The Thermulon-process for making super-insulating aerogels – affordable insulation to aid the cost of living crisis

**需要**英国目前正在经历**生活成本危机**。**飞涨的能源价格**和乌克兰的战争凸显了**能源安全**和**燃料贫困**问题，**316万**英国家庭(13.2%)**生活在燃料贫困中**(BEIS，2020)在吃饭和取暖之间做出选择。据估计，随着Ofgem 2022年4月上调价格上限，这一数字将增加到500万为贫困家庭提供燃料，预计随着10月份价格的上涨，这一数字将进一步增加；进一步加剧了危机。此外，2019年英国温室气体排放(GHGs)为87MtCO2当量，占温室气体排放量的17%。英国制定了可执行的减排目标，到2050年实现净零排放。英国可以使用空气源热泵提供负担得起的、可持续的家庭供暖，但**80%的英国家庭**由于**隔热性能差**而没有准备好热泵(BEIS，2021)。**房屋隔热对于实现净零排放和减少燃料贫困至关重要。**要做到这一点，建筑翻新率需要从2.6万/年增加到25万/年(CFCC，2020)。目前的材料未能对英国的建筑进行隔热，800万栋实心墙体建筑中有90%完全没有隔热(7m；26%的住房)。**解决方案**Thermulon通过开发**新的化学工艺**(Thermulon-Process)来**降低隔热气凝胶的成本**，开发了一种**高性价比**且**容易的解决方案来为这些房屋**隔热。气凝胶是现存最绝缘的材料，具有优异的防火安全性能(当由二氧化硅制成时)，但由于其复杂制造的产品成本较高，因此其使用受到限制。Thermulon开发了一种连续的化学工艺，比**消除了目前的生产**瓶颈**，并利用规模经济**大幅降低了气凝胶价格**；使气凝胶能够在绝缘石膏、毯子和覆层等产品中使用，使房屋库存达到可以轻松翻新和负担得起供暖的标准。

**Need**The UK is currently undergoing a **cost of living crisis**. **Soaring energy prices** and the war in Ukraine are highlighting both **energy security** and **fuel poverty** issues, with **3.16m** UK households (13.2%) **living in fuel poverty** (BEIS, 2020) choosing between eating and heating. This was estimated to increase to 5m fuel poor homes with Ofgem's April 2022 price-cap increase, and is expected to increase further with October's price rise; further fuelling the crisis.Additionally, UK Greenhouse gas buildings emissions (GHGs) were 87 MtCO2 equivalent in 2019, accounting for 17% of GHGs. The UK has enforceable emissions reduction targets to hit net-zero by 2050\.The UK _can_ deliver affordable and sustainable house heating with air-source heat pumps, but **80% of UK homes aren't heat pump ready** due to **poor insulation** (BEIS, 2021). **Insulating homes is paramount to reaching net zero and reducing fuel poverty.** To do this, building retrofit rates need to increase from 26,000/year to 250,000/year (CfCC, 2020). Current materials failed to insulate the UK's buildings, with 90% of 8m solid wall buildings completely uninsulated (7m; 26% of housing).**Solution**Thermulon has developed a **cost-effective** and **easy solution to insulate these houses** by developing **novel chemical process** (Thermulon-process) to **reduce the cost of insulating aerogel**. Aerogels are the most insulating materials in existence, with superior fire-safety properties (when made of silica), but have been limited in their use due to their high cost which is a product of their complex manufacture.Thermulon has developed a continuous chemical process than **de-bottlenecks current production** issues and makes use of economies of scale to **drastically reduce aerogel price**; enabling the use of aerogels in products such as insulating plasters, blankets and cladding to bring the housing stock up to a standard in which houses can be easily retrofitted and affordably heated.