of basic materials.
As a report published by the Federation of
German Industries (BDI) in the spring of 2007
notes, “it is not only oil and gas that are of strategic importance, but also metals.”
It currently takes around eight weeks for
a piece of iron ore from a mine in Algeria to
be transformed into the shiny hood of a midsized automobile, assuming the logistics chain
operates smoothly and enough ore is available. Delivery times are one uncertainty factor, but prices are even more important, because speculation and delivery delays can
cause them to skyrocket suddenly. Such developments have in fact led to a gold rush-like >
21.02.2008 12:47:35 Uhr
SHAPING
8
DEEP SEA
Deep-sea ore:
This manganese
nodule resembles
a cauliflower
One nodule — a lot of metal
PHOTOGRAPHY: ABOVE: BGR; RIGHT: IFREMER INSTITUT/NODINAUT
> atmosphere on commodity exchanges. The
price of copper, for example, has risen by 250
percent since 2000, while nickel prices have
increased by 300 percent (see the graph on p.
18). The price increases have had a major impact: “Higher raw material costs have driven
up prices for German industrial products by
€90 billion over the last five years,” says Ulrich Grillo, chairman of the BDI’s International Raw Materials group.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel recently launched an initiative to counteract this
development. “No matter where we go in the
world, we often find that politicians from
other countries have already been there and
reached agreements that will supply their nations with raw materials for years to come,”
says Merkel. The chancellor’s plan thus calls
for German industrial firms to invest in research and mining companies in an effort to
uncover and exploit new sources of raw materials. One place where the materials can be
found is on the ocean floor.
BGR researchers now have 15 years to determine which metals, and in what quantities,
are contained in the manganese nodules in
the Pacific. The institute will also develop
technologies that will enable companies to
profitably extract minerals in an environmentally friendly manner from a depth of
5,000 meters. “We’re not interested so much
in the manganese itself but rather in the
8_Evonik_01-08_EN 8
roughly three percent of its content that’s
made up of copper, nickel, and cobalt,” explains BGR oceanographer Carsten Rühlemann. “World market prices for these metals
are a thousand times higher than the price of
manganese.”
A BUSINESS WORTH BILLIONS
It is believed that the ocean floor segment
leased by Germany contains up to 24 million
tons of valuable metals. At $28,000
(€19,000) per ton of nickel (as of January
2008), the materials could be worth billions.
With such high prices “a new cost calculation can be made,” says BGR project manager Michael Wiedicke-Hombach, meaning
that lower prices in the past didn’t justify the
high mining costs.
Ore crusts contain even more valuable
metals than are found in manganese nodules. They contain gold, silver, platinum,
and rare earth metals. The latter are not rare
per se, but rather difficult and costly to extract from the natural compounds in which
they are embedded. Like manganese nodules, ore crusts are formed by hydrothermal
circulation, but in different ocean regions.
More specifically, they are found at the midocean ridges that span the globe (where the
plates that form the ocean floor are drifting
apart), and on the plate margins (where the
plates slide underneath one another), be- >
Brittlestar among manganese nodules
21.02.2008 12:47:48 Uhr
9
Depth in meters
Manganese nodules
0
200
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
As much as ten million years old, these potato-sized ore chunks have formed concentrically around a core. Their metal content varies.
The most interesting deposits, from a business perspective, contain (in percent) manganese (29), iron (6), silicon (5), aluminum (3),
nickel (1.4), copper (1.3), cobalt (0.25), oxygen (1.5), hydrogen (1.5), sodium (1.5),
calcium (1.5), magnesium (0.5), potassium
(0.5), titanium (0.2), and barium (0.2). These
ore fields were discovered by scientists and
cartographers on the HMS Challenger, a ship
with onboard labs that sailed around the world
in the 1870s. Today, manganese nodule fields
are easily identified using underwater photos.
Biologists on the submersible Nautile took this
photo to advocate protection of these habitats.
9_Evonik_01-08_EN 9
25.02.2008 13:20:54 Uhr
PHOTOGRAPHY: NAUTILUS MINERALS
Geologists analyze
massive sulfides that have
been removed from a
depth of 1,500 meters off
the coast of New Guinea
using state-of-the-art
technology
Diving for coveted raw materials
Nautilus Minerals, a Canadian company specializing in deep-sea mineral research and mining, collaborated with the company Placer Dome to
study the ocean floor in the Suzette Field off the coast of Papua New Guinea. The partners used a remote-controlled diving robot to map the seabed.
The robot was also equipped with a pair of gripping pliers, which took rock samples for analysis
20.02.2008 16:53:22 Uhr
DEEP SEA
SHAPING 11
Shallow-water minerals
Seabed mining has a long tradition in coastal regions, where rock consisting of minerals,
lime, and detritus is processed to extract phosphate, which is a good fertilizer and an ingredient in cosmetics and Coca-Cola. Rich deposits on Nauru Island are now depleted, while
huge reserves of up to 35 million tons of phosphate can be found east of New Zealand and
off India. The ocean apparently replenishes itself. Indonesia and Thailand are now mining tin ore in coastal waters, and half of all Indonesian exports originate in the Java Sea. De
Beers of South Africa, the major diamond company, is mining gemstones at a depth of just
200 meters off the coast of Namibia (annual revenue: $250 million). These stones account
for nearly half of the company’s production. De Beers is also expanding mining operations
on the South African shelf. The minerals were brought to the coast over a period of 40 million
years by the Oranje River, which separates South Africa and Namibia.
PHOTOGRAPHY, LEFT: NAUTILUS MINERALS, RIGHT: NARUM-FORSCHUNGSZENTRUM OZEANRÄNDER, UNIVERSITY OF BREMEN
> cause circulating water is continually depositing metallic particles in these areas.
“The ocean basins are like pails with
holes,” says geologist Peter Rona of Rutgers
University in New Jersey. “That’s because the
volcanic rock in the earth’s crust under the
ocean floor is constantly breaking up.” What
happens is that water seeps into the earth’s hot
interior and then shoots out again into the cold
ocean at high pressure and a temperature of
400 degrees Celsius, spewing out metal sulfide particles from the underlying rock in the
process. The resulting funnels appear as what
are called “black smokers”: solid sulfur compounds (massive sulfides) rise up in funnels
several meters high and then collapse over
thousands of years, leaving in their wake tremendous mountains of ore on the ocean floor.
“They contain everything our industrialized
societies need,” says Peter Herzig, director of
the Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences (IFMGeomar) at the University of Kiel. The substances present include copper (for use with
electronic components), nickel and zinc (steel
forging), valuable indium (a soft silver-white
metal used in flat screens and LEDs), and even
gold, which can be added to a nation’s reserves. There are currently about 150 known
active black smokers. The first of the resulting mineral deposits was discovered 40 years
ago in the northern Red Sea, where Africa and
the Arabian Peninsula are drifting apart. At-
lantis II, a deep-sea trench between the continents, likely contains the earth’s biggest mineral treasure chest — thousands of tons of gold,
silver, copper, and zinc. The value of the deposits there was estimated to be nearly $3 billion at the time. Located two kilometers below the sea, it currently awaits an investor.
A NEW GOLD RUSH
Researchers from IFM-Geomar have also
been diving and studying the ocean floor —
most recently in the fall of 2007 with colleagues from around the world, with whom
they discovered ore deposits at the foot of
Stromboli Island near Sicily. “Commercial exploitation hasn’t been considered yet,” says
Sven Petersen, head of the research team.
That’s because the quantities discovered to
date are insufficient. Still, Neptune Minerals
of the UK, one of the world’s leading prospecting firms, has requested a license from
the Italian government to mine in the region.
The pioneer of commercial deep-sea mining
is a Canadian company, Nautilus Minerals,
which leased an inactive hydrothermal field
from the government of Papua New Guinea
in 1997. The field is at a depth of 1,600 meters in the Bismarck Sea.
The black smokers have concentrated
raw material reserves over millions of years,
which is why scientists are drawing up deposit maps, examining environmental condi-
tions, testing equipment, and taking samples.
“Nautilus uses the research results of German
institutes,” says Herzig, who directed initial
sample drilling near Papua New Guinea.
“We’ve demonstrated to industrial companies that such mining is possible.”
Nautilus went public in 2006, gaining
strong financial partners as investors, including Metalloinvest, one of Russia’s biggest iron ore producers, and Anglo American,
the world’s second-largest mining company.
Deep-sea mining is slated to begin in 2009.
To drill in international waters, a license
must be obtained from the International Seabed Authority (see the box on p. 21). The authority can only monitor the activities of the
private firms operating off Papua New Guinea,
mainly as a means of benefiting from the companies’ technological advances. It can’t interfere in operations, however, because the licenses were issued by the country’s
government for an area within its 200 seamile exclusive economic zone. Papua New
Guinea generates more than 80 percent of its
export income from the sale of minerals, and
the country is far from a role model for environmental protection.
“What we’re facing here is a no-holdsbarred gold rush,” says Christian Neumann,
marine conservation officer at the World
Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Whereas the
mining firms are primarily interested in the >
Continued on page 18
11_Evonik_01-08_EN 11
21.02.2008 12:48:22 Uhr
As the demand for raw materials increases rapidly, many deposits on land are becoming
depleted. The seabed is rich in reserves such as oil, natural gas, and versatile metals
The manganese claims
The Clarion-Clipperton zone in the manganese nodule
belt of the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and Mexico
covers around five million square kilometers at depths
reaching 5,000 meters. Clarion and Clipperton are
the nearest uninhabited islands to the north and south.
Following international conferences, the International
Seabed Authority (ISA) specified borders between the
claims on geological maps.
License holders:
Bauxite
Aluminium ore
Cobalt
High-carbon steel, saw blades, magnets
Diamonds
Industrial drills, jewelry
Iron
Steel, chemicals
Petroleum
Energy, chemicals, cosmetics
Gold
Bars, jewelry, electronics
Ilmenite
Opaque pigment titanium white
Coal
Power plants, blast furnaces
Copper
Electrical industry,
alloys
Manganese
Steel and steel materials,
batteries
Nickel
Steel, electroplating,
consumer electronics
Platinum
Laboratory apparatus,
jewelry, catalysts
Silver
Electrodes, cutlery,
mirrors
Titanium
Aerospace, submarine building,
prostheses
Tin
Cans, anti-fouling agent
in paint
Zircon
Ceramics for sinks, dental
prostheses, jewelry
• COMRA — China Ocean Mineral Resources Research and
Development Association, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
• DORD — Deep Ocean Resources Development Company
— Japanese government and around 50 companies
• The country of South Korea
• IFREMER — Institut français de recherche pour l’exploitation
de la mer, French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea
• Interoceanmetal Joint Organization — governmental cooperation between Bulgaria, Cuba, the Czech Republic, Poland,
Russia and Slovakia founded in 1987 and based in Poland
• Yuzhmorgeologiya — state research center of the Russian
Ministry of Natural Resources
• BGR — German Federal Institute for Geological Sciences
and Raw Materials, Hanover
• ISA – International Seabed Authority reservations
German licensed territories
HAWAII
Clarion Fracture Zone
ILLUSTRATION: DIETER DUNEKA
Key
E_13-16_TS_Klapper_innen 2-3
Clipperton Fracture Zone
0
500
DORD
South Korea
IFREMER/AFERNOD
Interoceanmetal
Yuzhmorgeologiya
BGR
Coal
Copper
Mercury
Platinum
Tin
Zircon
Bauxite
Cobalt-rich
ore crust
Diamonds
Potash
Rare earths
Ilmenite, rutile
(titanium-iron ore,
titanium oxide)
Phosphorite
Gold
Lime sludge,
sand, shell
residue
Iron, iron oxide
Monazite
Sulfur
Uranium
Sodium
chloride
Barites
Chromite
Zinc
Nickel
Silicon sand,
gravel
Fresh water
Gas hydrates
1000
Kilometers
COMRA
Silver
ISA
PHOTOGRAPHY: PETER ARNOLD/OKAPIA, WWW.CLEFF.DE, D. HARMS/WILDLIFE (3), OKAPIA (4), IDRIS KOLODZIEJ (2), A1 PIX/HSC, BEN JOHNSON/SPL/AG. FOCUS, HELGA LADE, JOHN CANCALOSI/PETER ARNOLD, NORBERT NORDMANN/PAN IMAGES
A Wealth of Raw Materials
Manganese nodule
fields
Mid-ocean
ridges
Polymetallic sulfides
(black smokers)
20.02.2008 19:06:19 Uhr
As the demand for raw materials increases rapidly, many deposits on land are becoming
depleted. The seabed is rich in reserves such as oil, natural gas, and versatile metals
The manganese claims
The Clarion-Clipperton zone in the manganese nodule
belt of the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and Mexico
covers around five million square kilometers at depths
reaching 5,000 meters. Clarion and Clipperton are
the nearest uninhabited islands to the north and south.
Following international conferences, the International
Seabed Authority (ISA) specified borders between the
claims on geological maps.
