GLG News by Copper Pricing Trend Experts

Jack LiftonCo-founder and DirectorTechnology Metals Research, LLC

EV Statrups like Tesla and Fisker Will Not Survive A Mainsteam Auto Collapse

March 17, 2009

Analysis of:Can EV startups survive mainstream auto collapse? | www.autobloggreen.com

Automobiles are not built from do it yourself hardware obtainable at Home Depot or Loews. The components of an automobile are made from the strongest and most durable and temperature extreme resistant metals, plastics, and fabrics. The structural "frame" or "chassis" of an automobile or truck must be made of steel or aluminum or magnesium alloys/or  and plastics that can absorb high energy impact shocks without shattering. The power trains for such vehicles must be safe against mechanical breakdowns, sudden interruptions of core functions, and containment of flammable and/or explosive fuels in the case of an impact that could rupture fuel containers. The tires for all such vehicles must be resistant to be torn or punctured and have internal cohesion high enough so that they don't disintegrate under impact or sheering forces. Service for all mechanical and electrical and electronic components must be universally available. Etc., etc.,...

Jack LiftonCo-founder and DirectorTechnology Metals Research, LLC

Ford Is Determined To Make The Fusion Hybrid Using A Japanese Battery In A Power Train Manufactured In Mexico And Installed In A Car Assembled In Mexico By Low Paid Mexican Workers From Mexican Made Components.So, Tell me Again, Please, How Does This Stimulate Employment In The USA??

March 13, 2009

Analysis of:Driving Hybrid Disbelievers Into the Fold | www.washingtonpost.com

Ford manufactures all of its current hybrid models, both of them, the Ford Escape and the Mercury Mariner, in its Kansas City Assembly plant. It has now begun production of two additional models, the Ford Fusion and the Mercury Milan,  at the same facility. Ford's plan, however, is to move production of the Fusion and Milan hybrids to its Hermosillio, Mexico assembly plant. This move will turn the Fusion and Mariner hybrids into Mexican vehicles assembled using a Japanese designed power train with the key component made in Japan. Why should anyone believe that this will stimulate the American economy or create jobs in the USA for American workers?

Jack LiftonCo-founder and DirectorTechnology Metals Research, LLC

Tellurium Is Not Now Produced, Nor Likely To be Produced, In Sufficient Quantites Annually To Support a Thin-Film Photovoltaic Solar Cell Industry Based on Cadmium Telluride Technology.

March 12, 2009

Analysis of:Unico, Inc. Announces In-House Evaluation of Historical Data Regarding Tellurium Levels at the Deer Trail Mine | money.cnn.com

There are some practical reasons why a mass produced technology cannot depend critically on the metal tellurium:   1. There is very little new tellurium produced annually, certainly less than 1000 tons,   2. There is very little likelihood that additional tellurium production based mainly on incrased total recovery of tellurium byproducts from base metal ores can more than double present production in even the most optimistic scenario, and 3. Thin film  devices have a lower limit of effectiveness both practically and economically, because they have a threshold of thickness below which they do not work.

Jack LiftonCo-founder and DirectorTechnology Metals Research, LLC

Don't Fairness and Common Sense Both Dictate That Any Credit Default Insurance Guaranteed By The US Treasury To OEM American Automotive Suppliers Should Only be Extended To American Owned And Operated Companies Manufacturing Within The USA?

March 12, 2009

Analysis of:GM seeks credit insurance to help suppliers maintain parts deliveries | www.autonews.com

By outsourcing to overseas suppliers,components and services based solely on price, with no regard for the long term consequences of this agenda, companies like General Motors guaranteed that American jobs, including those of their own employees, would be lost. Now having helped through sheer ignorance of, or active disinterest in, any long term consequences of their actions, which have contributed to the destruction of the ability of American workers to be able to buy their cars and trucks, short sighted companies such as GM are asking the US treasury to compound the felony and guarantee GM's payments to its suppliers regardless of their location and who they employ! This foolish proposal is an insult to the American taxpayer. No matter what the difference in cost between, for example, a Chinese made auto part and one made in Ohio guaranteeing payment to the Chinese supplier simply robs the American taxpayer of any value to be gained by such an undertaking. 

