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The European parliament has passed a vote mandating European companies that extract non-ferrous metal ores anywhere in the world to disclose payments over €100,000 per year made to governments from 2015.

“These two pronounced factors drive the need to substitute ITO with a cost-effective and flexible conductive transparent film,” Zhu says, adding that the new film provides the same degree of transparency as ITO, yet offers greater conductivity.

The opacity of today’s complex and dynamic global supply chains can easily obscure the source of minerals and other raw materials, and hide all kinds of surprises. In fact, the conflict-minerals challenge illustrates how far industries still are from supply-chain transparency, and the key role that transparency plays in achieving sustainability goals.

To make the best solar cells flexible, researchers have to find the best conductive materials. Such conductors are silver and indium tin oxide (ITO) nanowires, but they have several drawbacks. The copper nanowires made using a method invented by Duke University chemists, on the other hand, are cheaper than silver and better (read more conductive) than carbon nanotubes.

1. 2G HTS SMES (High Temperature Superconductor superconducting magnetic energy storage) 2. FCL (Fault Current Limiters) Transformer 3. FCL (Fault Current Limiters)Module Development 4. HTS (High Temperature Superconductor) Cable 5. HTS (High Temperature Superconductor) Generators and Motors

Anglo American plc draws attention to the announcement made by Collahuasi, its 44% owned copper mine in Chile, relating to the approval of the prefeasibility study for the next expansion phase of this world class copper operation. The translated text of that announcement is copied below

Each vehicle will be equipped with enormous 130kw/h batteries – giving them a 100-mile range and a capacity equivalent to around six Nissan Leafs. The buses will receive regular top-up charges throughout the day from the three wireless charging points installed along the routes. Charge pads on the underside of each bus will sync wirelessly with pads installed under the road, in a process known as induction charging. Drivers will park over the pads for their 10-minute break, replenishing two thirds of the electricity used to cover the 12.5-mile route without interrupting the timetable. The consortium of companies behind the scheme – which include bus manufacturer Wrightbus, wireless charging firm Arup, bus operator Arriva and Milton Keynes Council – believe that the switch from diesel to electric will cut tailpipe emissions by around 500 tonnes every year. Running costs will also be slashed, as annual fuel costs for a diesel bus are around £23,000 per year compared to an estimated £10,000 for an electric one. And maintenance costs will be lower, too.

“The transparent material could be added as a coating to car windows or buildings to stop radio waves from travelling through the structure. This, in turn, could be used to improve secure wireless network environments, for example."

Sony has developed a single wire interface technology. The new design will replace the 20 or so cables that are usually found inside mobile phones to provide power, control signals, audio, video etc, with one single copper wire that can handle data at 940Mbps.