Monthly Archives: May 2012

Carbon Capture at Power Plants: Some day soon, but not here

Posted on May 29, 2012 by

While the U.S. Congress has evidently shelved any legislation dealing with limiting carbon dioxide emissions, the rest of the world is investing billions of dollars in Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technologies (IHS Chemical Week May 7/14 2012, Pp. 27-29). It’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy Industry | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Natural gas: Coming transportation fuel

Posted on May 22, 2012 by

T. Boone Pickens and others have for some time been pushing vigorously for using natural gas to fuel trucks and cars. While Pickens has apparently lost a bundle investing in wind farms, he is definitely onto something here, particulerly since natural gas … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy Industry | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Rare Earths: China still in control

Posted on May 15, 2012 by

In a post late last year I pointed out that China developed what amounted to an essential monopoly on the manufacture of these unusual elements (usually sold as oxides) as a result of the fact that the only American producer (Molycorp) … Continue reading →

Posted in Chemical Industry, Manufacturing | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Carbon fiber futures

Posted on May 4, 2012 by

It is a foregone conclusion that more and more plastics will be used in the construction of automobile bodies to reduce weight and make it possible for manufacturers to achieve the much higher fleet average MPG standards  mandated by the so-called CAFE regulations. Cars … Continue reading →

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