Her Majesty the Cork

Her majesty the cork-3 Without doubt we can say that the cork is a gift from the nature to the human. The wide range of areas in which cork is present, as fashion (applications on fashion details, ladies shoes, jewelry, bags, clothes), health (derivatives from the oak cork are used as raw material in pharmaceutical industry), producing of wine (unchangeable wine bottle cork plug), producing of energy, plane and car industry etc. Considering all of this, the cork as a product we get from oak tree , (see two anterior sequels “Her majesty the cork” in GATE 3, number 223 and 224), makes it unique and as inexhaustible natural resource, and great friend of man in keeping the environment, because of his enormous quantity of absorption of CO2 in his lifetime, but at the same time as energy savior because cork materials are used as isolators in buildings. There is no construction industry in which cork can’t be used as heat, sound and anti-vibrational isolation. The wide range of semi and final cork products, as independent material or used in combination with other materials, is introducing cork as one of the materials of the future. The global clima te changes, are without doubt caused from the enormous emission of “greenhouse” gases, turned on the a larm button in world and in Europe. Member counties of European Union, beside the other things, reacted with bringing into force the famous Energetic triade (Trias energetica), that is a concept for: 1. Energy saving, 2. Protection of the environment and 3. Reduced use of non-renewable sources of ene rgy. This concept is symbolized with tree numbers 20:20:20, which mean: obligation for the member countries until year 2020 to reduce the consumption of energy by 20%, to reduce the emission of CO2 for 20%, and to increase the use of renewable sources of energy. The cork is number one candidate for fulfillment of these criteria. Why exactly candidate number 1? You can satisfy the need of energy saving and reduced emission of

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Her Majesty the Cork