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In a recent report, we have sought to provide answers to two questions: firstly, what are the sources of distress amongst power utilities in the Northwest EU market? Secondly, how are the major EU power utilities responding?

In economic terms what are the substitutes and compliments to copper?

We are putting on a new roof & the price of copper is really adding to the price of the roof. The snow slides alone are over $7,000. Is there something that we can use that looks like cooper and is still corrosive-resistant, but is less expensive?

QUESTION: In addition to China, where are you seeing improving demand?ANSWER: "It is more in the electrical side of the business...both here in the U.S. and in Europe. You know, there's some ... parts of the economy, as you can see automobile production is one thing, that is generating some business for people."When we look at the residential, commercial construction business, it is weak but bottomed out."

Nexans (NEX.PA), a French company that makes electrical wiring and cables, says that the switch from copper to aluminum is inevitable. Its corporate purchasing director, Christophe Allain, told the CRU Group’s World Copper Conference in April that “the switch will come; the big question is when and what size it will be.” As Nexans told the Financial Times, one reason is that aluminum cables currently cost about 40% less than copper ones – even though more insulation is required for aluminum cabling. For countries in the developing world that are still building out a power grid, that price difference is a huge deal.

“Having this many research groups and papers potentially be wrong does not happen often,” says Guisinger. “I hope our research helps guide future studies and convincingly demonstrates that silver is not a good platform if you are trying to grow silicene.”

Electric Dreams: The battery revolution and commodity markets As leading carmakers move to electrify their fleet and companies like Alphabet and Uber work on self-driving cars, the commodity industry is being forced to grapple with some difficult questions. EV’s have the potential to reduce oil demand considerably, but how fast and how soon remains a subject of fierce debate. Equally, utility scale battery technology could have a devastating impact on the coal industry if it is able to provide storage for renewable energy. In contrast, EV’s could be a boon to the metals industry and materials like copper, lithium and cobalt that are the key elements of the modern battery. Executives from mining, energy and commodity trading will discuss these topics and others.