Ceramic and glass business news of the week for December 12, 2022

PLANTS, CENTERS, AND FACILITIES

Construction begins on Australia’s Square Kilometer Array Telescope

After 31 years of planning, radio telescopes called the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) finally began construction. The Australian site—known as SKA-Low—will eventually comprise more than 130,000 Christmas tree-like antennas. The SKA-Mid, which is the South African section of the project, looks more like a series of normal dish telescopes.

Marmota set to launch first rare earth program at Muckanippie, SA

Marmota is set to launch its first rare earth program, starting with the Muckanippie tenement in South Australia. The company recently carried out an extensive review of rare earth element anomalies over its Western Gawler Craton tenements.

Siam Cement Big Bloc Construction Technologies to build concrete panel and block plant

Siam Cement Big Bloc Construction Technologies bought 60,000 m³ of land at Ramosadi in Gujarat’s Kheda District, India. The concrete producer informed the BSE Exchange that it plans to build an autoclaved aerated concrete panel and block plant at the site.

Sibelco completes AU$11 million silica investment

In June, Sibelco committed to invest AU$49 million in Diatreme Resources, an emerging Australian producer of mineral and silica sands, to advance the company’s Galalar Silica Sand and Northern Silica projects. Sibelco just completed the AU$11 million first tranche investment; the AU$24 million second tranche investment is expected within a year.

Fuyao Glass plans $300m expansion to make products for electric vehicle industry

Commissioners in Montgomery County, Ohio, approved a request from an entity called the “Project Sky Team” that is tied to a multimillion-dollar plan that involves a $300 million Fuyao Glass America expansion in Moraine to make products for the electric vehicle industry. The facility is scheduled to be fully operational in January 2025.

World’s largest wave power plant to be built in Turkey

Eco Wave Power signed a deal with Oren Ordu Eneas to build the world’s largest-ever wave power plant on Turkey’s Black Sea coast. The project would start with a 4 MW pilot in the port of Ordu. It would then move forward to a 77 MW plant, which would consist of a fixed, modular array of steel floats hinged to piston-equipped arms.

ACQUISITIONS AND COLLABORATIONS

Microsoft acquires Lumenisity, an innovator in hollow core fiber cable

Microsoft acquired Lumenisity Limited, a leader in next-generation hollow core fiber solutions. Lumenisity’s next generation of hollow core fibers uses a proprietary design where light propagates in an air core, which has significant advantages over traditional cable built with a solid core of glass, such as increased overall speed and lower latency.

ProFrac Holding Corp. to acquire Eagle Ford Sand Mine

ProFrac Holding Corp. entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the Eagle Ford sand mining operations of Monarch Silica, LLC. The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2022.

Japan to promote investment in Congo for stable rare mineral supply

Japan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo signed an agreement to cooperate in rare earth mineral mining in the African country, aiming to promote Japanese investment and expand supplies of resources critical for a wide range of products.

Schott partners with 3D-Micromac to develop laser cutting technology

Schott entered into a joint-development partnership with 3D-Micromac, a manufacturer of laser micromachining and roll-to-roll laser systems. The partnership will improve the processing performance of Schott RealView high refractive index glass wafers, which are used in manufacturing waveguides.

Baker Hughes-led consortium to transform abandoned wells for geothermal energy

Baker Hughes, an energy technology company, is spearheading the geothermal energy consortium Wells2Watts, which aims to transform dry, nonproductive geothermal wells and nonproductive oil and gas wells into geothermal wells capable of generating renewable electrical power.

Research project partners construct first 3D-printed concrete house in Greece

The first 3D-printed concrete house in Greece is being printed at TITAN Elefsina cement plant by TITAN and its partners—Sika Hellas, Cos Hellas Ltd, and the National Technical University of Athens—as part of the 3BUILD research project.

