Ceramic and glass business news of the week for August 1, 2022

PLANTS, CENTERS, AND FACILITIES

SCHOTT MINIFAB enhances service offering, announces new manufacturing facility

SCHOTT MINIFAB, a subsidiary of SCHOTT, announced enhanced service offerings and the future opening of a new manufacturing facility to serve the diagnostics market. The service offerings now include high-density array printing following SCHOTT’s acquisition of Applied Microarrays Inc. The new facility, located in Phoenix, Ariz., opens later this fall.

O-I Glass to build new glass plant in Bowling Green, KY

O-I Glass, Inc. will build a new greenfield glass plant in Bowling Green, Ky. The new plant will be the first facility purposely-built for O-I’s revolutionary MAGMA technology, which is expected to further enhance O-I’s capabilities to support multiple product categories.

Iran’s largest solar module manufacturing plant inaugurated

Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi inaugurated the country’s largest solar panel production facility in Khomein city with an annual capacity of 500 MW. In a second phase, manufacturer Mana Energy Pak Private Limited says it will expand the total to 1.5 GW.

Pensana begins construction on $195m rare earths facility in UK

U.K.-based rare earths developer Pensana started construction at its $195m Saltend rare earth processing hub in northern England. Said to be the first major facility of its kind to be developed in more than a decade, the hub will be powered by offshore wind.

NETL hopes to create centers for unconventional critical materials supply chain research

The National Energy Technology Laboratory is coordinating regional teams of researchers through the Carbon Ore, Rare Earth, and Critical Minerals (CORE-CM) Initiative for U.S. basins to develop comprehensive resource assessment technologies and supply chains near unconventional mineral resources.

ACQUISITIONS AND COLLABORATIONS

CEMEX invests in COBOD’s revolutionary 3D printing tech

CEMEX is expanding its partnership with COBOD, a leading 3D construction printing solutions company. CEMEX and COBOD are evolving 3D printing construction through a new approach that significantly reduces costs and time.

CBAK Energy to co-develop Na-ion cells with Chinese battery manufacturer

CBAK Energy Technology, Inc., a leading lithium-ion battery manufacturer and electric energy solution provider in China, announced they entered into an agreement with another Chinese high-tech battery maker to co-develop sodium-ion battery cells.

Lillet and O-I collaboration wins sustainable packaging award

Maison Lillet won the Millésime Eco-Design award for its sustainable packaging created with O-I. Their glass bottle contains 35% recycled glass and is 110 g lighter than the previous version.

Iberdrola and bp to accelerate EV charging infrastructure and green hydrogen production

Iberdrola and bp announced their intention to form a strategic collaboration aiming to help accelerate the energy transition. They plan to jointly invest up to €1 billion into deploying up to 11,000 fast charge points across Spain and Portugal. They also plan to jointly develop large-scale production of green hydrogen in Spain, Portugal, and the U.K.

OTHER STORIES

2022 Power Electronics & Energy Conversion Workshop

Sandia National Laboratories is holding the Power Electronics & Energy Conversion Workshop on August 23–24 from 8 a.m.–4 p.m. MT via Zoom. The goal of this workshop is to identify research directions and priorities for the next generation of power electronics and energy conversion systems for the electric grid, transportation, and national security.

Allied Mineral Products mourns the passing of Jon K. Tabor

Jon K. Tabor, former Chairman & CEO of Allied Mineral Products, passed away July 17, 2022. He was 89. In 1955, Tabor began a 65-year career in refractories working for Norton Company before joining Allied in 1970. His relentless hard work helped transform a two-man operation into the multinational corporation Allied is today.

Lithoz wins LESI Innovation Award in “Small Enterprises” category

Lithoz GmbH, global market leader in ceramic 3D printing, won the 2022 Licensing Executives Society International Innovation Award in the “Small Enterprises” category. The LESI Innovation Award highlights recent studies in innovations and licensing, as well as innovative approaches in licensing technology that lead to long-term market innovations.

Greenland Minerals to object to government’s draft decision on rare earth license

Greenland Minerals Ltd. said it will object to the Greenland government’s draft decision to not grant it a license for the Kvanefjeld rare-earths project citing a legislation that effectively bans uranium exploration.

Leading experts suggest guidelines for assessing emerging transistor performance

In a recent paper, researchers from industry, academia, and government provide specific criteria for evaluating and describing each of eight key parameters critical to emerging designs for field-effect transistors.

MARKET TRENDS

The critical minerals industry desperately needs new engineers

A Quartz article looks at the acute shortage of skills and new talent in the critical minerals industry and how that shortage complicates efforts to reduce dependence on China for critical minerals.

Ten million homes in France risk structural cracks after heat waves

More than 10 million homes across France are at risk of sizable structural cracks after this summer’s heat waves. However, it is difficult for homeowners to claim for damage as it requires the commune to be declared a natural disaster zone by the state—but often the damage does not appear until months, or even years, after.

US power companies secretly spending millions to protect profits and fight clean energy

The Guardian describes the secret work of political consulting firm Matrix, LLC to help power companies protect their profits and fight the transition to cleaner forms of energy. The Matrix saga illustrates the political obstacles policymakers and experts face as they attempt to cut climate pollution from the power sector.

NEW PRODUCTS

Ross introduces vertical blender for product mixing

The ROSS Vertical Blender is designed for reliable and gentle mixing of friable solids, abrasive materials, and shear-sensitive products. It consists of a low-speed auger that orbits the periphery of a conical vessel while gently lifting material upward. Wet blends such as flowable slurries and pastes are routinely mixed in the vertical blender as well.