License holders:
Bauxite
Aluminium ore
Cobalt
High-carbon steel, saw blades, magnets
Diamonds
Industrial drills, jewelry
Iron
Steel, chemicals
Petroleum
Energy, chemicals, cosmetics
Gold
Bars, jewelry, electronics
Ilmenite
Opaque pigment titanium white
Coal
Power plants, blast furnaces
Copper
Electrical industry,
alloys
Manganese
Steel and steel materials,
batteries
Nickel
Steel, electroplating,
consumer electronics
Platinum
Laboratory apparatus,
jewelry, catalysts
Silver
Electrodes, cutlery,
mirrors
Titanium
Aerospace, submarine building,
prostheses
Tin
Cans, anti-fouling agent
in paint
Zircon
Ceramics for sinks, dental
prostheses, jewelry
• COMRA — China Ocean Mineral Resources Research and
Development Association, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
• DORD — Deep Ocean Resources Development Company
— Japanese government and around 50 companies
• The country of South Korea
• IFREMER — Institut français de recherche pour l’exploitation
de la mer, French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea
• Interoceanmetal Joint Organization — governmental cooperation between Bulgaria, Cuba, the Czech Republic, Poland,
Russia and Slovakia founded in 1987 and based in Poland
• Yuzhmorgeologiya — state research center of the Russian
Ministry of Natural Resources
• BGR — German Federal Institute for Geological Sciences
and Raw Materials, Hanover
• ISA – International Seabed Authority reservations
German licensed territories
HAWAII
Clarion Fracture Zone
Key
E_13-16_TS_Klapper_innen 2-3
Clipperton Fracture Zone
0
500
DORD
South Korea
IFREMER/AFERNOD
Interoceanmetal
Yuzhmorgeologiya
BGR
Coal
Copper
Mercury
Platinum
Tin
Zircon
Bauxite
Cobalt-rich
ore crust
Diamonds
Potash
Rare earths
Ilmenite, rutile
(titanium-iron ore,
titanium oxide)
Phosphorite
Gold
Lime sludge,
sand, shell
residue
Iron, iron oxide
Monazite
Sulfur
Uranium
Sodium
chloride
Barites
Chromite
Zinc
Nickel
Silicon sand,
gravel
Fresh water
Gas hydrates
1000
Kilometers
COMRA
Silver
ISA
PHOTOGRAPHY: PETER ARNOLD/OKAPIA, WWW.CLEFF.DE, D. HARMS/WILDLIFE (3), OKAPIA (4), IDRIS KOLODZIEJ (2), A1 PIX/HSC, BEN JOHNSON/SPL/AG. FOCUS, HELGA LADE, JOHN CANCALOSI/PETER ARNOLD, NORBERT NORDMANN/PAN IMAGES
A Wealth of Raw Materials
Manganese nodule
fields
Mid-ocean
ridges
Polymetallic sulfides
(black smokers)
20.02.2008 19:06:19 Uhr
12
SHAPING
DEEP SEA
Who Owns the Sea?
Throughout history, people have coveted the sea’s riches — a chronicle
1494 Pope Alexander VI approves the Treaty
of Tordesillas (Spain) that splits the world’s
oceans between Portugal and Spain.
1703 The jurist Cornelius van Bynkershoek
stipulates the limit of maritime dominion
as the effective range of a cannon (approximately three nautical miles*), which
then serves as the definition of the extent
of a country’s territorial waters.
1967 Arvid Pardo, Permanent Representative of Malta to the United Nations, holds
a three-hour speech at the UN, during which
he paves the way for the laws of the sea
that are still in force today. Pardo argues that
the freedom of the seas destroys natural
resources, and proposes that the common
heritage of mankind should have priority.
PHOTOGRAPHY: AP PHOTO/RTR
1609 In his work titled Mare Liberum, the
Dutch theologian and jurist Hugo Grotius
formulates the principle of the freedom of the
seas. It stipulates that everyone can fish and
navigate the oceans wherever they like. Later,
countries also gain the right to dump materials
and lay cables in the sea. Overflight rights are
added in the 20th century.
the Law of the Sea concludes without any
concrete result.
A Russian research submersible plants the
country’s flag on the seafloor at a depth of
about 4,200 meters. Russia lays claim to the
Arctic Ocean and its vast reserves of natural
resources
1930 Several countries express their desire
to extend their national claims to incorporate fishing grounds and natural resources.
The League of Nations holds a conference
in The Hague, but no agreement is reached.
International waters
Continental shelf
Exclusive
Economic Zone
1945 As a result of pressure from the
American oil industry, President Harry S.
Truman extends U.S. control to all the
natural resources of its continental shelf.
1954 Drilling now extends to a depth of
four kilometers. Marine resources attract
the interest of growing numbers of investors:
diamonds in South Africa, tin in Indonesia,
gravel for construction purposes, fishing
grounds. The seas are rich in resources that
appear to be inexhaustible.
1958 The first international convention on
sea rights is signed in Geneva. The convention
serves as a “constitution” of the seas. Its
four treaties regulate maritime activities such
as shipping, fishing, and deep-sea mining:
• On the continental shelf (coastal waters
down to a depth of 200 meters)
• In the 12-mile zone* (plus a permissible
contiguous zone out to 24 nautical miles*)
1947 Offshore oil drilling commences in
the Gulf of Mexico.
200 nautical miles
Contiguous zone up to 12 nautical miles
Territorial waters 12 nautical miles
Baseline
for the measurement
of zones
Internal
waters
Jurisdiction
up to 24 nautical miles
Land
One nautical mile = 1.852 km
No simple legal matter: the law of the sea
has complicated regulations for determining which natural resources can be used by
which country
• Fishing in the Exclusive Economic Zone (out
to 200 nautical miles*)
• The convention confirmed the freedom of
the seas in the international waters beyond
these zones.
1960 New technologies help companies exploit the ocean depths. The rivalry for these
riches intensifies. The Second Conference on
1973-1982 The negotiators at the Third UN
Conference on the Law of the Sea agree that
the oceans’ resources should be managed for
the benefit of mankind, that the environment
should be preserved, and that the common
heritage should be shared with future generations and used solely for peaceful purposes.
As a result, no country can claim the seabed
for its own. The International Seabed Authority (ISA) is established to control seabed activities in international waters.
1994 The United Nations Convention on the
Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) goes into force.
The ISA commences operations in Kingston,
Jamaica. In 2007, the ISA has 155 member
countries. These include all countries of the
European Union, but not Turkey, Venezuela
or the U.S.
AUGUST 8, 2007 The race to the North Pole
begins. Until then, the North Pole had been
considered to lie in international waters. A
Russian research submersible plants the country’s flag on the sea floor at a depth of about
4,200 meters. Russia lays claim to the Arctic
Ocean and its vast reserves of natural resources, including an estimated 25 percent of
global oil and gas reserves, as well as deposits
of tin, manganese, diamonds, nickel, and gold.
According to Article 76 of UNCLOS, a country has a ten-year period from the time of
ratification to make claims that its continental
shelf extends into international waters. For
Russia, this period extends until 2009. Territorial claims are also being made by Canada,
Norway, Denmark, and the U.S.
* ONE NAUTICAL MILE = 1.852 KILOMETERS
20.02.2008 17:25:14 Uhr
17
“Soft” Mining Technology Needed
The environmental impact of deep-sea mining is still too great
TEXT CONSTANZE SANDERS
THE MINING SYSTEM glides through
the dark waters without touching the
seafloor, while its grab carefully picks
manganese nodules out of the silt. Meanwhile, high-pressure water pumps transport the valuable nodules 5,000 meters up
to a ship lying at anchor on the surface.
That, at least, is how engineers and biologists from some international companies envisage mining on the seabed. Given
that five kilograms of manganese nodules
could be collected from each square meter
of seafloor, a mining machine could economically collect 5,000 tons of ore from
one square kilometer of seabed a day.
However, we still don’t have technologies that would enable us to exploit these
treasures — especially if companies also
aim to avoid inflicting long-term damage
on the seafloor’s ecosystems. “So far we
can only simulate such a mining process,”
says deep-sea expert Gerd Schriever from
the Biolab Research Institute in Hohenwestedt, Germany. A team from Japan has
tested systems developed in the 1970s that
involve a ship towing a dragline. The results were not encouraging, as the dragline
tended to get out of control and damaged
the seabed. Bucket-chain dredgers that
continuously haul manganese nodules to
the surface between two ships also had a
serious impact on the environment.
But there is hope that the difficulties
can be overcome using high-pressure systems or pumps that employ a self-propelled
tracked vehicle and flexible conveyor
hoses. Meanwhile, China has designed a
harvesting device that would use a hydraulic drive to suck the nodules from the seabed. The system would also be equipped
with a mill so that it could immediately
grind the ore in the ocean depths.
DEEP-SEA MINING CONGRESS
In view of these developments, German
engineers are aiming to develop improved
measuring systems and sensitive controls.
“We want to harvest the nodules without
having to touch the seabed,” says Johannes
Post from the maritime technology company Hydromod in Hanover. “The collector will have to maintain a specified distance from the seafloor.” Post is designing
a floating collector that separates the manganese nodules from the silt, which is injected back into the sea along with the mi-
crobes it contains. The goal is to keep the
water column clean. Other technicians are
considering a mobile system.
“About 50 to 60 systems could be in
use at the same time,” says Schriever. If
each unit covers a square kilometer of seabed each day, the systems could harvest an
area about the size of Massachusetts each
year. Although this might sound like a
great deal, the abyssal plains are vast, covering an area larger than all of the earth’s
continents combined.
The littoral states would be responsible for smelting the raw materials collected from the seabed. However, 85 percent of the 5,000 tons of manganese
nodules collected each day would be left
over as waste. “No one has so far considered whether this waste material might be
toxic,” says Schriever. To discuss possible
technologies for deep-sea mining, researchers and managers from German and
foreign high-tech refineries and mining
companies will meet with government officials for a conference at Aachen University in early March. The participants will
focus on the mining of manganese nodules, cobalt-rich crusts, massive sulfide
deposits, and methane gas hydrates.
How technicians envisage extracting natural resources from 5,000 meters down
Production and transport ship with
conveyor line, pump and self-propelled
collector
Production platform
Transport ship
1000 m
interval
Manganese nodules
Seafloor
17_Evonik_01-08_EN 17
300 meter long
dragline
Production platform
Transport ship
Conveyor line
with pump
Conveyor line
with pump
Silt clouds
Soft miner, featuring a floating collector,
a conveyor line and a cable connecting it
to the ship
Silt cloud
Manganese
nodule collector
Manganese
nodules collector
Manganese nodules
Seafloor
Silt
cloud
Manganese nodules
Seafloor
Silt
cloud
Bucket-chain dredger: two ships pull an
endless chain of buckets that continuously haul nodules of ore to the surface
20.02.2008 19:18:23 Uhr
18
SHAPING
DEEP SEA
HWWI Index of World Market Prices of Commodities (in US$)
320
Overall index
Food
Industrial raw materials
Crude oil
300
280
260
240
220
200
180
160
140
SOURCE: HWWI
120
100
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2000 = 100. Monthly averages (the average for the last month shown is incomplete as long as the month has
not yet ended)
Status: January 8, 2008
> Continued from page 11
metals they can find, biologists like Neumann
are fascinated by the strange forms of life in
the ocean depths — such as one-celled organisms that live off hydrogen sulfide, eyeless
spider crabs, and numerous types of seashells
and starfish. Many crustaceans, sponges, and
anemones also live near manganese nodules.
Damage to seabeds “as a consequence of mining activities is practically unavoidable,” according to a study conducted by the University
of Hanover. That’s because mining machines
rumple, crush, and disturb sediments, and also
thrust particles into the water column. All this
also disturbs the ecological balance in the layers of water above. “It stirs up a huge amount
of silt,” says Herzig. It takes years for life to return to damaged areas, but after that it’s back to
normal. “Still, that doesn’t mean there should
be carte blanche approval for mining operations,” Wiedicke-Hombach points out.
As early as 1975, a German partnership
consisting of the BGR, Preussag, the Metallgesellschaft conglomerate, and Salzgitter AG
began studying the Pacific Ocean floor together with companies from Canada, the U.S.,
and Japan. Metal prices fell following the energy crisis, however, and many companies, including the German firms, gave up in despair,
ultimately losing more than half a billion dollars in research costs.
18_Evonik_01-08_EN 18
Constantly
rising
The HWWI
Commodity Price
Index is Germany’s
most important
indicator of world
market commodity
prices and includes
all key imported
industrial
raw materials.
Today, however, precious metals are in great
demand. A computer, for example, requires
at least 30 high-quality non-metallic and
metallic elements, such as indium. This
metal is becoming scarce because it can be
extracted from zinc ore at only a few locations worldwide. Zinc is present in abundance in deep-sea manganese nodules and
ore crusts, however. Zircon, a versatile silicate mineral nearly as hard as diamond,
which is currently extracted from beaches
in Australia and South Africa, is also present
in large quantities in ore crusts. When processed into zirconium, it can protect pumps,
agitators, and heat exchangers from corrosion. It’s also used in hot cathodes and as a
cladding for nuclear fuel rods.
A QUESTION OF CALCULATION
BGR researchers believe that up to one billion tons of manganese nodules are located
in the area under license in the Pacific. The
value of the metal deposits depends on daily
prices. “We’d need to remove around 20
percent of the surface area for the investment to pay off,” says Wiedicke-Hombach.
Japan, Australia, and China are testing
prototypes for mining manganese nodules,
including remote controlled mining dredges,
continuously operating chains of giant pails,
and air and water pumps. Environmental
damage remains the big drawback, and fur-
ther research, as well as new models and
measuring techniques, will be needed to
prevent such damage in the future.
Decisions regarding deep-sea mining are
based on comparisons of extraction costs and
metal prices. Steven Scott, a geologist at the
University of Toronto, envisions a remote
controlled deep-sea version of a coal mining
system, which would have the ore from below
transported through tubes up to waiting ships
or floating platforms. He can also imagine using drilling robots that “can collect manganese
nodules and extract massive blocks of ore
from the seafloor.”
Herzig also has ideas for extracting solid
deep-sea crusts. His “Moving Miner” concept
involves ships that would travel from one deposit to another with their systems, bores,
dredges, and storage units. “A fleet like that
would cost around €300 million,” he says,
“while a similar type of land setup can run up
to a billion euros.” That’s because there is no
need for tunnels, shafts, and access roads in the
oceans. While extracting ore crusts in the deep
is costly, it’s also less damaging to the environment than collecting manganese nodules because removing volcanic rock doesn’t leave
clouds of silt behind. Nevertheless, it takes centuries for an economically useful amount of
ore to accumulate anew. The fact that deepsea mineral resources aren’t really renewable
hasn’t stopped anyone from trying to locate >
21.02.2008 12:48:31 Uhr
PHOTOGRAPHY: BGR (2)
Extracted from
the sea by an
expedition 30
years ago:
Giant manganese crust
In search of new mining technology
Depth in meters
Crusts rich in cobalt
0
200
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
Like manganese nodules, crusts rich in cobalt
are formed through marine precipitation, but
the crusts remain firmly linked to the seabed
rock. Their thickness ranges from one to ten
centimeters. The largest deposits, located at
depths of between 800 and 2,500 meters,
contain up to one percent cobalt. By comparison, continental cobalt deposits contain a maximum of 0.2 percent cobalt. Other valuable
substances (especially for steel production) include titanium (for hardening), cerium (stabilizing), nickel (finishing), and zirconium (anticorrosion). Determining deposit volume and
content requires expensive drilling and digging
in massive bedrock at great depths.
