I'm glad that they finally give it credibility by a recognized University. A few tweaks to make it without infringing on Public Domain developments and all of a sudden it's real! Go figure. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080731/ap_on_sc/sci_solar_energy;_ylt=AhDF7.7jFkdywhd5RMNCdvIS.MwF http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/short/321/5889/620 http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/water/index_low.jsp
We are sometimes decived by the media, or maybe non-media. They have been working on this for a longer time of course, we just didn't know. Just as my department is working on fuel cell fabrication as well. We are actually a research department for packaging steels, but because this is thin, covered with various coatings (mtallic, organic, polymers), strong and still having a high formability and most of all, pretty cheap, it is used in fuel cells technology as well. Normally beer can material (yes, researching beer cans is actually my job ), but now a bit more "good cause".
My first job after graduating was for Canada's big steel company, DoFasco. I was a liason between Accounting and Engineering, explaining the technical cost issues to engineers and the technical manufacturing issues to Accountants (we call them Bean Counters). Anyway, we were working on a few interesting projects, back in 1975. Lining tomatoe cans so they wouldn't rust. Campbell's soup and Heinz Ketchup were the prime customers. Steel Lamposts (City Street poles) that rusted after being made, then stopped rusting and staining. The City of Hamilton, Ontario Canada uses them exclusively. And new alloys for Undercarriage steel on cars, and steel bumpers to delay the rusting process. They'd attach samples to the cars of every employee throughout the company (15,000 cars and trucks) to collect information. Huge project! Then the companies switched to SS or Aluminum or Plastic. The old Oil Crisis panic changed the game. Look at us today. A new game, and the same strategy. Change materials, keep making luxury cars bigger and inefficient (Which President would be caught dead in an electric car!) and give the middle-income tree-huggers something they can justify themselves with, while research continues. OK, I'm done ranting...
yeah, but I think it was bought by th German partner in their seamless ggas tubing operation in Sault Sainte Marie - Kruppe a couple of years ago.
This conglomeration trend has to break up at some point. It ends up feeding on itself. I think Kruppe and Mannesman Tube were partners with Dofasco. Good company while I was there.
O, they will break up again, it seems to be a sort of wave-like trend. There are periods that they have to merger all the time, with excuses like "we can't survive alone" or "we will be taken over anyway", although I have to admit that with the headfunds today, tha seems to be a real threat. They seem to have a lot of money, buy (even big) companies, split them up and sell them. But there will be a time that they will sell as well. Then the motto will be "back to core business"! I work for Corus, which is a merger of British Steel and Hoogovens (dutch), but has recently been taken over by Tata. Yes, the one that has build the first 2500 dollar car, the Nano!
Nano is smart. The Japanese did just that, Vertical Integration. They own their own steel mills, plastics firms, electronics firms, etc. and they cut out all sales costs and administrative sales systems to get their components. The trouble is, they don't pass on the savings in their exports. But they can compete in any price war.
I still think old tech is the solution. What mileage does a new micro-sized 2009 Toyota Yaris get? 29 city, 36 highway with the 5-speed What mileage, on the new 07+ scale, does a beat to heck micro-sized 1989 Toyota Tercel get? 30 city, 37 highway with the 4-speed The original 1989 figures were 35 city, 41 highway. The 1989 Tercel I owned had a blown head gasket, 3-speed automatic transmission (rated 24/29 new cycle, 28/32 old cycle), and 140K-plus miles. It was slow, cramped, didn't have power steering or AC, and I used it for courier deliveries averaging 28-30mpg in mostly city driving. But my Tercel was a $175 car. In 1998. And I sold it for $150 still running (but consuming a gallon of water every 50-60 miles). The guy that bought it from me put the transmission and a bunch of non-rusted body parts on his '88 Tercel. Gold mine for him, 14000 miles of nearly free driving for me. A new Yaris is $12,955 with freight included and no options. Now, define economy...
