Ceramic and glass business news of the week for January 10, 2022

PLANTS, CENTERS, AND FACILITIES

Verallia unveils electric furnace glassmaking plan

Verallia France unveiled plans to build two 100% electric furnaces at its glass manufacturing facility in Cognac, France. The two furnaces will replace the fossil fuel fired furnace No. 2 nearing the end of its campaign life.

New York state creates plan for green hydrogen microgrids

New York’s 2022 State of the State book, released January 5, contains a plan to turn New York state into a green hydrogen hub. Under the plan, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority will develop a program to support locally owned microgrids that use green hydrogen fuel cells.

Cemex, COBOD help build world’s largest 3D-printed ‘real concrete’ building” in Oman

Engineers at the German University of Technology in Oman worked with construction specialists COBOD and Cemex to build what they say is the largest building to ever be 3D printed from “real concrete.”

eLstar Dynamics announces groundbreaking of ink production facility for glass production

During CES 2022, eLstar Dynamics announced it is building an ink manufacturing facility to facilitate scaling up of its versatile dynamic glass technology toward mass production.

ACQUISITIONS AND COLLABORATIONS

Huaxin Cement completes acquisition of plants in Zambia and Malawi from Holcim

Huaxin Cement completed its acquisition of Lafarge Zambia and Lafarge Cement Malawi. The former operates two integrated cement plants in Zambia with a combined production capacity of 1.5 Mt/yr. The latter operates a 0.25 Mt/yr grinding plant at Blantyre in Malawi.

Kohler Co. acquires Heila Technologies to expand its clean energy management offering

Kohler Co. continues its focus on providing power resiliency solutions by expanding its clean energy management offering with the acquisition of Heila Technologies. Heila will become part of Kohler’s Power Group, which specializes in engines, power generation, and clean energy.

Driven Brands acquires Auto Glass Now

Automotive services company Driven Brands Holdings Inc. announced the expansion of its auto glass offering into the U.S. with the acquisition of Auto Glass Now. This acquisition makes Driven Brands one of the largest auto glass service providers in North America.

Mkango increases interest in rare earth magnet recycler HyProMag to 42%

Mkango increased its interest in HyProMag from 25.0% to 41.6%. Cash retained by HyProMag will be used to support the scale up of the patented hydrogen processing of magnet scrap technology at University of Birmingham and Tyseley Energy Park.

UAE and UK to explore hydrogen collaboration

A green hydrogen collaboration between the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom will be explored in a new research paper sponsored by financial institution HSBC. The collab is part of a joint commitment between Dubai-based international platform World Green Economy Organization and sustainability consultancy Zest Associates.

OTHER STORIES

Germany welcomes EU ‘green’ energy plan on gas, still opposes nuclear

Germany welcomed a plan by the European Union to label some natural gas energy projects as “green” investments but stressed its opposition to a proposal to do the same for nuclear power projects. Germany recently pulled the plug on three of its last six nuclear power stations.

Myanmar resumes trade of rare earth minerals with China

Exports of heavy rare earth minerals from Myanmar to China have resumed after a months-long closure of the land border aimed at preventing the spread of Covid-19, China’s Global Times reported.

Siemens Gamesa ends 2021 with large onshore wind orders in Sweden and India

Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy announced large turbine orders in Sweden and India as 2021 came to a close. It also announced a package of turbine service deals with Iberdrola covering wind farms in Spain and Portugal.

Pan-United looking to buy zero-emission concrete trucks

Pan-United Concrete is looking to replace up to a thousand diesel trucks with battery-electric and hydrogen fuel cell versions to run its concrete business in Singapore. As a first step, the company has turned to Surbana Jurong Pte Ltd, one of Asia’s largest consulting firms, to study the transition’s feasibility.

MARKET TRENDS

Iran wants to deploy 10 GW of renewables over the next four years

The Iranian Energy Ministry announced a plan to add another 10 GW of renewable energy capacity over the next four years as part of an overall strategy to deploy 30 GW of power generation capacity.

Chile writes its constitution, confronting climate change head on

The New York Times reports on how Chile is currently writing a new constitution amid what they have declared a “climate and ecological emergency.” Their work will determine how lithium is mined in the country.

NEW PRODUCTS

‘Magnetizable concrete’ trialed for nonstop charging of EVs

 Swiss-based Holcim, reputedly the world’s biggest cement maker, says it will co-develop a “magnetizable concrete” top coating for road surfaces with Magment, a German start-up specializing in wire-free transfer of electric current.