Manganese crusts
20.02.2008 16:53:38 Uhr
PHOTOGRAPHY: IFM-GEOMAR, KIEL
Burning ice:
If the temperature
rises and pressure
falls, methane gas
escapes from its
icy cage and begins
to burn
Global competition for deep-sea mining rights
Depth in meters
Methane hydrates
0
200
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
Methane hydrates can be found on seabeds
at depths below 400 meters, as well as in
continental permafrost regions, which also
are home to small organisms. These watermethane compounds were formed over
millions of years through decomposition of
organic material at low temperatures or
under high pressure. One cubic meter of
solid hydrate expands into 164 cubic meters
of gas when heated and depressurized.
Permafrost
20_Evonik_01-08_EN 20
21.02.2008 12:48:49 Uhr
DEEP SEA
SHAPING 21
Guardians of the Deep
Based in Kingston, Jamaica, the International Seabed Authority (ISA) monitors all
deep-sea activities of governments, corporations, and scientific institutes — in addition
to setting environmental standards for the biosphere. Applicants who would like to
conduct research on the ocean floor must pay a license fee of $250,000 (€170,000 as
of December 2007) and submit annual reports. Then they can develop technologies
for commercial deep-sea mining — but any new knowledge they gain must be shared
with all 155 ISA member nations (as of December 2007). A deep-sea mining code for
manganese nodules has been in effect since 2000, and efforts to draw up a code for
massive sulfides and ore crusts began in the summer of 2007. “There are still critical issues to be addressed — mainly those involving the division of zones and the fees that
need to be paid,” says Satya Nandan, who has been ISA Secretary General since 1996.
PHOTOGRAPHY: IAN R. MACDONALD
> new sources. China is a newcomer here. It
wasn’t until 2006 that the Chinese Academy
of Engineering presented new control technology, modules, and glass cables for underwater robots. And the Chinese are buying up
raw material sources. “China is taking a preventive approach here,” says Wiedicke-Hombach. Japan and India are also conducting extensive research, and India’s preparations for
manganese nodule mining off its coast have
now reached a very advanced stage.
The first BGR ship’s crew is expected to
leave from Hanover by early 2009 to extract
samples near Hawaii. The BGR paid
€190,000 for testing rights, which is “like
a processing fee for the Seabed Authority,”
says Wiedicke-Hombach. “The authority
does bookkeeping and external controlling,
and if we end up mining the nodules, we
have to pay royalties.”
The IFM-Geomar institute in Kiel has
developed and built a new robot known as
“Kiel 6000” that can extract seabed samples
at a depth of six kilometers. The unit will begin searching for “burning ice” off the coast
of Oregon before the year is out. Burning ice
(gas hydrates) harbors an enormous amount
of energy. These frozen water-gas compounds catch fire when removed from the
sea and ignited, whereby the gas burns off
and the water flows off. Burning ice is stable
only under high pressure and at very low
21_Evonik_01-08_EN 21
temperatures — i.e. in permafrost conditions
or on the sea floor at depths below 400 meters. It is estimated that there is approximately 500 trillion cubic meters of burning
ice around the world — more than the currently known level of natural gas reserves.
HOPES AND RISKS
“Exploiting the seabed to generate energy
from sources such as gas hydrates represents a major challenge in safeguarding tomorrow’s energy supplies,” says Margrit
Wetzel, who is responsible for maritime issues on the German parliament’s Economy
and Technology committee. The problem is
that methane gas hydrates act as a kind of
frozen putty that stabilizes the continental
slopes between the coastal shelves and the
deep seabed. Removing this stabilizing substance could cause devastating landslides or
tsunamis. In addition, methane is a powerful greenhouse gas. Allowed to escape in an
uncontrolled manner, it would have a very
adverse effect on the earth’s climate.
Researchers believe another environmental problem may harbor a solution here:
scientists would like to store the other major
greenhouse gas, CO2, in the seabed, in order
to keep it out of the atmosphere — and then
extract the energy-rich methane hydrate in
exchange, so to speak. “Liquid CO2 could be
pumped into an area beneath the methane
deposit, thereby pushing it out,” Herzig explains. The carbon dioxide would then freeze,
stabilizing the seabed. The natural gas thus
pushed out could be channeled to the surface
and collected. “This method is safer and simpler than gas extraction on land,” says Herzig. For the last 12 years, the Sleipner drilling
platform off the coast of Norway has been using a similar technique, which will soon be
launched in conjunction with the world’s first
underwater natural gas extraction facility, at
the Snøhvit Field in the Barents Sea. Here, it
took only 24 years to progress from the discovery of the fields at the Norwegian continental shelf to the first practice run at a depth
of 300 meters.
And access could soon be gained to the
seabed under the North Pole, where a Russian flag made of rust-proof titanium was
planted at a depth of 4,200 meters in August
2007. The race to conquer the Arctic and
capture its treasures has thus begun. Denmark, Canada, Norway, and the U.S. are staking claims; large energy companies are requesting licenses; and everyone is feverishly
developing mining technology. At the end of
May 2008, the five “Arctic superpowers” will
meet at the invitation of Denmark in Ilulissat,
Greenland, to discuss how matters should
progress in the future. The resources in the
polar region are coveted by a host of players,
so tough negotiations are expected. <
21.02.2008 12:49:00 Uhr
22
INFORMING
Exchange rates
Only
Strong euro
In 2007 the euro soared in value compared to the dollar
1,50
GRAPHICS: REDAKTION 4
1,45
1,4
1,35
1,3
18.12. 2006
2.4.2007
2.7.2007
1.10. 2007
SOURCE: FINANZEN.NET
2.08
persons lived in the typical German household
in 2006; in 1991 the figure was 2.27 persons.
People age 65 and older were the only inhabitants of 23% of the 39.8 million households.
SOURCE: GERMAN FEDERAL STATISTICAL OFFICE
Energy Use
In 2006 worldwide consumption of energy from primary
sources (coal, petroleum, natural gas, nuclear power) increased
to the equivalent of 10,878.5 million tons of oil — 2.4
percent more than in 2005. According to the German Energy
Agency (dena), 80 percent of the energy used came
from fossil fuels. The industrialized countries, with just one
sixth of the planet’s population, use half of the energy
consumed. Asia’s dynamically developing economies are also
among the major energy consumers
20.02.2008 18:19:29 Uhr
23
Gross domestic product
Economy
Giant steps for Germany
Cautious consumers
Construction
Agriculture, forestry and
fishing
4.1%
Retail,
hospitality and
transport
17.8%
0.9%
€2,423
billion
Public and
private sector
service providers
21.9%
Finance, real
estate rentals
and corporate
services
providers
29.4%
Manufacturing
25.9%
SOURCE: GERMAN FEDERAL STATISTICAL OFFICE
Germany’s gross
domestic product in
2007 was nearly
€2.5 trillion. Adjusted
for price, that
corresponds to an
increase of 2.5 percent
compared to the
previous year. The
increase in 2006
on the previous year’s
result was 2.9 percent
Consumer confidence in Germany fluctuated in 2007
8
8,5
8,5
8,5
7,4
7,4
7
6,7
6
5,7
5
Consumer confidence
index in points
4,9
4,3
4
F
M
4,5
M
J
A
S
*
4,8
4,4
4,5
*Prognose
D
N
2007
SOURCE: GFK
Million tonnes of oil
equivalent (Mtoe)
0 – 10 Mtoe
11 – 50 Mtoe
51 – 100 Mtoe
101 – 200 Mtoe
201 – 300 Mtoe
301 – 400 Mtoe
401 – 500 Mtoe
501 – 1,000 Mtoe
1,001 – 1,500 Mtoe
1,501 – 2,000 Mtoe
2,000+ Mtoe
No data
Oil equivalent (oe)
SOURCE: BP “STATISTICAL REVIEW OF WORLD ENERGY FULL REPORT 2007”,
INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY “KEY WORLD ENERGY STATISTICS 2007”
International unit for the
calorific value of various energy
carriers (natural gas, coal,
nuclear power, hydropower)
measured in a quantity of crude
oil (here one million tonnes)
1 Mtoe = 41.9 petajoules or
11.6 terawatt hours
20.02.2008 18:19:35 Uhr
24
SHAPING
SEPARION
A High-Power Trio
TEXT KLAUS JOPP
WHENEVER HE HAS THE TIME and
PHOTOGRAPHY: DEUTSCHER ZUKUNFTSPREIS
the weather allows it, Dr. Andreas Gutsch
spends 15 minutes in the evening sitting on
a chair in front of his trailer home, where
he takes in the view of the lovely countryside in Saxony. Sometimes he wears a heavy
coat when it’s chilly. This ritual is an important part of his life — even if it’s not always
carried out in the same place. “I really need
that time,” says Gutsch, the managing director of Li-Tec Battery GmbH & Co. KG in
Kamenz, Saxony. “I use it to collect my
thoughts, reflect on the events of the day,
and prepare myself for what’s ahead.”
Praise from Germany’s president for Paul Roth,
Andreas Gutsch, and Gerhard Hörpel (from left)
Gutsch is a practical man, which is why he
lives in a trailer that is located close to his
workplace. He was sent to manage Li-Tec by
Evonik Industries AG, after previously serving as the director of Creavis Technologies
& Innovation in Marl, which is Evonik’s corporate research unit. Gutsch, who had managed some 200 scientists at Creavis, was
happy to accept the challenge of his new appointment in rural Saxony, and he describes
the experience as an adventure: “We’re one
hundred percent convinced that there are
great opportunities here, which is why I decided to take on the responsibility of ensuring that the German economy can compete
in the battery sector with its strong rivals
from Asia.”
But there was at least one evening in
December 2007 when Gutsch was unable
to enjoy his contemplative ritual outside
his trailer. That happened when he had
to travel to Berlin with his colleagues Dr.
Gerhard Hörpel from Evonik’s Science to
Business Center Nanotronics in Marl and
Professor Paul Roth from the University of
Duisburg-Essen. They were there as one of
the four teams nominated for the German
Future Prize — the most important award
for technological innovation in Germany,
which was presented by German president
Horst Köhler (see Evonik Magazine
4/2007).
>
PHOTOGRAPHY: SVEN DÖRING
Andreas Gutsch, Gerhard Hörpel, and Paul Roth invented
the new SEPARION ceramic separator — the key component
for modern lithium-ion batteries sold on world markets
Contemplation in a camping chair: Andreas
21.02.2008 12:57:31 Uhr
25
Gutsch takes a break and relaxes with a beer in front of his trailer home in Kamenz. He’ll soon be moving to an old forester’s house
20.02.2008 17:51:01 Uhr
26
SHAPING
SEPARION
Creative ideas
for a global market
worth billions
> The three ended up receiving special mention, with the award itself being captured by
a project for a new type of light-emitting
diode. They were, however, far from disappointed by the fact that their “Mega-Performance Nano Coating” project failed to take
home the award. “The nomination and the
award presentation generated huge interest
in our development. We couldn’t imagine a
better marketing vehicle,” says Hörpel. “In
fact, we have to make sure now that all the
media attention and the talks with potential
customers don’t distract us from our work.”
And there’s still plenty of work for them to
do before the first hybrid or electric vehicles
powered by batteries from Evonik can hit
the road.
Unlike Gutsch, Hörpel likes to do his
thinking when he’s on the move. So, while
Gutsch is quietly sitting outside in Kamenz,
Contemplation on a bike: Dr. Gerhard Hörpel gets his best ideas while on the move. The bike trips he takes in the Münster region
thus keep both his body and his mind in shape. Hörpel is a big believer in good teamwork — and he certainly hit the jackpot with the
SEPARION team (photo, right):
21.02.2008 12:57:40 Uhr
27
it’s likely that avid cyclist Hörpel can be
found riding his bike through the region
around Münster. Sometimes he even uses
a high-tech bicycle equipped with a stateof-the-art energy storage system.
A MARKET WORTH BILLIONS
PHOTOGRAPHY: CATRIN MORITZ
The “Mega-Performance Nano Coating”
project centers around a flexible separator
that is covered with a porous nano-sized
ceramic layer on both sides. The component’s most important task is to keep the
battery’s cathode and anode separate from
each other in order to prevent a short circuit. The separator also needs to be permeable for lithium ions. Extremely thin and
flexible enough to be easily rolled onto a
spool, this component holds the key to the
outstanding performance the lithium-ion
battery needs to deliver in order to provide
energy to cars and power plants, to name
just two examples.
The market for such applications will be
worth billions in the future: the experts believe it will grow from the current volume
of approximately €1.4 billion to €3.9 billion
by 2015. Energy storage units are a must
for both mobile and stationary applications
if society is to successfully address the
climate problem through the increased
utilization of renewable energy sources.
That’s because power from sources like the
sun, wind, and tides does not flow continuously. Instead, it must be stored if it is to be
utilized.
Lithium-ion batteries already have a
market share of 99 percent in the so-called
CCC segment of cell phones, mobile computers, and camcorders. They’re also increasingly being used in power tools that
Dr. Andreas Schuch, Dr. Gerhard Hörpel, Rolf Terwonne (seated), Dr. Matthias Pascaly,
Dr. Hans- Jürgen Wessely, Dr. Martin Schuster, Dr. Christian Hying, Friedmann Rex (seated),
Dr. Volker Hennige (from left to right)
need to operate for long periods of time far
away from electrical sockets. The required
output here is less than two ampere-hours.
By comparison, an automobile needs more
than ten ampere-hours. The SEPARION
separator enables such high capacity because its ceramic membrane makes even
large batteries more reliable, powerful, and
long-lasting — due not least to the membrane’s temperature stability.
The development work on SEPARION
began more than ten years ago in a completely different field. “At that time, we
were producing completely ceramic membranes near Enschede in the Netherlands,”
Hörpel recalls. “We used to filter liquid
dung there and then use the water to make
coffee in order to show how effective
the filtering process was.” However, the
material displayed the typical drawbacks
of ceramics, as it was rigid and brittle —
and therefore far from ideal for real
applications.
It was at this point that an invention
from Saarland came into the picture. “We
met Dr. Bernd Penth at one of the many
membrane workshops we attended,” says
Hörpel. At the workshop Penth presented
a flexible ceramic water-filtration membrane made of stainless steel mesh. Professor Michael Dröscher, who is now head
of Innovation Management Chemicals at
Degussa, acquired the system technology
for Creavis.