Jack LiftonCo-founder and DirectorTechnology Metals Research, LLC

Nickel Metal Hydride Batteries Are Being Steadily Improved And Clearly Outperform Existing Lithium-Ion Batteries In Production OEM Vehicles

March 11, 2009

Analysis of:Azure Dynamics Hybrid Delivery-Truck Test Drive: Gas/Electric Hybrid Offers 30 Percent MPG Improvement | www.popularmechanics.com

The CEO of the Korean electronics giant, LG, said recently that nickel metal hydride batteries were "primitive" and would be soon replaced by "advanced" lithium-ion batteries for use in the electrification of vehicles. This comment was pure hype and was biased by the fact that LG has won the contract to supply lithium-ion batteries for the 40 mile range, pricey golf cart performance matching Chevrolet Volt. The aforesaid CEO does not, of course, want to take note of the fact that the development of "advanced" nickel metal hydride batteries has continued even beyond their "primitive" use in the hybrids mass produced and sold as the Toyota Prius, Toyota Camry, Ford Escape, Mercury Mariner, Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan, and Honda Insight to name the most prominent. These so-called "primitive" batteries have a record of reliability, durability, overall life, and recyclability that is second to none. In addition their pricing has steadily dropped(!) since their introduction.

Jack LiftonCo-founder and DirectorTechnology Metals Research, LLC

The Potential For An Electrified Future For Ford Depends On Lanthanum and Lithium The Supply Of Which To Ford, In The Quantities Required, of Neither Of Which Is Assured.

March 9, 2009

Analysis of:Ford CEO Mullaly expects "major portion" of Fords will be electric within a decade | www.autoblog.com

The CEO of the Ford Motor Company doesn't seem to worry about supply or value chain dynamics for the critical raw materials for the batteries or the electric motors that his company, Ford, would need its suppliers to have access to in order for Ford's future to be electrified

Jack LiftonCo-founder and DirectorTechnology Metals Research, LLC

The absurd economics of the Chevrolet Volt Have Now Been Addressed By Carnegie Mellon University's Learned Professors. When Will GM's Management Do The Same?

March 6, 2009

Analysis of:Does GM's Volt Make Sense? | www.technologyreview.com

For the US Federal Government to bailout GM's current business model is a futile exercise in welfare state economics. There is no hope of success if GM's flawed "public relations" driven business model is not terminated and replaced.

Jack LiftonCo-founder and DirectorTechnology Metals Research, LLC

Braking Wind: Where's the Neodymium Going To Come from?

March 4, 2009

Analysis of:Top wind-turbine firms: U.S. parts makers needed | www.freep.com

It has been estimated that to build the latest and most efficient one megawatt capacity wind turbine powered electric generator requires one ton of the rare earth metal neodymium for use in a permanent magnet made from the alloy neodymium-iron-boron. The total amount of neodymium produced annually in the USA is at most 600 tons, and all of it is used already to build nd-fe-b magnets for various applications. The current US installed capacity for electricity generation is 1,000 gigawatts (a gigawatt is 1000 megawatts), of which 0.6%, 6 gigawatts, is generated from wind turbines. The global annual production of neodymium, essentially all of which is mined in China, is today at an all time historical high of 26,500 metric tons.

Jack LiftonCo-founder and DirectorTechnology Metals Research, LLC

General Motors No Longer Has The Capacity To Develop Or Follow A New Business Model Based On Alternate Energy Powered Vehicles, So Why Prolong Its Agony?

March 4, 2009

Analysis of:General Motors Hybrid Blitz halted by Lack of Batteries, Electric Motors | blogs.internetautoguide.com

The foolish article that I am analyzing here says that GM's only problem now is a shortage of batteries and electric (I assume, drive train) motors. The author's answer is simple: GM must build its own batteries and electric motors. The fact that such a resolution of GM's problems is impossible tells everyone except this author that GM is finished as an industry leading vehicle maker.

Jack LiftonCo-founder and DirectorTechnology Metals Research, LLC

The Non-Silicon "Solar" Bubble May Be Popping: Reality Finally Catches Up With Thin Film Photovoltaic Solar Cells

March 3, 2009

Analysis of:Solar Panel Drops to $1 per Watt: Is this a Milestone or the Bottom for Silicon-Based Panels? | www.popularmechanics.com

There are two factors, which present obstacles that must be overcome if solar energy conversion is ever to be practical and widespread:   1. The limitations on the availability and/or production of the natural resources needed to manufacture the best currently known technologies, and 2. The comparative economics of "solar" energy conversion and all other alternate energy conversion technologies.

Previous Page : 12345678910Next51 to 60 of 517