OTHER STORIES

Inaugural conference puts focus on net zero projects in the ceramics sector

Decarbonization projects and initiatives took center stage at the inaugural “Delivering Net Zero for British Ceramics” conference, hosted by the British Ceramic Confederation. Around 150 delegates from across the ceramics industry and its stakeholders attended the event, which promoted industry best practice, research, and collaboration.

Guardian Glass creates online Resource Hub

Guardian Glass created an online Resource Hub, which offers 24/7 access to technical information, analytical tools, and training for the glass industry. Access the Resource Hub at this link.

Driven Brands’ glass servicing business will migrate to the Auto Glass Now brand

Driven Brands Holdings Inc. reported that it will be migrating its glass servicing offering to the Auto Glass Now brand beginning in January 2023. Since entering the U.S. glass business less than a year ago, Driven Brands has grown to approximately 175 locations and over 700 mobile units.

ALUULA Composites selected for future NASA Mars missions

ALUULA Composites, an advanced materials technology firm, reports that its composite materials were selected by Thin Red Line Aerospace for future NASA missions. ALUULA Composites uses a patented fusion technology to bond films to an ultrahigh-molecular-weight polyethylene core.

DOE announces $8 million to integrate solar energy production with farming

The U.S. Department of Energy announced $8 million for six solar energy research projects across six states and D.C. The funding supports agrivoltaics—co-location of agricultural production and solar energy generation—and aims to reduce barriers to solar energy deployment while maximizing benefits for farmers and local communities.

Ottawa’s critical mineral strategy calls for faster project approvals

Canada will need to speed up regulatory decisions on critical mineral projects if it wants to become a global leader in battery manufacturing, electric vehicles, wind turbines and solar panels, says a new national strategy released last week.

Glass industry takes significant step toward school safety

In August 2022, the National Glass Association announced the publication of a new international standard addressing school safety in the midst of rising instances of school shootings. ASTM F356122 is designed to simulate a shooter trying to breach the entrance by shooting projectiles on the glass with the intention of weakening it.

MARKET TRENDS

The Great Purpling—Streetlights in a bunch of major cities are turning purple

An Insider article overviews the supply chain and technology factors that cause some LED streetlights to turn purple in color, and discusses why this pretty mundane issue could signal trouble in other sectors.

Florida beaches were already running low on sand—then Ian and Nicole hit

Hurricanes Nicole and Ian, which slammed into the western coast of Florida in late September, collectively snatched millions of cubic yards of sand from the coastline. Local officials and residents are struggling to find sand to support oceanfront buildings and rebuild beaches, in a place where beaches have been eroding for decades.

California wildfire smoke dimmed solar energy in 2020

The smoke from intense California wildfires in September 2020 darkened the skies so much that it slashed the state’s solar power production during peak hours by 10–30%, according to a study led by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

Renewable power’s growth is turbocharged as countries strengthen energy security

The global energy crisis is driving a sharp acceleration in installations of renewable power, with total capacity growth worldwide set to almost double in the next five years, overtaking coal as the largest source of electricity generation along the way, the International Energy Agency says in a new report.

Global government spending on clean energy transitions rises to US$1.2 trillion

Global government spending to support clean energy increased by over US$500 billion since March as the global energy crisis spurs new policies, according to the International Energy Agency. This increase brings the total amount that governments have allocated to clean energy since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to US$1.2 trillion.

NEW PRODUCTS

Lithoz presents highly improved ceramic material for 3D-printed bone replacements

Lithoz developed the new LithaBone HA 480, a greatly improved human bone-like ceramic material. It offers significantly higher wall thicknesses, more precise imaging accuracy of fine structures, ten-fold longer shelf life, and is significantly easier to clean.

Adani unveils India’s first silicon ingot

Adani Solar, the photovoltaic unit of Adani Group, unveiled its new monocrystalline silicon ingots at the Intersolar India 2022 expo in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. It is the first silicon ingot to be made in India. The company plans to build 2 GW of ingot and wafer capacity by December 2023.