With the help of expertise from Evonik
Degussa GmbH in the area of particle technology (and nano technology in particular), which was further developed together
with Professor Paul Roth, a strategy was
then pursued to make the original water
filter thinner and thinner until it could be
used as a flexible foil.
It was a long and tedious process — and
the fact that it was ultimately successful was
due to the tremendous dedication of all
those involved. Even as a child, Hörpel
shocked many adults with his creative use
of the chemical set in his parents’ basement.
Gutsch, on the other hand, couldn’t decide
whether he wanted to be a locomotive
engineer, a pilot, or a farmer (his mother
had grown up on a farm). When he began
to have trouble with spelling in school,
his mother told him: “Don’t worry — just >
21.02.2008 12:57:45 Uhr
28
SHAPING
SEPARION
Energy storage
in the future
Tomorrow
Even further in the future
Conventional lithiumion batteries with 3 Wh
output
Systems from Evonik
significantly increase battery
output
Large lithium-ion batteries serve as
power grid buffers
h
3W
+
*Separi
on
*Lithari
on
E
EL
C
Hybrid cars require
batteries with an output of
1 kWh each
E
B IL
RAGE
MO Y STO
T
IC I
TR
LiTec
1
KWh
A large number
of electric cars
run on electricity taken
from the grid,
and can also
re-channel this
energy back
into the grid if
necessary
Use in hybrid vehicles with mixed electric
motor/combustion engine drive system
LiTec
h
150 W
SEPARION and LITHARION
The SEPARION ceramic membrane and new
electrode materials (LITHARION) make it
possible to build batteries with significantly
higher output of up to 1 kWh
Purely electric V2G
(vehicle-to-grid) car
STATIONARY
E
ELECTRICITY STORAG
Small lithium-ion batteries already dominate the
market for cell phones,
laptops, and camcorders.
LiTec
LiTec
Renewable,
sporadically produced energy
from the wind, sun, and biomass
Renewable
energy
LiTec
LiTec
LiTec
LiTec
LiTec
LiTec
LiTec
LiTec
LiTec
LiTec
LiTec
LiTec
LiTec
LiTec
LiTec
LiTec
LiTec
LiTec
LiTec
LiTec
LiTec
LiTec
LiTec
LiTec
LiTec
LiTec
LiTec
LiTec
LiTec
LiTec
0 KWh
100 - 10.00
LiTec
LiTec
LiTec
LiTec
LiTec
LiTec
LiTec
LiTec
LiTec
LiTec
LiTec
LiTec
LiTec
LiTec
A large number
of batteries
are combined
to create small
power plants
10
KWh
Battery output
is once again
increased by a
factor of ten
ILLUSTRATION: REDAKTION 4, SOURCE: EVONIK INDUSTRIES
-
+
Today
Lithium-ion batteries are used today mostly to power cell phones, laptops, and camcorders. However, technology from Evonik will also make it
possible to utilize the power packs in much bigger devices in the future. This will create new opportunities for their application — initially in hybrid
and electric vehicles and stationary devices that store energy from the sun and the wind
20.02.2008 17:51:10 Uhr
29
> keep going. One day you’ll have a secretary
who’ll do that for you.” Gutsch ended up
graduating from high school and going
to college in Karlsruhe, where he decided
to study chemical engineering during a
time when the environment was beginning
to become a major public issue. “After that,
I wanted to remove the financial burden
from my parents, so I started my own
business selling photovoltaic systems,”
Gutsch says. “I was a little ahead of my
time here, but business was still good, even
back then.”
PATIENCE AND PERSISTENCE
The development of a product like
SEPARION requires more than just an
avid interest in the natural sciences, such
as that which led Hörpel to study chemistry
at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz.
It also necessitates traits such as patience
approaching stubbornness, great persistence, and excellent powers of persuasion,
among others. Gutsch played the role of the
impatient, unyielding driving force, while
Hörpel served as his calm counterpart,
ready to weather every storm.
This was crucial, as things didn’t always
go as planned. For one thing, development
of the water filters into a ceramic separator
was originally supposed to take only six to
eight months — not three years. During this
difficult time, the team, which included
Evonik employees and university staff, grew
even closer together. “Even though the three
of us got all the attention in the media with
the Future Prize nomination, none of the
successes we achieved would have been
possible without the entire outstanding
SEPARION team,” says Hörpel.
The SEPARION project was launched
several years ago in the Screening Committee, which was the precursor of Creavis. The
committee consisted of a small group of
creative and visionary people led by Professor Michael Dröscher, head of Innovation
Management Chemicals.
The team initially identified the opportunities associated with membranes at a
time when using lithium-ion batteries for
automobiles wasn’t even a realistic consideration. A “membrane team” under Gerhard
Hörpel tested the feasibility of the amazing
ideas the group generated, and then imple-
mented them. This team consisted of Christian Hying, a membrane manufacturing specialist at the time and now production
manager for SEPARION; the ceramics specialist Volker Hennige, who now manages
the lithium-ion activities of Creavis in
China; and Sven Augustin, who had extensive experience in market applications for
membranes, and is now the expert for automotive battery applications on Evonik’s
Automotive Industry Team. These days,
a 40-member team led by Hans-Jürgen
Wessely continues to successfully move
forward with the development of lithium
technology at Evonik.
At the beginning of 2006, the battery
specialists continued their success story in
Saxony by purchasing Ionity AG — an acquisition that now enables them to build even
bigger lithium-ion batteries. They then
launched Li-Tec Battery GmbH as a new
partnership, taking advantage of Ionity’s
existing infrastructure. “This really helped
us, because we were able to move into a hall
with 8,000 square meters of space that already housed an excellent infrastructure,
including one of the largest drying rooms
in Europe,” says Gutsch.
Plans call for the previous manual production of battery cells in Kamenz to be
switched over to an automated line before
the year is out, and the existing expertise
will also be exploited to the fullest extent.
The team is pursuing a two-pronged
marketing strategy here. On the one hand,
they plan to enter as soon as possible the
already established markets for the batteries, such as the segments for electrically
operated bikes, scooters, boats, and jet
skis, as well as industrial applications such
as electric forklifts, lawnmowers, and
cleaning machines. On the other, the team
has already established partnerships to
serve the markets of tomorrow, whereby
the focus here is on automotive applications. Their goals are ambitious, as they
are looking to produce their 100,000th cell
before the end of this year.
INTENSIVE RESEARCH
The intense interest of various industries
in the batteries is illustrated by a research
and development initiative launched by
the German Ministry of Education and
Research (BMBF) and the companies BASF,
Bosch, Evonik, Li-Tec, Evonik New Energies GmbH, and all the members of the
German Association of the Automotive
Industry (VDA).
The initiative goes by the rather longwinded name of “Lithium-Ion Batteries for
the Mobilization of Renewable Energy for
the Future and for Greater Efficiency in
Exploiting Fossil and Renewable Energy
Sources,” and is initially scheduled to run for
three years. The industrial companies will
contribute €360 million to the project as a
consortium, while the ministry will provide
€60 million.
Evonik Industries is also working with
the German Research Foundation (DFG) to
support another initiative known as “Functional Materials and Material Analysis of
Lithium High-Power Batteries,” a fundamental research project that involves 12
universities and research institutes.
In addition to its own activities in this
area, Evonik has endowed a professorship
for Applied Material Science for Energy
Storage and Conversion at the Westfälische
Wilhelms-Universität in Münster. The goal
here is to establish an internationally competitive research program for studying the
energy storage potential of large-volume
lithium-ion batteries. Chemetall and VW
are also sponsoring the professorship.
In the meantime, lithium-related activities continue at Evonik and Li-Tec. A passenger car in the VW Golf segment needs
to have 160 cells from Kamenz to travel a
distance of approximately 150 kilometers
at a speed of 130 km/h. The power packs
that contain such cells can also store the
fluctuating current from solar and wind
facilities (see box), thereby significantly
increasing the efficiency and value of these
renewable energy sources.
The three researchers get their own
energy for tackling the major challenges in
their project from the same source — their
families, which is why Gutsch will soon be
ending his trailer-living phase and moving
into an old forester’s house. This will enable
his sons to at least visit him on weekends.
The boys like to build model airplanes and
ships, which could also be run on lithiumion batteries. These batteries have a bright
future ahead of them at Evonik. <
21.02.2008 12:57:57 Uhr
30
BUILDING
CLIMATE-FRIENDLY LIVING
Climate Protection = Cost Savings
Evonik uses intelligent concepts for sustainable
climate protection, creating solutions that really pay off
THERE ARE NO LIMITS to the imagination when it comes to modern living:
innovative ideas include heating buildings
with energy from the depths of the earth,
improving air quality with concrete roofing tiles, and converting solar energy
into electricity. The Real Estate Business
Area of Evonik Industries AG consistently
implements a full array of technological
innovations that reduce pollutant emissions
and lower utility costs.
The most recent example of the company’s activities here is offered by “the world’s
first industrially manufactured, ecologically
active roofing tiles.” Evonik used the tiles to
cover 3,000 square meters of roof space on
eight multi-family buildings in Duisburg, a
unique pilot project in Germany. These tiles,
which do much more than just protect houses
from rain and snow, were produced by the
company Nelskamp using a new material
developed by the HeidelbergCement Group:
a micro-cement containing titanium-dioxide
crystals. This non-toxic material was discovered in Norway and the U.S. in 1908. Although it is 2,500 times thinner than a human
hair, the material layer used in the roofing
tiles is so powerful that, in combination with
sunlight, it can transform pollutants such as
nitrogen oxides into harmless substances.
Nitrogen oxide is released every day by
industrial plants and automobiles; when
exposed to sunlight, it converts into toxic
ozone. If the gas comes into contact with
titanium dioxide in daylight, however, it
rapidly turns into harmless nitrate molecules,
which flow to the ground in rainwater and
seep into the earth as neutral salts. Here they
serve as plant nutrients or find their way
into sewage systems, to be eventually
filtered out at water treatment facilities.
Because it isn’t consumed when transforming nitrogen oxides, titanium dioxide
can be used an unlimited number of times as a
catalyst. This means the roofing tiles, which
are similar in appearance to conventional
tiles and installed in exactly the same manner, can help to improve air quality and
reduce ozone concentrations in urban areas.
SUPER TILES
A similar project in Italy, which was sponsored by the EU, demonstrated that concrete
containing titanium dioxide can break down
as much as 90 percent of the nitrogen oxides
that make contact with it when the sun is shining, and up to 70 percent when the sky is overcast. Reiner Kathenbach, head of Technology
Pilot project: A total of 3,000 square meters of new roofing being installed in Duisburg
PHOTOGRAPHY: EVONIK INDUSTRIES (2); GRAPHIC: REDAKTION 4
TEXT CATRIN KRAWINKEL
20.02.2008 17:58:24 Uhr
How modern roofing tiles function
UV radiation
NOx
NOx
Titanium dioxide
in micro-concrete
neutralizes
pollutants in the
atmosphere
Rain
NOx
TiO2
Titanium
dioxide
NO3NO3NO3-
ClimaLife roofing tile surface
31
The roofing tiles are
made of microconcrete that contains
titanium oxide crystals.
When exposed to
sunlight, the crystals
transform nitrogen
oxides into nitrate
molecules. The
molecules flow down
in rainwater and
seep into the earth as
neutral salts, or else
find their way into
sewage systems, where
they are filtered out at
water treatment plants.
SOURCE: NELSKAMP
and Residential Management at Evonik Wohnen GmbH, is delighted with the new roofing tiles: “We renovate an average of 150 to
160 buildings each year. Any building with a
steep roof can be fitted with the innovative
tiles, and when we install them, we’re making a significant contribution to environmental protection.” In fact, 200 square meters of roof surface equipped with the tiles can
eliminate the equivalent of the exhaust emissions generated by a 2,000-kilometer car trip.
Buildings thus modernized are given new
heat-insulating windows as well. Their room
and basement ceilings are also insulated, and
their facades are sealed with a heat-insulating
composite, as specified by the stringent regulations of Germany’s Reconstruction Loan
Corporation (KfW). The primary energy
consumption of the modernized buildings is
nearly the same as that of a comparable new
house, so heating costs are cut sharply. The
renovation measures also lower annual CO2
emissions by at least 40 kilograms per square
meter (see Evonik Magazine 4/2007).
SUNNY DEVELOPMENTS
It goes without saying that all buildings built
by the company also comply with the latest
The Sonnensiedlung in Moers is equipped with state-of-the art environmental technology
environmental and climate protection standards. At present, for example, the company
is building the Sonnensiedlung (“Sunny
Community”) residential complex in the
city of Moers. The complex will consist of
60 homes, whose heating requirements will
be met in part by geothermal sources, with
hot water to be supplied by solar energy.
Other buildings will be equipped with photovoltaic units, and the direct current they
generate will be fed into the local AC grid
via an inverter.
Once the geothermal source has been
tapped, it will be channeled into households
with the help of a heat pump, making energy
available at all times from an extremely reliable source. Installation of the needed
equipment will cost approximately €10,000
per household, an investment that will pay
off because the heat supplied by the units
will reduce energy costs by more than twothirds compared to conventional setups.
“Germany’s Renewable Energy Sources
Act not only provides new homeowners
with guaranteed payments for energy they
feed into the grid; the complete environmental technology used is also eligible
for KfW loans,” says Kathenbach. Another
benefit for homes equipped with such
technology is that they require no chimneys,
oil tanks, or gas hookups — in addition to
producing no emissions. <
20.02.2008 17:58:28 Uhr
32
EXPERIENCING
RUHRFESTSPIELE
A Taste of Hollywood
With Kevin Spacey once again the star of the Ruhrfestspiele and Peter Zadek also joining in, Frank Hoffmann
TEXT ULRICH SCHMIDT
from tradition, one of Europe’s most renowned theaters was invited to stage the
opening event of the 2006 Ruhrfestspiele in
Recklinghausen in its mother tongue. Featuring an Oscar-winning actor in the lead
role, it promised to be an evening full of
glamour and quality drama. Would it work?
It did: the audience was ecstatic. Kevin
Spacey delivered a tour de force as Shakespeare’s Richard II in the Trevor Nunn production from London’s Old Vic Theatre,
where Spacey is also the artistic director.
This year, thanks to the efforts of principal festival sponsor Evonik Industries AG,
Spacey is making a much-heralded return to
Recklinghausen (May 1 to June 15, 2008)
with a play by the name of Speed the Plow.
