Solar energy and cork: A binomial of the future?

Abstract

In this article, several solar energy application possibilities in forestry and industrial processes are foreseen and discussed, focused on the case of cork harvesting and processing, in world areas where solar radiation is high. Cork processing to obtain several cork-based products has several and different operational steps in which electricity, heat and thermal fluids are necessary. Different types of existing solar technologies are considered, for the specific forestry and industrial steps of cork transformation. Most of these technologies are not yet being used in the cork sector. Besides this, the use of different cork derived products in several solar energy technologies and applications is also assessed and discussed. Cork is a sector where solar energy may be used in various ways and cork material could be a component in various solar energy systems/devices, increasing its domain of applications.