SunShot initiative is WinWin for Solar Component Manufacturers!

(Image Courtesy of treehugger.com)

The Secretary of Energy, Steven Chu, has recently announce a new government project that will make solar power a feasible alternative to fossil fuels in the near future. This program, rumored to cost around $30 million, will make photovoltaic cells more cost-effective and efficient than they are currently. This will allow more corporations and households to produce the majority of their own power using tax-deductible solar technology. So, for us in the ceramics engineering industry, this means there is a potential up-swing in many of the products that our industry produces that are instrumental in the development of photovoltaic cell technology. A recent article by treehugger.com editorializes,

$27 million in funding is a nice start, and it may sound like a lot - but if we truly want to produce 'moon shot' caliber results (ie, cheap, plentiful clean energy tech un under a decade), Obama's going to have to put his money where his mouth is.

While it is true that the government will need to "put up or shut up" as it were, in order to make the whole project meet its estimations, it's also true that the global ceramic manufacturing community can ultimately benefit from at least the suggestion of this future program. With the way the economic winds are blowing these days, it seems like investing in any component of solar technology is a logical choice; ceramics manufacturers can add this to many other aces in the hole as far as developing client relationships and determining global investment is concerned.

To learn more about the world (and investment opportunities) of industrial ceramics manufacturing, visit Refractron.

To read the full article from treehugger.com, visit: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/02/doe-launches-effort-bring-cost-solar-down-75-2020.php

BGU Has News For You!

(Image Courtesy of paranormal.about.com)

An unstable form of Calcium may finally have been tamed by researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU). With the goal of finding higher absorption and retention rates than other biological sources presently used for calcium supplements, researchers at BGU have succeeded - and it's all thanks to crustaceans. By using calcium carbonate, which is a huge component of many ceramics manufacturing processes, researchers have developed a way to reduce the chance for osteoporosis and poor blood-clotting in human beings. According to a recent article from azom.com,

"This type of Amorphous Calcium Carbonate (ACC) consists of unstable, nano-sized particles. Several species of crustaceans, including freshwater crayfish, are capable of stabilizing this mineral form so they can efficiently store and rapidly re-use large calcium quantities..."

Current results show that there is up to a forty percent reduction in absorption and retention rates in this compound versus current calcium sources. Based on this data, there may be a new and feasible source of calcium carbonate on the way in the near future. It will not only save lives, but also likely result in a decrease in costs for ceramics manufacturers across the world.

To learn more about ceramics manufacturing, visit Refractron.

To read the article from AZOM, follow this link: http://www.azom.com/news.asp?NewsID=27993

CC me on Ceramics China: 2011

(Image Courtesy of ceramicschina.com)

The annual Ceramic China expo is coming up again in May, and will be the home to professionals in the ceramic engineering and raw materials communities from across the globe from May 26th to May 29th. As we discussed in an earlier blog, China is currently running the rare earth metals scene, so it should come as no surprise that the country's upcoming expo will involve the top players in the ceramics manufacturing game, the latest news in the industry, and a lot of speculation. To help you wade through what is important versus what is ancillary, the Ceramics Engineering Blog has assembled some of the information that will be very relevant at the expo coming up in May.

According to PRLog.org, Ceramics China 2011 will include:

"Attendance [exceeding] 46,497 from 72 countries and regions in 2010... The total showspace of 67,000 square meters, 4,000 booths and 609 exhibitors from 16 countries including Italy, UK, Korea, Germany, Spain, Thailand, Brazil, Mainland China, Hong Kong & Taiwan..."

Ceramics engineers from across the globe will be converging on the China Import and Export Fair Complex in Guangzhou, China for three days of networking, discussion and debate regarding the future of materials processing not only in China, but across the globe. News regarding the expo and a brief itinerary are already available at the Ceramics China 2011 Expo website, and the venue is still open to all dedicated ceramics engineering professionals who wish to partake in the event, rub elbows with like-minded individuals and learn more about the rapidly-advancing world of ceramics manufacturing.

To learn more about ceramics manufacturing, please feel free to visit us at Refractron.

To learn more about the Ceramics China 2011 expo, visit their homepage at http://www.ceramicschina.com.cn/En/main/