Ceramic and glass business news of the week for July 27, 2020

PLANTS, CENTERS, AND FACILITIES

USA Rare Earth announces 100% renewable energy plan for Round Top Mountain project

USA Rare Earth, LLC, the funding and development partner of the Round Top Heavy Rare Earth and Critical Minerals Project in West Texas together with Texas Mineral Resources Corp., announced its commitment to power operations at its Round Top Heavy Rare Earth & Critical Mineral Project in Hudspeth County, West Texas, with 100% renewable energy.

Argonne breaks ground on $815 million upgrade to X-ray facility

Leaders from the U.S. Department of Energy, Argonne National Laboratory, and the University of Chicago broke ground July 22 on construction of an $815 million upgrade of the Advanced Photon Source, one of the most productive light sources in the world.

Thor Lake rare earth production to start 2021

Vital Metals, which has been advancing its plans for a rare-earth demonstration project at the Nechalacho/Thor Lake site outside of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada, confirmed it will begin mining and ore sorting next year.

ACQUISITIONS AND COLLABORATIONS

Rare earth miner Pensana inks deal with Chinese firm for Angola project

Rare earth metals firm Pensana announced that it is exploring a partnership with China Great Wall Industry Corporation to develop its flagship mine in Angola. The project, at Longonjo in the southern African country, is the first new rare earth mine in over a decade.

Online technology platform to support UK energy transition

TechnologyCatalogue.com, a growing technology platform in the energy industry, and Carjon-NRG, an Aberdeen-headquartered technology deployment service company, announced they will join forces for the delivery of a United Kingdom energy technology platform, which they hope will be the catalyst for rapid technology deployment.

Energy Impact Partners announces Microsoft will join Global Innovation Platform

Energy Impact Partners, a global investment platform leading the transition to a sustainable energy future, announced that Microsoft Corp. is joining EIP’s global Partner network through its newly formed $1 billion Climate Innovation Fund.

OTHER STORIES

Plibrico’s manufacturing flexibility helps customers make strong business re-openings

Plibrico is playing a major role in the safe return-to-work strategies of its industrial customers by instituting a robust COVID-19 Response Plan that includes swift action to client dynamic needs.

New York announces one of world’s largest procurements for renewable energy projects

On July 21, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the largest combined clean energy solicitation ever issued in the United States, seeking up to 4 GW of renewable capacity. This capacity is broken up into 2,500 MW of offshore wind and 1,500 MW of onshore large-scale renewable energy projects.

Toray to supply carbon fiber composite materials for Lilium’s all-electric air vehicle

Toray Industries concluded an agreement with Lilium GmbH to supply carbon fiber composite materials for the Lilium Jet. Toray will supply material directly to Lilium for use in the production of further technology demonstrators; subsequently, material will be delivered directly to suppliers who will manufacture parts for prototypes and serial production.

MARKET TRENDS

Study warns of growing solar waste

A study published by analysts at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimates roughly 8 million tons of solar photovoltaic panels will hit landfills globally by the end of this decade, rising to 80 million by midcentury, when they could account for about 10% of all electronic waste.

Can Europe be a contender in electric-vehicle batteries?

A recent C&EN article looks at Europe’s attempts to break the Asia-US stranglehold on lithium-ion car batteries and obstacles in the way.

NEW PRODUCTS

Next-gen ‘Gorilla Glass Victus’ with improved durability to drops and scratches

Corning announced the latest version of its Gorilla Glass hardware, branded as Gorilla Glass Victus. The company promises the glass will be able to withstand drops of up to two meters, improved from the current-gen promise of protection against drops of 1.6 meters, and will be twice as scratch-resistant as the current hardware.

New thermoelectric module for high-performance heating, cooling applications

Kyocera International, Inc. introduced a compact, highly reliable thermoelectric cooling module specifically engineered for use in medical devices, scientific instruments, high-performance batteries, and other applications likely to encounter difficult active-thermal-management requirements.

‘Green concrete’ launched in U.S.

LafargeHolcim, the Swiss-headquartered building materials giant, announced its “green concrete” is now available on the U.S. market. Called ECOPact, the concrete comes in a number of iterations.