US government awards General Motors $2M for solid-state battery research

The Department of Energy announced its 2019 fiscal year award funds for what it calls “advanced vehicle technologies research” and both General Motors and Ford received healthy sums of cash. The government awarded GM a total of $9.1 million, of which $2 million is explicitly related to research and development for solid-state batteries.

£9 m project aims to find ways to completely recycle all construction waste

A £9 million project led by Glass Technology Services and British Glass aims to completely recycle all types of waste from the construction industry. The project is being undertaken by scientists based in South Yorkshire, along with 27 of its European partners. They aim to recycle glass, wood, ceramics, plastic, and rubber.

O-I set to produce bottles from recycled curbside glass

Container manufacturer Owens-Illinois could soon produce bottles from glass collected from curbside recycling. O-I signed an agreement in principle with Canadian recycler Groupe Bellemare, based in Quebec. Beyond guarantees of feedstock, it will foremost require a change in Quebec regulation to ban any use of glass in landfill sites.

DOE announces $59 m, 43 projects to accelerate advanced vehicle technologies research

U.S. Department of Energy announced $59 million for 43 projects for new and innovative advanced vehicle technologies research. These projects address priorities in advanced batteries and electric drive systems, co-optimized engine and fuel technologies, materials for efficient powertrains, and alternative fuels and new energy efficient mobility systems.

€450,000 available for additive manufacturing SMEs through Horizon 2020 program

AMable, an EU Horizon 2020 program accelerating the adoption of additive manufacturing, announced the third open call grant of €450,000 for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) using 3D printing. Training for additive manufacturing, especially where design is concerned, is a core area of interest for the grant.

$3.3 m grant for Indian-origin researcher to manage battery waste

An Indian-origin researcher at University of New South Wales, Sydney, received a $3.3 million grant to transform waste and resource recovery industry by developing advanced manufacturing capabilities that focus on small-scale processing of materials produced from battery and consumer wastes.

Birmingham pilot plant first to trial rare earth recovery process

A pilot plant to be built at the U.K.’s University of Birmingham will be the first to use a patented process called hydrogen processing of magnet scrap (HPMS) to recover rare earth alloys from scrap magnets. HPMS uses hydrogen to decrepitate magnets containing the rare earth element neodymium.

Broken Hill Prospecting acquires large historic rare earth project in Arizona

Diversified Australian exploration company Broken Hill Prospecting formed a wholly-owned U.S.-based subsidiary to acquire and develop the large-tonnage La Paz rare earth project in Arizona. Location notices for the lode mining claims have been filed with Arizona’s Bureau of Land Management while a prospecting permit application is in progress.

Solar power is now as inexpensive as grid electricity in China

Scientists in Sweden and China analyzed net costs and profits associated with building and operating industrial and commercial solar energy projects in 344 prefecture-level cities in China. They found in all 344 cities, solar photovoltaic systems were capable of generating and selling electricity at lower prices than the grid without subsidies.

Author

Lisa McDonald