“We’re very proud to be principal sponsor
of the Ruhrfestspiele,” explains Inken Ostermann, responsible for sponsoring at
Evonik. “Over the years, the festival has developed into a real magnet for theater lovers
from all over the world and for some of the
very best performers as well.”
Spacey’s stage partner in the new production will be Jeff Goldblum. The play was
written by David Mamet, a contemporary
U.S. playwright who has also created successful screenplays for Hollywood, the setting of >
PHOTOGRAPHY: ELLIS PARINDER
TWO YEARS AGO, in a bold departure
Kevin Spacey and Jeff Goldblum, appearing in Speed the Plow at this year’s Ruhrfestspiele
20.02.2008 18:04:11 Uhr
33
Frank Hoffmann
(center) together
with actor
Herbert Knaup
(left) and
Hasko Weber,
director of
the Stuttgart
PHOTOGRAPHY: P. LAUREN
Compagnie DCA–Philippe Decouflé presents the dance theater production Sombrero
PHOTOGRAPHY: DPA/BERND THISSEN
and his team have created a festival program that puts the dream back into America
20.02.2008 18:04:14 Uhr
34
EXPERIENCING
RUHRFESTSPIELE
PHOTOGRAPHY: ARNO DECLAIR
Straddling two continents
Judith Rosmair stars in Frank
Hoffmann’s production of
A Moon for the Misbegotten
PHOTOGRAPHY: MANU THEOBALD
Josef Bierbichler in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams
25.02.2008 13:24:22 Uhr
35
> the Recklinghausen production. In Speed the
Plow, secretary Karen hands her boss, the
Hollywood producer Bobby Gould (Kevin
Spacey), a script of undeniable artistic merit
but minimal box office appeal. Meanwhile,
old friend Charlie Fox (Jeff Goldblum) calls
by with a screenplay as banal as they come but
with a major star already signed up. Bobby
faces a choice between art and commerce.
Two years ago, Kevin Spacey paid Recklinghausen theatergoers a huge compliment
when he praised the festival’s unique atmosphere. And this memory has prompted him
to return. What’s more, Australia’s Hollywood star Cate Blanchett also got wind of
his glowing report and has opted to bring
her directorial debut — David Harrower’s
Blackbird, which deals with the sensitive
subject of child abuse — along with the Sydney Theatre Company to the Ruhrgebiet.
Coming to the Ruhrfestspiele:
Harald Schmidt in Elvis lebt.
Und Schmidt kann es beweisen
Dance has always played a major role at the
Ruhrfestspiele. This year, Compagnie Sentimental Bourreau is performing a piece based
on the novel Sweet Thursday by John Steinbeck. As so often, Steinbeck examines the
dark side of the American dream with its
emphasis on achievement and prosperity.
Counterpointing this colorful mix of dance,
music, and drama, which is produced in association with the Festival d’Avignon, is a show
presented by Pockemon Crew Compagnie,
currently one the most innovative groups in
international breakdance, which has risen
literally from the basement of the Lyon Opera to become a set feature of that renowned
stage. Similarly international is the now wellestablished Fringe Festival, which this year
features 16 productions from seven different countries in a variety of venues, both
indoor and outdoor, right across downtown
Recklinghausen.
Meanwhile, in a major treat for theater
buffs, the controversial director Peter Zadek
is making a surprise return with a production
of Luigi Pirandello’s Vestire gli ignudi (To
Clothe the Naked). In the wake of the problems attending his production of Twelfth
Night in Vienna, not much had been heard
from Zadek, who has been a frequent guest
director in Recklinghausen in the past. His latest production keeps faith with the festival’s
motto and examines the dream harbored by
the nursemaid Ersilia to have her own failed
and “naked” existence clothed in art by the
writer Nota. As ever, nothing is quite as it
seems. Festival-goers can look forward to seeing how Zadek, a director who is not known
for pulling his punches, deals with this play of
shifting identities. <
“Once upon a Time in America: A Dream
of Theater” is the motto chosen by Frank
Hoffmann for the 2008 season. The director of the Ruhrfestspiele is aiming to explore
the contrast between reality and reverie, as
dramatized, for example, in his production
of Eugene O’Neill’s A Moon for the Misbegotten, a story involving an explosive combination of love and booze. Hoffmann’s leading lady is Judith Rosmair, Germany’s
Actress of the Year 2007.
Between these two poles — on the one
hand, the American theater of the 1940s,
which was still heavily influenced by Europe; on the other, its contemporary absorption of Hollywood themes in the Mamet production — come works from writers such as
Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, and Sam
Shepard. In this way, Hoffmann also aims to
show how in a mere 100 years America has
managed to forge a theater that is every bit a
match for the older European tradition.
Ironic takes on America’s image can be
expected from Jérôme Savary, who is putting
on Happy End by Dorothy Lane, Kurt Weill,
and Bertolt Brecht, and from Sombrero, a
dance theater production brought to Recklinghausen by Compagnie DCA–Philippe
Decouflé. Sombrero takes the audience on a
lighthearted journey through a world of light
and shadow in search of an ironic Mexicaninspired angle on the festival’s motto.
Further information is available at:
www.ruhrfestspiele.de
PHOTOGRAPHY: RUHRFESTSPIELE
PHOTOGRAPHY: DAVID GRAETER
REVERIE AND REALITY
The place for world-class theater:
The Ruhrfestspielhaus in Recklinghausen
20.02.2008 18:04:20 Uhr
36
INFORMING
Hannover Messe
PHOTOGRAPHY: EVONIK INDUSTRIES
Innovations from Evonik
From April 21–25, 2008, Evonik Industries AG will be staging an impressive
presentation at the world’s biggest industrial trade show — the Hannover Messe.
The fair is also the world’s most important platform for technical innovations, and
the creative industrial group based in Essen will be presenting innovations from
its Chemicals, Energy, and Real Estate business areas to visitors from all over the
world, at a stand measuring approximately 800 square meters. Highlights are to
include new state-of-the-art systems for resource conservation and energy efficiency — ranging from environmentally focused building modernization techniques to high-tech systems for geothermal energy generation and coal power
plants — and advanced applications for chemicals in the automotive industry, including new lithium-ion batteries for hybrid vehicles.
Berlin and Brussels
Wilhelm Schmidt Is New Director of
the Public Affairs Department
Wilhelm
Schmidt
is the new
director of
the Public
Affairs
department
Evonik Executive Board Chairman Dr. Werner Müller
spoke to members of parliament (including Bundestag President Dr. Norbert Lammert), federal ministers, and business officials. Dr. Müller thanked those
who supported the restructuring of RAG to create
Evonik and the establishment of the RAG-Stiftung. In
Brussels, Evonik Executive Board member Dr. Klaus
Engel presented a review of the company’s first 150
days to members of the European Parliament and the
European Commission, as well as representatives of
various business associations.
During his speech, and in subsequent discussions, Engel also spoke about the company’s critical
view of the EU’s REACH directive for chemical substances and the European emission certificate trading
system. Jo Leinen, a member of the European Parliament and chairman of its Committee on Constitutional Affairs, was also on hand as a guest speaker at
the event.
Karlheinz
Maldaner
now heads
the Group
office in
Brussels
European Parliament member Jo Leinen talks
with Executive Board member Klaus Engel
PHOTOGRAPHY: LAURENCE CHAPERON/LASA (5)
The Public Affairs department at Evonik Industries
AG has a new director. Following the retirement of
Dr. Wilfried Czernie, 67, Wilhelm Schmidt took
over the department at the beginning of 2008.
Schmidt, 63, also now serves as the authorized representative of the Executive Board and managing director of the Group’s offices in Berlin and Brussels.
Markus Schulz is now director of the Evonik Industries office in Berlin, while Karlheinz Maldaner holds
the same position in Brussels. Wilhelm Schmidt
brings to his new position extensive political experience, having served for many years as a member of
Parliament (Bundestag) for the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) and as the party’s chief whip.
Over the last few weeks, Evonik Industries has
been present in both Berlin and Brussels to introduce
the new Group and explain its goals. Political officials
and members of parliament in both cities have expressed great interest in the new company. In Berlin,
Markus
Schulz is now
head of the
Group office
in Berlin
Bundestag President Dr. Norbert Lammert
speaking with Dr. Werner Müller
25.02.2008 13:35:47 Uhr
37
GUEST COLUMN
Russia’s Negative Image in the German Media
No other country in the world, with exception of the
U.S., gets as much emotionalized media exposure in
Germany as does Russia. That’s not surprising, given
that Russia is a permanent member of the UN Security Council, a nuclear power, and a major supplier of
gas and oil — not to mention one of Germany’s neighbors in Europe. At the same time, everything that
happens in Russia is usually attributed to President
Vladimir Putin, so the outgoing president has become
the main target of criticism of Russia.
A study conducted by dimap-communications on
behalf of the WAZ Media Group examined the following six “communication events” involving Russia
over the last 12 months: the murders of journalist
Anna Politkovskaya and former KGB agent Alexander
Litvinenko, the 2007 Munich Conference on Security Policy and Putin’s controversial speech at that
event, the EU-Russia Summit in Finland, the awarding of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games to Sochi,
and Russia’s parliamentary elections and upcoming
presidential election.
Nearly all articles published about these subjects
mentioned “Putin” by name. Particularly revealing
was a trend noticed in reports on Politkovskaya’s
murder, whereby the crime was used to attack the
Russian political system in general, with issues such
as “crime fighting” and “freedom of speech and
press” mentioned much less often. The murder of
Politkovskaya (who actually took money for the information she gave to foreign journalists) was thus
used as an excuse to settle accounts with the Russian
political system in general and with Putin in particular. Putin has become a symbol for everything that is
wrong in Russia. Indeed, Politkovskaya’s death
launched a phase of very critical reporting on Russia
in line with the formula: Russia = Putin = bad (or
getting worse).
It is interesting to note that correspondents in
Russia and editors in Germany have differing opinions of Russia. Although all seem to agree that general political developments in Russia reflect that
country’s authoritarian structures, editors in Germany tend to view Putin as a stabilizing factor, while
correspondents think he’s destabilizing the country.
Of course, many of these negative opinions are
expressions of anti-Russian or even anti-Soviet biases. But secrecy is a part of Russian political culture,
which traditionally seeks to project a picture of
PHOTOGRAPHY: PICTURE-ALLIANCE/DPA
TEXT RICHARD KIESSLER
Patriarch Alexy II and Vladimir Putin: An antiStalin speech
strength and unity to the outside world, while concealing all weaknesses. Whenever bad news comes
out of Russia, it’s invariably attributed to the supposed underdeveloped and chaotic nature of the
country, accompanied by references to the inability
of non-Russians to understand any of it.
It’s also interesting to note that a remarkable two
thirds of the approximately 200 German correspondents accredited in Moscow base their assessments
of the Russian political system on non-Russian
sources, including German and other foreign politicians and representatives of international organizations. Moreover, less than one percent of such assessments are based on statements made by German
business representatives — a fact that they find very
discouraging.
We in the media should therefore focus on more
than just raw materials when reporting on the Russian economy, as such a narrow view tends to reinforce stereotypes of Russia. That’s because a headline containing the word “gas” invariably also
contains the names “Putin,” “Medvedev,” or
“Schröder.” There is much more to say — both good
and bad — about the Russian economy, however.
It’s not surprising that German business representatives in Russia (there are 4,500 German companies
active in the country, including 4,300 small and medium-sized firms) criticize the fact that Russia’s media image doesn’t correspond to reality there. Many
things have changed for the better, for example, and
the standard of living has also improved. More than
anything else, Russians don’t want to be told what to
do. It’s important to keep in mind Russia’s authoritarian history and the fact that things were much worse
and chaotic under Yeltsin than in the recent era of relative stability under Putin. The German media, however, prefers to focus on sensational negative topics
like the Russian mafia, prostitution, corruption, nationalism, and Chechnya. It also tends to overestimate the support enjoyed by groups opposed to Putin, such as the one led by Garri Kasparov.
The following is a good example of how the German media covers Russia and Putin: the Russian
president and the Patriach of Russia, Alexy II, recently presided over a ceremony honoring victims of
Stalinist terror, in which Putin gave a clearly antiStalinist speech. This speech was ignored by the media, which instead often implies that Putin is seeking
a re-Stalinization of Russian society. Yet the only possible basis they have for this charge is that Putin has,
in the past, praised Stalin’s leadership during the Second World War.
Despite all this, it’s also true that Russian officials
fail to address the needs of foreign media representatives. It often takes days or even weeks to obtain a
statement from a Russian ministry on a particular issue. So Russian government officials shouldn’t be
surprised when their views don’t make it into news
reports abroad. Basically, Russian politicians are bad
public relations managers.
In the meantime, German business representatives have the good stories most journalists seem so
uninterested in. This disinterest is perhaps due to the
fact that reporters like to avoid the appearance of being PR mouthpieces for major corporations. Still,
such business officials would certainly find an attentive audience if they were prepared to speak openly
about both their successes and difficulties in Russia.
The author is editor-in-chief of the
WAZ Media Group (Essen) and
special foreign affairs correspondent. This article is based on a
speech Kiessler gave in Moscow to
the German-Russian Chamber of
Foreign Trade
20.02.2008 18:25:23 Uhr
38
EXPERIENCING
AMERICA
“Where Blessed Hands Do
Highways, monuments, and major cities: a 2,000-kilometer journey from the North to the South of
38_Evonik_04-07_EN 38
21.02.2008 10:50:22 Uhr
39
Divine Work”
the U.S. and to three major production plants of Evonik Industries
Derrick Freeman, a barber in Hopewell
39_Evonik_04-07_EN 39
21.02.2008 10:50:26 Uhr
Lafayette
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Nashville
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Raleigh
Greenville
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TEXT TOM SCHIMMECK
PHOTOGRAPHY JOHANNES KRÖMER
IT’S 9:30 A.M. ON A MONDAY IN NEW YORK,
and the morning rush-hour traffic is heading toward gridlock. The bridges are jammed
and the traffic in the tunnels is barely moving. In an effort to get away from the highrise canyons of Manhattan, I inch my way
through the Holland Tunnel under the Hudson River on my way to New Jersey. This
state has the reputation of being a huge suburb, the “bedroom” of the “BosWash megalopolis” made up of Boston, New York City,
Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington,
D.C. But in fact, New Jersey has a lot more to
offer. It has the second-largest proportion of
both Jews and Muslims in the United States.
