Ceramic and glass business news of the week for May 13, 2024

PLANTS, CENTERS, AND FACILITIES

Alfred University unveils power grid training lab

Alfred University received a grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority to help fund a program that provides short course training for renewable energy engineering students and workers in the electric utilities field. GE Vernova donated power grid planning and operations software to support the project.

New Fulton Schools research center aims to engineer low-carbon building materials

The new Center for Carbon Efficient and Advanced Manufacturing of Materials and Structures at Arizona State University aims to decarbonize cement manufacturing. Center researchers will also explore ways to use recycled and waste materials in cement and concrete, as well as optimize design and construction techniques involving concrete.

Foundation gifts 68-acre property to UT Austin to support semiconductor ecosystem

Taylor Foundation, which aims to provide higher education to the city of Taylor, Texas, gave The University of Texas at Austin a 68-acre tract that will be developed into The University of Texas at Austin–Taylor Center. The property is situated near Samsung Austin Semiconductor’s new 6 million-square-foot chip fabrication plant.

MTC installs Lithoz CeraFab S65 to drive industrial ceramic 3D printing in the UK

The Manufacturing Technology Center, the U.K.’s national center for additive manufacturing, installed a Lithoz CeraFab S65 3D printer. It comes as the organizations partner to drive ceramic 3D printing for industrial end users in the U.K.

ACQUISITIONS AND COLLABORATIONS

Vedanta fully acquires Japanese display glass major AvanStrate

Leading natural resources company Vedanta will fully acquire AvanStrate, a Japanese manufacturer of high-quality display screens, as it positions itself to establish India’s first integrated fabrication unit for display glass and panels.

Biosenta announces licensing agreement with Lightweight Concrete Solutions

Biosenta Inc. entered into a license agreement with Lightweight Concrete Solutions to grant use of Biosenta’s Tri-Filler technology in connection with certain specialty concrete products on an exclusive basis and in connection with other concrete products on a nonexclusive basis.

Cemex and MPP collaborate to accelerate decarbonization projects 

Cemex and the Mission Possible Partnership, in partnership with the Bezos Earth Fund, are collaborating to conduct an analysis of the potential of decarbonization levers at Cemex’s Balcones cement plant in Texas. This analysis aims to accelerate Cemex’s commitment to achieving net-zero CO₂ emissions by 2050.

OTHER STORIES

9^th IEEE Workshop on the Electronic Grid taking place in November 2024

The 9^th IEEE Workshop on the Electronic Grid will be held Nov. 19–21, 2024, in Santa Fe, N.M. This international workshop, organized by Sandia National Laboratories and the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, invites discussion on the evolution of the electric system toward a more power electronics-based infrastructure.

DOE appoints board of directors for new energy research foundation

The Department of Energy appointed 13 board members to The Foundation for Energy Security and Innovation, which was created in the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act. It will raise private donations to help accelerate the commercialization of new and existing energy technologies.

Sierra Space prepares to launch the Dream Chaser spaceplane

Sierra Space completed an environmental test suite on the Dream Chaser space plane at NASA’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Ohio. Sierra Space and NASA are preparing the vehicle, along with its cargo companion, for shipment to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for final testing and integration ahead of its inaugural launch later in 2024.

MARKET TRENDS

MENA region surges toward 40 GW solar milestone, eyes 180 GW by 2030

The Middle East and North Africa region is poised to reach 40 GW of solar capacity in 2024 and projecting 180 GW by 2030, according to the 2024 Middle East Solar Industry Association Solar Outlook Report and its Green Hydrogen Report. But fossil fuels still dominate the region’s energy landscape, with solar power contributing a mere 2%.

How a ‘flexibility gap’ could derail the European energy transition

A report compiled by the Renewable Energy Association and sponsored by global power management company Eaton sheds light on progress and challenges faced by European nations in embracing renewable energy and fostering flexibility in their energy markets.

The silent tragedy of local restrictions on renewable energy

New research shows how policies blocking cleaner energy sources, often inspired by persistent disinformation, harm the communities that adopt them.