The world’s growing appetite for wind energy is transforming wind blades into one of the hottest composite applications around. The huge build-up of wind-power generating capacity—particularly in the U.S, China, and Spain—has raised a bumper crop of new plants for manufacturing these composite parts.

The hot topic at this year’s PUR conference was rigid and flexible foams with increased biobased content. There was also news in one-component cast elastomers, surfactants, and TPUs.

Huntsman Corp., Salt Lake City, has agreed to a defi nitive merger agreement with Hexion Specialty Chemicals, Inc., Columbus, Ohio, an Apollo Management, L.P. portfolio company and a global leader in thermoset resins, including vinyl esters, unsaturated polyesters, and epoxies.