It also has many Asians, Italians, and Native
Americans, who have been living here quite
a bit longer than all of these immigrant
groups — for more than 2,800 years. The
first Europeans — from Sweden and the
Netherlands — didn’t come to New Jersey
until the early 17th century. Later on, it was
one of the focal points of the Revolutionary
War, with tiny Morristown serving twice as
General Washington’s headquarters.
NEW JERSEY TURNPIKE, 2 P.M. The service
areas along the turnpike are named after historical figures, such as the inventor Thomas
40_Evonik_01-08_EN 40
This timbered house in
Edison, Presidents Grover Cleveland and
Woodrow Wilson, the poet Walt Whitman,
and even the football coach Vince Lombardi.
I stop at the Molly Pitcher Service Area in
Middlesex County, which is named after
Molly Pitcher, who carried well water pitcher
by pitcher to slake the thirst of the soldiers
and cool the overheated cannons at the Battle of Monmouth in 1778. After her husband
was wounded, she took over his position as
an artillery gunner.
PHILADELPHIA, TUESDAY, 8 A.M. “I was
bruised and battered,” sings Bruce Springsteen, one of many musicians from New
Jersey, in his hit song “Streets of Philadelphia.” “Oh brother, are you gonna leave me
/ Wastin’ away / On the streets of Philadelphia?” Today, the streets of “Philly,” as it’s
known to its inhabitants, don’t seem at all
desolate; they’re busy and friendly. After all,
the city’s name, derived from Greek, means
“City of Brotherly Love.”
INTERSTATE 95, 11:30 A.M. Between the
tiny state of Delaware and the city of Baltimore in northeastern Maryland, Interstate
95 becomes the John F. Kennedy Memorial
Highway for 50 miles. Kennedy inaugurated
this stretch of the highway eight days before
he was assassinated in November 1963.
More than 30 million vehicles a year race
20.02.2008 18:55:14 Uhr
AMERICA
EXPERIENCING 41
City Point belongs to a former plantation. Hopewell’s Broadway is rather uninspiring — but later on you can buy cucumbers at the side of the road
along this highway, which is eight lanes wide
at some points and is due to become even
wider. The tangle of highways around Washington, D.C., is not far away. I’m already on
the Capital Beltway that circles the city and
the radio is warning drivers of massive congestion up ahead, so I decide to make a short
detour into the center of town.
WASHINGTON, D.C., 1:30 P.M. The sun is
shining. One thing TV viewers seldom see is
the huge contrasts that characterize this city
as well. Just a few blocks from the center of
global power, life can be very rough — or very
pleasant. The vibrant Adams Morgan neighborhood, which lies north of the city center
between Georgia Avenue and Rock Creek
Park, looks much less planned than the rest
of this drawing-board city. The streets are
narrow, almost European, with colorful façades and interesting shops, cafés, and bars.
I quickly leave Washington behind to look
for the less well-known parts of America.
INTERSTATE 95, 6 P.M. The South begins just
behind the Capital Beltway, in Virginia, where
people still chew tobacco. Richmond, the
state capital, is known to many readers of detective fiction as the home of Chief Medical
Examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta, a blonde ItalianAmerican forensic physician who is also an
excellent cook. Just before I reach the James
41_Evonik_01-08_EN 41
River, I turn right onto the Downtown Expressway so I can take a short look at the setting of these novels. As I drive through, the
real Richmond looks a lot more harmless than
in the books. It’s full of trees and gardens, as
befits a state capital. I drive on.
HOPEWELL, WEDNESDAY, 11:30 A.M. To-
day’s Virginian Pilot includes a moving report about the closure of the Ford factory in
Norfolk, which is located to the southeast
along the Atlantic coast. A total of 7,983,458
vehicles were produced here, with heavyduty F-150 pickups rolling off the assembly
line. This was a popular model, but it was too
massive for modern taste and rising gas
prices. According to the reporter, one former employee yelled, “This is a proud day
for Toyota!” Hopewell is a small town of
brick houses. A quaint barbershop on the
narrow street called East Broadway catches
my interest. The owner, Derrick Freeman,
45, is a heavyset African-American with a
beard, a bald head, and a necklace in the
form of a heavy gold chain with a key. This
is the key to “the heavenly kingdom,” he explains. In the U.S. such an attitude is not unusual; in fact, on his business cards the “master barber” promises “heavenly haircuts.”
The line beneath it reads: “Where blessed
hands do divine work.” Americans are not
known for their false modesty.
The barber, who comes from New York City,
explains: “A woman lured me here, and then
she left me.” One of his daughters still lives
in New York, but his other four children are
scattered far and wide, he reports while
giving a difficult shave to a customer who is
sitting extremely still. Hopewell is “okay,”
reports Freeman as he folds up his straight
razor. “Business is a bit slow, but it’s all
right.” He looks like a man who would do
well wherever he lived.
A few blocks to the northeast is City Point,
where the James River and the Appomattox
River meet. This is the historic site where
General Ulysses S. Grant set up his headquarters in the summer of 1864, eight miles
behind the front lines of his army, which was
besieging nearby Petersburg. Overnight, this
sleepy village became a key supply point in
the war. A long pier, railroad lines, and gigantic warehouses were built. Hundreds of ships
docked in this small harbor every day. The
town is full of historical monuments and Civil
War museums. In one museum shop I find a
counter full of sugar candy for children that is
shaped like gunpowder and cannonballs
Of deodorants, ink, and cleansers
All Evonik products are regularly monitored
in the testing laboratories in Hopewell.
Dressed in a white lab coat and wearing >
20.02.2008 18:55:21 Uhr
42
EXPERIENCING
AMERICA
“Everyone here
is involved
with surfaces in
one form
or another”
> protective goggles and latex gloves, Angela
Paez energetically brushes the long hair of
a wig fastened to the head of a plastic doll.
Paez is conducting a scientific test on a new
conditioner in a lab in Hopewell, Virginia,
that contains rows of white cabinets and
many worktables filled with tubes, bottles,
flasks, and various types of equipment.
Several other plastic heads wearing wigs are
sitting on top of a refrigerator and awaiting
their turn with the conditioner, while a
variety of emulsions for metal processing
are being tested at another table. A lab technician is boring holes in large blocks of iron
to test the quality of a lubricant. A nearby
shelf is filled with several bottles of standard
fabric softeners, and a row of control strips
is hanging on the wall.
Hopewell, in eastern Virginia, has been
home to production facilities of Evonik
Industries AG and its predecessor companies
since 1980. Today, the Group employs 230
employees in four lines of business. “Everyone here is involved in a variety of products
used by millions of people all over the world,
ranging from deodorants to ink to cleansing
agents,” says site manager Philip Munson.
Indeed, it’s amazing to see all the different
applications of chemicals. Cocamidopropyl
betaine, for instance, is an amphoric surfactant that is used as a secondary surfactant
in a wide range of applications, including
42_Evonik_01-08_EN 42
shampoos and shower gels. In addition,
polyurethane foams can be found in cars,
construction sites, and even your own bed.
North America is a very important market for Evonik, which operates 33 manufacturing facilities, distribution centers, labs,
and warehouses in North America with a
workforce of about 3,500, or around 13 percent of the Chemicals Business Area’s total
workforce.
The North American region in 2006
generated €2.9 billion in revenues, which
corresponds to 20% of sales for Evonik’s
Chemicals Business Area. In North America,
the business area manufactures basic materials for paints, fertilizers, hand creams, diapers, glue, contact lenses, cars, mattresses,
furniture, and thousands of other items. The
organization’s base is in Parsippany, New
Jersey — not far from New York City.
NEAR PETERSBURG, 2 P.M. The South can
be rough, but it’s got a charming smile. The
light and the wide horizon tighten their hold
on you and pull you forward, always wanting to drive just a few miles more. I check my
route once again at the interchange near
Petersburg. In spite of all kinds of exceptions,
the US highway system is quite simple: the
odd-numbered roads run north-south, and
the even-numbered ones run east-west. The
numbers increase as they go toward the >
Angela Paez tests a new conditioner
20.02.2008 18:55:24 Uhr
43
43_Evonik_01-08_EN 43
20.02.2008 18:55:27 Uhr
44
EXPERIENCING
AMERICA
The American way of life: VW buggy fans get together in Herbies’ Place, the Greensboro Grasshoppers baseball team, and a monument to the “Greensboro
The city of
Greensboro is
“quite a mix”
> north or the east. Numbers divisible by five
indicate the major highways.
I have to leave Interstate 95, the East
Coast highway that connects Miami and
Canada. Google Maps recommends that I
bear right and continue driving in a southwesterly direction on the I-85 for the next
1,076 kilometers. The countryside becomes
more and more open, and the sky seems
to be higher. As soon as you leave the main
road, you drive through sprawling towns
with broad lawns and front yards that are
not fenced in. There are lots of churches,
which is why the Southeast, the region
between Virginia and Texas, is known as
the “Bible Belt.” On the banks of a small
lake, a grandfather stands fishing with his
grandchildren.
GREENSBORO, THURSDAY, 10 A.M. I arrive
in Greensboro, North Carolina, in the early
evening. The booth of the parking garage is
manned by an odd-looking character with
rings on every finger, plus bracelets. He
takes his pipe out of his mouth, introduces
himself as Avory Simmons, 60 years old, and
gives me a quick overview of his city.
Greensboro is “quite a mix,” he says, as it’s
both an industrial center and a college town.
“That makes things more colorful,” he adds
with a grin. He used to live in the state capital, but he’s happy to be back here, where it’s
44_Evonik_01-08_EN 44
“much more peaceful.” Later on, I read a local newspaper with the lovely name of The
Rhinoceros Times.
Greensboro is a down-to-earth kind of
place, home to about 250,000 people who
work in the mechanical engineering, electronics, and chemicals sectors, at a cigarette
factory, and in the remains of the area’s textile industry. The local restaurants have
names like Ruth’s Chris Steak House,
Stamey’s Barbecue, and Laddie & Duke’s
Family Grille. For five years now, there’s
been a huge statue on the campus of the
State University of four upstanding young
men, the “Greensboro Four.” On February
1, 1960, four black college boys — David
Richmond, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair, and
Joseph McNeil — entered a Woolworth’s in
the center of town and sat down at the lunch
counter. It was a small revolution, because
at that time black people were only allowed
to eat standing up at a separate counter. The
four young men’s sit-in launched a decade
of protest against racial segregation in the
United States.
The road leading out of town boasts an
endless row of car dealerships. I’ve become
curious because of the newspaper article
about the closure of the Ford plant in Virginia,
so I pull up to Green Ford. I’m approached by
one of the dealership’s 20 salesmen, a solidly
built young man named Zach Wyatt. He tells
20.02.2008 18:55:30 Uhr
45
Four.” John Cranford, 82, remembers the struggle against racial segregation
me that each salesman is expected to sell at
least eight cars a month. How, I ask him.
“Well, by talking to you,” Zach grins. “And by
finding the right car for you.” And how is
business, I ask. “Not so bad,” he rumbles evasively, but he soon admits that Ford is going
through a “really tough” period. Nissan,
Honda, and Toyota are doing booming business in the United States, but Ford, Chrysler,
and GM are in a slump. Greensboro, the salesman tells us, still has a lot of “rednecks” who
love heavy-duty vehicles, as well as an increasing number of Hispanics. On Summit
Avenue there’s a new dealership called
Familia Auto Sales, where business is done in
Spanish.
The situation is volatile. Zach, a chunky
21-year-old, used to be a bouncer employed
by a security company. Is there a future for
him in Greensboro? “I was born here,” he
says almost apologetically. “My family lives
here” — that is, his wife and two children.
The town has a new baseball field, and the
nightlife is pretty good too, says Zach, adding for good measure a short tribute to
“Southern hospitality.”
In the land of the super-diapers
Greensboro is a small city in North Carolina,
where approximately 300 Evonik employees
operate four of the site’s six plants, six stor-
45_Evonik_01-08_EN 45
age facilities, and four labs. The remaining
two plants are run by a company previously
owned by Evonik.
Everything is highly modern here, which
is why a 12-person shift team is capable of
keeping two large production units running.
Two of these workers sit in each unit’s control room, where they literally have everything under observation and control. Colorful numbers and symbols flash across 13
monitors, and there’s also a console that
houses telephones, radio sets, clocks, calculators, computer keyboards, and “mice,”
which the technicians use to operate all of the
machinery with just a few clicks.
Many types of hand hygiene and skin
health products are made in Greensboro,
specifically targeted for the away-fromhome markets. Under the brand of STOKO
Skin Care, this business line offers solutions
for occupationally stressed skin, from
industrial applications through to hand
hygiene products for healthcare facilities
and light institutional applications such as
offices and schools. STOKO was the first to
offer a comprehensive three-point, colorcoded program into the workplace. Products for before work are coded blue and
are specifically formulated to protect the
skin against continual exposure to various
irritants commonly found in the workplace.
Green is for cleansing products that are
formulated for high skin compatibility and
performance; and red is for after-work
creams that condition the skin while promoting regeneration. “The marketplace
is highly competitive, offering products of
diverse quality,” says Lori Huffman, Marketing Manager for STOKO Skin Care. “The
STOKO brand has a loyal following and a
superb reputation for delivering high quality products at competitive prices.”
The other products created on site are
used to treat textiles, leather, water, paper,
and cement. The plant’s shining stars are
superabsorbers — complex networked polymers made of acrylic acid that can store up
to 300 times their weight in fluids. The
manufacturing facilities for these products
extend over six floors connected by a huge
freight elevator. The filling section is populated by numerous forklifts that transport
huge sacks containing a superabsorbent end
product known as FAVOR® to a number of
site warehouses.
This product is used in an increasing range
of applications in firefighting, waste disposal,
cable protection, and agriculture. The product demonstrations that we see resemble
magic shows in which a liter of milk is poured
into a rolled-up newspaper, for example —
and nothing leaks out. The lion’s share of revenue continues to be generated by a product
that never goes out of style: diapers — for >
20.02.2008 18:55:33 Uhr
46
EXPERIENCING
AMERICA
Putting
high-tech diapers
to the test
> which Evonik is the world market leader, with
special labs in Krefeld, Germany, as well as
Shanghai, Istanbul, and Greensboro.
