Vanadium Market

I add this quick note on the scale of the Vanadium market itself. It is a market that no one has ever cared much about. However the potential of the Vanadium Redox battery is such that it must impact this market at the scale of this market. Imagine every square meter of solar energy production needing a pound of vanadium storage.

I do not know the actual numbers and it is not yet worth digging up and calculating, but the reports are suggestive and the pound per meter figure is likely close enough.

However we want to calculate it all, the result is the same. An exponential increase in solar demand over the next decade will quickly swallow the supply.

Wind power also needs this form of storage as does any intermittent source.

Global Vanadium Market to Exceed 130 Thousand Metric Tons by 2015, According to New Report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

Riding on increasing steel output, global demand for vanadium is on the rise. Growth in demand is also due to an increasing trend towards micro alloying of steel. Global vanadium market is projected to reach 130.2 thousand metric tons by 2015.

San Jose, CA (PRWEB) October 29, 2008 -- Metallurgical application, particularly steel manufacture, represents the largest end-use market for vanadium. Vanadium market is expected to follow the cyclical nature of the steel industry and new applications in other industries are likely to drive demand for vanadium. Europe and Asia-Pacific account for a over 60% of the global vanadium market, as stated by Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

Steel manufacturing represents the largest end use market for vanadium, accounting for a share of over 87% of the total vanadium sale worldwide. Global demand for vanadium is projected to continue, with Chinese steel consumption not showing ant signs of an immediate slowing down. Added to that, steel output and consumption in other emerging markets is also increasing at a rapid pace. Currently, Europe stands to be the largest vanadium market in the world, with a share of over 32%. However, Asia-Pacific is all set to be the major consumer of vanadium in the near future. Vanadium consumption in Asia-Pacific is expected to be over 36 thousand metric tons by 2012, making the region the largest consumer of the metal.

Some of the applications of vanadium-based products that are under development could have a positive effect on demand for the metal. Select applications under development include vanadium steels for high-speed, high-energy autogenous welding, vanadium steels in electric power generating units to facilitate cost-effective power generation and to enhance the efficiency, vanadium redox flow battery for large scale energy storage systems, vanadium alloys for compressors of aero-engine gas turbines and vanadium high carbon grey cast irons for drums and brake discs.

Leading global and regional players operating in the market include Chengde Xinxin Vanadium and Titanium Co, Evraz Group, Highveld Steel and Vanadium Corp, Strategic Minerals Corporation, Stratcor Inc., OAO Chusovoy Metallurgical Works, McKenzie Bay International Ltd., Nippon Denko Co, Panzhihua Iron and Steel Group, Shieldalloy Metallurgical Corporation, Treibacher Industries AG, Vanadium Tula, Windimurra Vanadium Limited and Xstrata Plc.

The report titled "Vanadium: A Global Strategic Business Report" published by Global Industry Analysts, Inc., provides a comprehensive review of market trends, drivers, product profile, players, competition, end-use applications, recent developments, mergers, acquisitions, and other strategic industry activities. Analysis is presented for major geographic markets including North America, Japan, France, Germany, the UK, Italy, Spain, Russia, Asia-Pacific and South Africa for the period 1991-2015. Analytics are provided in terms of end-use segments including Steel (Carbon Steel, Stainless & Heat Resisting Steel, Full Alloy Steel, High-Strength Low-Alloy Steel, Tool Steel, and Others), Cast Irons, Super alloys, Alloys, Chemical & Ceramic Uses (Catalysts and Pigments), and Others.

For more details about this research report, please visit

http://www.strategyr.com/Vanadium_Market_Report.asp.

Mono Cock Dreaming

I am sure everyone is aware that the price of oil has ended up at a price of around $114 a barrel after climbing steadily through the slow season. This surely means that the summer market will bring prices running between $120 and $140 a barrel. This means that the pump price is going to be between $4.00 and $5.00 per gallon.

This has all happened without an oil shock anywhere. In fact it is amazing how quiet all the global oilfields are. It is as if they are all trying to keep their heads down. Right now the market smells a million barrels per day short with more to come. This current price adjustment is meant to contract demand. Do you feel contracted yet? Right now the industry is working harder and harder to maintain the current supply volumes.

I personally wish the shoe to never drop. The red hot problem is that we can expand production in only a very few locales. This is while global production is setting up to actually tumble. Current global production is 85 million barrels per day. A mere ten percent decline over the next three years which is totally likely plus a modest bit of fresh production means global production is suddenly below 80 million and steadily declining.

That pending decline is going to come straight out of the personal automobile. That is our real strategic reserve. Ration coupons for all is on the way. As I have said before, the price of oil will get worse and stay bad for a long time. A shock will put it over an unsustainable $300 per barrel for a brief spell. In the meantime, start thinking defensively about your use of gasoline. My own family shifted our own usage sharply downward over the past three years and we are glad we did.

We have now reached the threshold for wholesale conversion to better methods and technologies distained in the past. The news is now full of fresh new engineering advancing efficient new strategies. So the cavalry is on the way at a gallop. So let us give them free rein for they will replace that faltering production with solutions that have nothing to do with another oil well.

While this is all happening, the single best thing that industry can do is to shift fully over to mastering high volume carbon fiber fabrication technology, ending the default use of steel in all traditional manufacturing. Yes, I love steel, but that is because I can mold it under my hands with hammer and anvil. I have not had to do that however, since I left the nineteenth century behind and went to University.

Clever module making with carbon fiber means that we can assemble an automobile from a handful of precision fitted units (try that with steel panels!) that are themselves nearly indestructible and can be even reused over several models and over perhaps decades. After all, if an extra effort is made to be perfect, it is very close to been immortal. Carbon fiber demands nothing less to begin with.

The object of course is to rip as much weight out of the automobile as possible. Carbon fiber can bring the weight of the vehicle down to a level that makes even present hybrid technologies and electric cars competitive. It is not hard to trick out a battery driven system that is good for almost a hundred miles. Carbon fiber could easily double or triple that range.

The auto industry has embraced change and is working on many possible improvements, particularly in propulsion which they know their manufacturing ability gives them a huge edge. After all, a small efficient gasoline engine is ideal for powering a light weight carbon fiber vehicle.

The point I want to emphasize is that very strong carbon fiber laminates can be used to make super strong vehicle shells that can handle both high performance and safety. Why should not every passenger in a vehicle be in a carbon fiber mono cock. It only needs the desire to accept long operational lives to amortize the initial expense.

How about making a fitted mono cock that is good on any running gear for the life of the user and easily mounted. A bit crazy and obviously impractical but should we try to go there? I think we should.

I like the idea of locking in my personal shell onto a road car that is capable of letting me survive a high speed crash. It would be perfect for the autobahn.

We need to explore ways in which a couple of hundred pounds is sufficient to carry a two hundred pound driver at speed on the highway. Do this and even do it cheaply and the use of gasoline must plummet. Many good design concepts have already been played with. They just have not been picked up on by manufacturers who really want to sell you a boat and cannot stop their engineers from adding weight.

It is worth recalling that many designs that are apparently flimsy in steel are very sturdy as carbon fiber.