The lab technician shows us how the
superabsorber polymers are made by mixing
some materials together — and after just a few
seconds she has a flask containing a starchy
gel that can be dried out and processed into
powder. Just a couple of spoonfuls of the stuff
will absorb two liters of liquid. The lab in
Greensboro tests diapers every day — about
15,000 a year, in fact. The researchers don’t
just test their own products; they also review
different brands of diapers each month and
literally dissect them.
Today’s diapers are high-tech products
that are sold to a huge global market. Modern
manufacturing equipment can produce 600
to 1,000 diapers per minute, and companies
around the world continually seek to make diapers thinner, more absorbent, and better-fitting. In the 1980s the average diaper weighed
more than 100 grams; today it weighs only 45
grams. Diapers also have their own monthly
report, and market updates are published
three to four times a year. Every diaper detail
is examined under a microscope in Greensboro, where diapers are also measured,
weighed, and evaluated as to cuff elasticity,
fleece properties, stretchability, fastening
effectiveness, and odor emissions. Diaper
surfaces are divided into grids to assess fluid
46_Evonik_01-08_EN 46
distribution. Most importantly, however,
diapers are tested for absorption capacity,
rate of absorbency, and storage capability —
all with the help of a spin dryer. Finally, the
diapers are examined to determine the speed
and effectiveness of biodegradability.
The key component of this advanced testing facility is the “Mannequin Leakage “ simulator, which contains a long row of diapered
doll torsos. The torsos release liquid from
built-in hoses, a process that can be altered
for testing either male or female diapers.
“Constant innovation is crucial if we want to
maintain our technological leadership,” says
lab manager Dr. Olaf Hoeller. “Innovations
are kept under wraps, because what we test
here are top-secret diapers.”
Greensboro’s special diaper test
INTERSTATE 85, 2 P.M. The leisurely tempo
is relaxing — except when I’m being passed
by one of the gigantic chrome-covered trucks
that turn up in my rearview mirror like grinning monsters. After a few days spent driving on the interstates, the German debates
over speed limits on the Autobahn seem very
far away. The U.S. has speed limits of 55, 60,
or at most 70 miles per hour (112 km/h), and
speeders are sure to be spotted very quickly
by the local sheriff or even by radar-equipped
aircraft. Many areas of life are strictly regulated in the “land of opportunity.” On TV,
offensive words are drowned out by bleeps. >
20.02.2008 18:55:36 Uhr
47
Dr. Yaru Shi at work in a Greensboro laboratory
47_Evonik_01-08_EN 47
20.02.2008 18:55:39 Uhr
48
EXPERIENCING
AMERICA
A tale of two worlds: anglers relax while a cargo ship sails by on the Mobile River; laid-back Southern flair contrasts with the dynamic heartbeat of an Evonik
In the heat
of the South
48_Evonik_01-08_EN 48
> In many states the drinking age is 21, and
alcohol can still be carried around on the
street only in brown paper bags — just like in
the days of Philip Marlowe.
As I drive on toward Charlotte, North
Carolina, town names such as Westminster,
Walhalla, and Athens reveal the far-flung
origins of the original settlers.
I cross a corner of South Carolina and
soon reach Georgia, so named in honor of
King George II. After the Spanish and French
had explored this area, 113 English settlers
arrived on February 12, 1733, on the HMS
Anne and founded the port city of Savannah.
This date is still commemorated today as
Georgia Day. (Although many of its inhabitants remained loyal to the British crown,
Georgia was one of the 13 colonies that rebelled against British rule.) In 1861 Georgia
joined the Confederacy, and in the winter
of 1864–65 the Union general William
Tecumseh Sherman burned down railway
facilities, businesses, and a large proportion
of homes as he cut a swath of destruction
across the state. It’s all there to see in Gone
with the Wind.
The climate in the “Peach State” is subtropical. Ice storms from the north seldom cross
the Appalachians to disturb this region. But
drought was a problem during the past two
summers, and there’s an ever-present threat
of tornadoes.
ATLANTA, 4:40 P.M. Georgia’s capital city,
situated on a ridge southeast of the Chattahoochee River, is much more leafy and
charming than I had expected. It’s easygoing and has lots of Southern charm. The
five million inhabitants of greater Atlanta,
the home of CNN and Coca-Cola, are distributed over quite a large area.
ATLANTA, 7:30 P.M. I stop in a supermarket
parking lot to ask two security guards how
to get to a certain hotel on the outskirts of
town. They go to great lengths to help me
and describe the route to the hotel very
clearly. Two hours later I encounter them
again. They kindly ask me if I got to the hotel
all right, and I end up spending a pleasant
and relaxed evening with them, joking and
telling stories. Hundreds of people fill the
bars and restaurants surrounding the landmark Midtown Art Cinema — mostly sitting
outdoors, where they eat, drink, and chat
vivaciously in their broad and melodious
Southern accents.
INTERSTATE 85, NEAR MONTGOMERY, FRIDAY, 9:50 A.M. After more than 1,000 ki-
lometers, my freeway joins Interstate 65,
which comes down from Chicago and will
take me today all the way down to the Gulf
of Mexico. In the Interstate Cafe, a handpainted barracks-like building, three fat
20.02.2008 18:55:42 Uhr
49
Industries plant
African-American ladies are amused by the
sight of me, a clueless tourist perusing a
large map. The café offers its guests all the
watery coffee they can drink.
Welcome to Alabama, one of the hottest
states in the U.S. and a paradise for farmers,
as the growing season can last 300 days here.
The downside, however, includes powerful
thunderstorms, tropical storms, and hurricanes. And for much of Alabama’s history, life
was difficult for dark-skinned people, who
labored on gigantic cotton plantations until
the abolition of slavery in 1865.
This farming state, which used to be
poor, is now booming, with an unemployment rate of only 3 percent. Steelworks,
aircraft production, and other heavy industries are practically jostling for space. Approximately 70,000 new jobs have been
created in automobile production plants.
By the beginning of 2009, Alabama is expected to replace Detroit as the United
States’ top automobile manufacturing location. But even though Alabama is booming, not everything is on the up and up here.
Ex-governor Don Siegelman, who used to
fly to Europe and the Far East to attract industry to his state, is now serving a prison
sentence for bribery and other crimes.
MOBILE, 1 P.M. The last 280 kilometers to
the coast have rolled by quickly. The city
49_Evonik_01-08_EN 49
itself (pronounced “mobeel” rather than
“mobile”) is located at the tip of a huge bay
at the mouth of the Mobile River. Mobile’s
French origins are immediately evident. In
1702 it became the first capital of the French
colony of Louisiana.
During World War II, a gigantic warship
production industry grew up around the bay,
attracting many new inhabitants. Between
1940 and 1943 the city’s population grew by
almost 90,000. After the war, Mobile remained an industrial center and became an
increasingly popular site for company headquarters, with attractive leisure opportunities for managers and their families. Today
it’s the home of EADS, Ciba, Kimberly-Clark,
and Evonik. ThyssenKrupp is now investing
$3.7 billion in a new steelworks here.
The sunlight along the coast is bright, and
a blue sky full of puffy white clouds arches
over the ships in the water. In the warship
park in Mobile, visitors can admire a genuine
World War II veteran, the battleship USS Alabama. The local newspaper carries reports
on class reunions, births, farewell parties,
mosquito-spraying aircraft, and the 75th anniversary of the largest fishing competition
ever, the Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo,
which was attended by more than 3,000
fishermen and some 100,000 spectators on
Dauphin Island.
I have a late lunch at Wintzell’s Oyster
House, a local institution for the past 68
years, according to the menu. There’s a
blurred photo of the restaurant’s founder, a
fat man sleeping slumped over a table in his
restaurant. The waiter quickly brings me a
dozen oysters, which I drizzle with lemon
juice and eat using a small green plastic fork.
They’re absolutely delicious.
Evonik’s biggest chemicals plant
outside Europe
Evonik Industries AG’s most important industrial plant is in Theodore, Alabama, near
Mobile on the Gulf Coast. Thirty-three years
ago, the first bulldozers arrived here to begin
building a new chemical plant. Today, some
700 Evonik employees and around 150 contract employees keep the Group’s biggest
non-European chemical facility humming.
The plant houses a dozen production units
and storage facilities that extend over an area
of two and a half square kilometers. Everywhere you look, there are manufacturing
facilities, tanks, and towers, all of which
are surrounded by pipes and linked to roads
and rail lines. As we tour the facility, our
guide tells us that all of it is “basically a giant
chemical kit.” The site has its own dock,
water treatment facilities, and a shuttle bus.
Employees who need to move around a lot
travel on bicycles and small golf carts. Land
has even been set aside for future expansion;
it’s currently being used by a peanut and cotton farmer.
“It’s an excellent location,” says plant manager Tom Bates, pointing out that Mobile has
good rail, ship, and air connections and is also
easily reachable by car and truck. The region
around the city is home to many engineers
and experts in information technology,
finance, and security systems. In other words,
it’s got everything that’s needed to operate
complex industrial facilities around the clock
— or “24/7,” as the Americans say. The products manufactured in Mobile include hydrogen peroxide, a bleach used in the paper and
pulp industry; amino acids for animal feed;
semi-finished goods for plastic synthesis; and
coatings for everything from houses and garden tools to airplanes. AEROSIL, an extremely
fine silicic acid invented in 1942 by Degussa
chemist Harry Kloepfer, is also made here
and can be found in more than 250 products
ranging from tires to toothpaste. AEROSIL
also makes paints more scratch-resistant and
silicone more stable, provides the UV protection in sun creams, and helps to polish the
wafers for computer chips.
In 2005, Hurricane Katrina laid waste
to the region around Mobile over a swath
of land more than 600 kilometers long. But
despite the ever-present danger of tropical
storms, the people who live in Mobile and
the industries there have no intention of
leaving. That’s because they love it: Mobile
is a charming city with a lively sports culture
— and employee turnover in its industries is
extremely low.
Community counts for a lot here, and the
chemical plant tries to be a good citizen as
well, says Bates. Among other things, the
company encourages volunteer work and
supports educational and social initiatives
and the arts. <
20.02.2008 18:55:45 Uhr
50
INSPIRING
RUHR.2010
Rallying for the Ruhr Region
Turkish-German TV personality Asli Sevindim promotes culture
in the Ruhr District and the integration of immigrants in Germany
At “Baramane” in Essen, RUHR.2010 cultural director Asli Sevindim takes a break from TV news anchoring duties and efforts on behalf of the Ruhr region
20.02.2008 18:30:07 Uhr
51
SERIES THE CULTURAL DIRECTORS OF RUHR.2010
u ASLI SEVINDIM
TEXT CATRIN KRAWINKEL
PHOTOGRAPHY NORBERT ENKER
“I WAS BORN IN DUISBURG — and
PHOTOGRAPHY: MICHAEL KNEFFEL
I imagine I’ll probably die in Duisburg,”
says radio and television journalist Asli
Sevindim. “I’m simply a Ruhr girl, through
and through!”
Sevindim, 34, walks quickly through
Robert Schmidt Hall at the headquarters of
the RVR regional organization in Essen and
takes a seat next to Fritz Pleitgen, former
director of the WDR broadcasting company and currently managing director of
RUHR. 2010 GmbH. “Welcome, ladies and
gentlemen, to RUHR.2010’s first literary
conference,” Sevindim says to the roughly
50 guests in attendance. She then proceeds
to confidently moderate two hours of lively
discussion. Later, she reveals that she isn’t
feeling well because she was up working
practically all night after a terrorist plot was
uncovered. Sevindim doesn’t look tired
though, just a little pale, maybe — “but most
people would say my skin complexion is too
light for someone of Turkish ethnicity.”
Asli Sevindim is always on the move,
and today is no exception. After the literary
conference, she takes a short break at a
Middle Eastern snack bar before heading
off to a studio in Düsseldorf, where she
has been hosting a daily 40-minute TV
news show with her colleague Martin von
Mauschwitz for the past year-and-a-half. >
Discussion in Duisburg: Fritz Pleitgen with cultural directors Asli Sevindim and Dieter Gorny
20.02.2008 18:30:10 Uhr
52
INSPIRING
RUHR.2010
Focused and dedicated: A press conference for the MELEZ.07 Cultural Festival
Asli Sevindim
> Sevindim does the newscast every weekday
starting at 6:50 p.m. and alternates on the
weekends. She also works for WDR radio,
and was one of the founders of the Alte
Feuerwache, a cultural center in Duisburg.
Culture and the integration of immigrants in German society have been important to Asli Sevindim ever since she was
a schoolgirl. She has always devoted her
free time to addressing and publicizing
these issues, and eventually she and some
of the people she worked with contacted
officials from RUHR.2010. “That’s how
I got to know them, and after we talked
they invited me to go with a special group
to Brussels to present the RUHR.2010
project’s case for making the Ruhr region
the European Capital of Culture.”
The trip was a big success, and on April
11, 2006, the same day the Ruhr District was
named European Capital of Culture for 2010,
it was also announced that Asli Sevindim
had been selected to serve as one of the four
cultural directors of RUHR.2010, and the
only woman director. This, of course, has
made her schedule even busier. “The only
thing I wish for at the moment is to not have
a heart attack,” she says with a smile. With
her work load — and the speed with which
she gets things done — you might think
she isn’t really joking. And because she’s
always in a hurry, racing around the Ruhr
region all the time, Sevindim recently lost
her driver’s license for the second time. But
she takes it all in stride.
A CONFESSED SCATTERBRAIN
“I’m totally chaotic — and I can’t help it, I just
love driving fast on the autobahn,” confesses Sevindim. She certainly didn’t inherit
her chaotic nature from her Muslim
parents, who always taught Asli and her
two younger sisters to be careful and to stay
out of trouble: “I wasn’t allowed to read the
teeny magazines, and we had to really fight
to get permission to go to the disco.”
Sevindim’s parents are from Eskişehir,
an industrial city in Anatolia, from where
they emigrated to Duisburg in 1971. “I still
have about 140 cousins and a whole bunch
of uncles and aunts living in Turkey,” she
says. “One of them is my Aunt Ferya, a
deeply religious woman who is completely
convinced that people who eat pork never
get jealous, which she doesn’t like because
she believes that men who don’t get jealous
aren’t real men.”
Sevindim describes a woman like her
Aunt Ferya in her first book — Candlelight
Döner — a novel that tells the story of a
Turkish-German family, including the moment when a 20-year-old woman (who just
so happens to remind the reader of Sevindim) introduces her German boyfriend to
her parents for the first time. In real life,
Asli Sevindim has been married to a German
man for 12 years.
“My mother would have rather had her
toenails pulled out than see me marry a
‘potato,’“ says the protagonist in Sevindim’s
semi-autobiographical novel. “Potato” is a
derogatory expression some Turks use to
refer to Germans, inspired by the popularity
of potatoes as a staple in German cooking
— and also because many immigrants find
Germans a bit boring. Still, Sevindim’s
husband succeeded in winning over her
family — including Aunt Ferya. Today, one
of Sevindim’s younger sisters is also married
to a German, and the families celebrate
German and Turkish holidays together.
When asked if her personality is more
Turkish or more German, Sevindim replies:
“My husband says I’m an Anatolian Prussian — because I’m stern, strong-minded,
and soft at the same time. I, on the other
hand, would describe myself as down-toearth, uncomplicated, and straightforward.” To that we would hasten to add
unpretentious, humorous, and direct.
Sevindim believes categorizing people
according to their nationality is foolish and
only serves to propagate stereotypes. “I
think there’s such a thing as a regional character, but not a national one — and I find this
confirmed by my everyday experiences,” >
21.02.2008 13:00:41 Uhr
53
regards culture and integration as absolutely crucial
Sevindim takes a quick lunch break at the “Haydar Ustanin Yeri” Turkish restaurant in the Marxloh district of Duisburg
20.02.2008 18:30:16 Uhr
BIOGRAPHY
As early as her high school days, Asli Sevindim, 34, worked at a local radio station
in Duisburg. After studying political science at the University of Duisburg-Essen, she
began working for the WDR broadcasting company in 1999. In 2003, she became
the host of Cosmo TV, and three years later she took over the co-anchor position in the
Aktuelle Stunde news program. Sevindim has also made a name for herself as an author:
her novel Candlelight Döner — Geschichten über meine deutsch-türkische Familie was
published in 2005. In March 2007, Sevindim hosted the 43rd Adolf Grimme Awards,
which is one of the most important media awards presented in Germany. She is also a
cultural director at the RUHR.2010 organization, where she is responsible for the
“City of Cultures” program.
Even without a German
Whether on the job or in her role as a cultural director — Asli Sevindim likes to get to the bottom of things and quickly puts ideas into practice
20.02.2008 18:30:19 Uhr
RUHR.2010
INSPIRING 55
Relaxed and professional: Preparing to go on camera for the news show
passport, she feels like a genuine Ruhr girl
> she says. “Ultimately, every nation is made
up of those who are nice and those who are
nasty in temperament, of simple people and
complicated individuals.”
Sevindim also doesn’t like it when Germans say foreigners should adapt to German
ways. “I really don’t know what that’s
supposed to mean,” she says. “Whose ways
exactly are we supposed to adapt to? Where
is that ideal German? We have in this country a wonderful constitution that applies to
everyone. So is someone supposed to tell
me what kind of wallpaper I can put up in
my house, what I should eat, and how I
should dress?” She also gets very irritated
whenever Germans complain to her about
foreigners: “Obviously these people don’t
even realize that I’m Turkish.”
Although Sevindim still doesn’t have a
German passport (“dealing with paperwork isn’t one of my strengths”), she feels
like a true-blue girl from the Ruhr region —
a young woman who’s been shaped by the
geography, life, and people in the region
around Duisburg. “I love how one city just
seems to seamlessly transition into the
other here,” she says. “The sheer size of everything here, the great variety, the parks,
the laid back people, and the tremendous
cultural offerings are just fantastic.” For
Sevindim, the 5.3 million people who live in
the Ruhr region are like a kind of miniature
Europe — a multicultural mix that serves as
an inspiration and shows that one is never
alone, but rather always surrounded by
people with a wide variety of lifestyles.
PASSIONATE DIVER
Sevindim is a passionate diver, so the only
other place she could imagine living would
be the Maldives, or maybe Hawaii. Before
she can get into all that, though, we arrive
at the modern studio building in Düsseldorf’s harbor district. “Sorry, I’ve got to get
to a meeting for tonight’s news show, followed by an internal meeting. And then
I have to write up my script and talk with
the director,” she says before taking off.
We meet again two-and-a-half hours
later, while Sevindim is sitting in front of a
makeup mirror and having her hair done.
Nothing about her demeanor betrays the
fact that in a little less than two hours she’ll
be reporting to a television audience of
approximately one million viewers, addressing serious topics including a thwarted
terrorist attack in Germany, the death of
Luciano Pavarotti, and the disappearance
of “Hanna,” a 14-year-old German girl.
“Of course these things affect me — but
you have to maintain a professional distance in this job,” she explains. The only
time she has ever had to struggle to rein in
her emotions was when she had to report
on a major earthquake in Turkey back in
1999. “That’s because some of my relatives
were living in the region, so it wasn’t easy
for me,” she recalls.
Still, negative feelings and pessimism
simply aren’t in the character of this lighthearted lady with big brown eyes. Sevindim
says she’s looking forward to “getting to
know the Ruhr District even better, now
that I’m serving as a RUHR.2010 cultural
director. This is really a great privilege for
me.” Sevindim plans to do a good job and
accomplish something for her region: “We
want RUHR.2010 to have a long-term
impact on people’s lives here. One of the
things I’m hoping to see, for example, is an
intercultural opening through institutions
like museums, as well as a greater concentration of the potential we have in the Ruhr,
which would allow us to draw even closer
together and become a true metropolis. “
That won’t leave much time for Sevindim’s private life: “But my family supports
me,” she says. When there’s time between
her job and volunteer activities, she enjoys
long breakfasts with her husband, or going
for a piece of Black Forest cherry cake at
her favorite cafe. “Family and food are the
most important things — I couldn’t do without them,” she says wistfully. Her thoughts
are interrupted by a call to go to Studio 1:
It’s time for the news. <
21.02.2008 13:00:56 Uhr
56
DEBATING
MANAGERS’ SALARIES
Should Managers’ Salaries
In view of the modest increases in general wages and salaries, the high remuneration
of top managers has become a hotly discussed topic. Opinions range from expressions of
strict non-involvement to demands for the legal capping of top managers’ salaries
HARD TO JUSTIFY
I believe that annual salaries in the double-digit millions for top executives of companies
listed in the DAX are hard to justify. The guideline should be the principle that a
top executive’s earnings should not be greater than 100 times the average salary of
the company’s employees. If the average salary in a company is €35,000, the top
managers’ salaries should not exceed €3.5 million.
Hans-Otto Schrader, the new CEO of the major mail-order company Otto
LOSS OF THE ELITES
If we treat our country’s elites badly,
we’ll lose them. After all, they’re not bound
to Germany as a workplace.
Klaus-Peter Müller, Chairman of the Supervisory Council of Commerzbank from May 2008,
who nonetheless believes that some managers’ salaries are too high
FLIGHT
If the government
were to reduce top
managers’ salaries,
there would be an exodus
of managers from Germany
to London or elsewhere.
56_Evonik_01-08_EN 56
DISCUSSION
RATHER THAN ENVIOUS COMMENTS
The debate about managers’
salaries is not an exchange of
envious comments but a discussion of the lack of social solidarity in our
country. None of us want to live in a country
where people care only about themselves and
line their own pockets without consideration
for anyone else. Millions of employees have
seen how the managers of their companies
focus primarily on short-term profit while the
employees are treated like cost items that
happen to be human. We need to return to a
corporate culture of responsibility in which
employees receive the recognition they
deserve. Their reliability, inventiveness, and
commitment are Germany’s most important
strengths as a business location. Smart entrepreneurs — and there are many of them — realize that the secret of our prosperity is, and has
always been, social harmony.
Hans-Werner Sinn, President of the Institute
Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Vice-Chancellor
for Economic Research (Ifo), Munich
and Deputy Chairman of the SPD
20.02.2008 18:34:13 Uhr
57
Be Legally Capped?
SHARED
RESPONSIBILITY
I don’t want to comment on
individual cases. It would
certainly be helpful if more
managers were to participate
in this debate, which is important for our society. It’s also necessary for
the labor unions to get involved. In Germany
we practice employee co-determination, with
NO LEGAL LIMITS
In the election campaigns in the
federal states, the grand coalition
shouldn’t be tempted to take the
wrong approach and pass laws that
limit the remuneration of top managers.
Jürgen Thumann, President of the Federation of German Industries (BDI)
employee representatives making up almost
half of the members of corporate supervisory
councils. That means both groups bear shared
responsibility for resolving this issue.
Angela Merkel (CDU), German Chancellor
THE PROPORTIONS ARE OUT OF CONTROL
The problem is that the proportions are out of
STRENGTHENING
SHAREHOLDERS’
INFLUENCE
It’s up to a company’s owners
to decide how much to pay
control: managers’ salaries are growing spectacularly, while the average salaries of employees
are stagnating. My urgent recommendation is directed at the
their managers. We can talk
business world itself: the companies should show more
about how shareholders can
sensitivity when they make decisions concerning their top
strengthen their influence in their companies’
annual general meetings, but I think politically
managers’ salaries.
motivated caps on salaries are counterproduc-
Norbert Lammert (CDU), President of the Bundestag
PHOTOGRAPHY: DPA
tive. Salaries set by the government, uniform
salaries or set prices for bread — that would be
a planned economy, the German Democratic
Republic all over again but without the Wall.
Guido Westerwelle, Chairman of the FDP
57_Evonik_01-08_EN 57
20.02.2008 18:34:17 Uhr
58
LIVING
ILLUSTRATION: DIGITAL VISION
Virtual Beaming
TOM SCHIMMECK discusses augmented reality,
a mix of the virtual and real worlds that’s
likely to soon be shaping our everyday lives
HOW REAL ARE YOU, MR. STRICKER? Dr. Didier Stricker
flashes a grin. That’s not a technical question, says the French
engineer, it’s a philosophical one. Stricker, 37, is head of the Virtual
and Augmented Reality department at the Fraunhofer Institute for
Computer Graphics (IGD) in Darmstadt, and he’s always working
on the “fringes of reality.” His job is to continually blur the
distinction between reality and “virtuality.”
And no, his work isn’t focused on the world’s legions of video game
fanatics — or at least not exclusively. Stricker’s area of expertise
is augmented reality, or “AR” for short. Augmented reality is giving
us a glimpse of what work and communication will look like in the
future, when the era of “ubiquitous computing” emerges. Monitors,
keyboards and even the computer mouse will quickly become useless then. New interfaces will be needed to discern the observer’s
position and line of sight, perceive his or her wishes and commands,
and make information visible. That which comes from the computer, Stricker says, should be “immediately incorporated into the
real environment.” This means our real world is increasingly going
to be mingled with another world, lightning fast and artificially
generated — by a computer.
Are we looking forward to this era? And if so, why do we need AR?
“Because everything is becoming increasingly complex all the time,”
says Stricker, who served as the technical coordinator of ARVIKA
(Augmented Reality for Development, Production and Servicing),
a large consortium of companies, from Airbus to Zeiss, that
were eager to learn what AR has to offer — in the area of service,
for example. Take, for example, the search for a way to replace
increasingly voluminous manuals and PDF files with visualization
on site. That’s of great interest to German engineering firms that
export their state of the art products and equipment to locations
halfway around the world. But sometimes the equipment won’t run
due to some minute detail. “So a support technician gets on a plane
and flies to the customer,” says Stricker, “where he turns two bolts
and then flies home.” He is convinced AR could be used to quickly
and clearly “walk” the users at the site through the needed steps.
The list of possible areas of application seems endless. In the future,
architects and their clients would be able to see a new building
as it will really appear in its surroundings, and a masonry contractor
would be able to see the wall he is about to build — depicted in situ
and with amazing precision. Later, perhaps, when a worker
approaches to drill into the wall, the data goggles he is wearing will
enable him to see exactly where pipes and cables are located. Using
3D projection, scientists would be able to take part in virtual meetings with colleagues, and business people could meet their customers virtually, represented by an “avatar” — a virtual being suspended in space that can conduct a presentation or demonstration.
That would save a lot of time and gasoline. Is it the precursor to
Star Trek-style beaming? “Exactly,” says Stricker, “virtual beaming.”
AR would feed our senses with a wealth of additional information —
images, sounds and numbers — and all in real time. Researchers have
invested their best efforts in goggles that provide an open field of
vision while simultaneously depicting all kinds of additional input for
the human eye. To do this, a good AR system must precisely detect
and follow the person’s position and line of sight in order to continuously adjust to these factors. This is what makes it possible to project
a 3D image of a matching teacup onto a real saucer — and to let this
virtual cup stay in its position while the observer is moving.
In Darmstadt the researchers are working with increasingly complex simulations of shadows and light. Their aim is for a virtual
sofa to actually look identical to a real sofa, not like an image of the
sofa. They also have developed a system called CAVE, which is
a big cube with sides measuring 2.4 meters. In this cube, people can
stand and move within a virtual image that emanates from ten
projectors in five directions. A famous complex of caves near the
city of Dunhuang in China, which was created by Buddhist monks
between 400 and 1400 AD, was virtually re-created for tourists,
with help from scientists who are experts in restoration.
With AR, moving from the prototype stage to realization of a
product will take at least a decade, says Stricker. The driving force
is the automotive industry, but also automation companies like
Siemens. And the video game industry will soon see to it that the
technology becomes widespread, while also bringing costs
down. User acceptance also plays a key role. The data goggles need
to be lighter, less complicated and improved overall. “People will
have to really want to use them.” Decisive factors are attractive and
elegant design, explains Stricker in his velvety French accent.
Making it possible for image data to appear at the right place, in top
quality and the right lighting — “that’s the magic of it,” he says. <
Tom Schimmeck, 48, finds looking into the laboratories of the future fascinating. He has written for the TAZ, Tempo,
Der Spiegel, and Die Woche, among others. The illustration is an abstract computer-generated digital composition
20.02.2008 18:38:45 Uhr
UKom-Agentur 01/08 1375-1497
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59_Evonik_01-08_EN 59
13.02.2008 20:28:41 Uhr
Keep it flowing!
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60_Evonik_01-08_EN 60
13.02.2008 18:29:40 Uhr

Evonik magazine 1/2008

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