Cleaner, greener process for producing metals

MIT Technology Review : Various metals are important in industry, but producing them emits high concentrations of greenhouse gases. To cut emissions, a startup company called Infinium has developed a ceramic material—zirconium oxide—that replaces the carbon electrodes used in one of the steps involved in metal production. Although carbon is good at resisting corrosion from the molten salts used in the process, it reacts with oxygen to form carbon dioxide. With the use of alternative molten salts, the company hopes the zirconium oxide electrodes will prove just as durable. Use of the new material, says the company, could also reduce the processing costs of certain metals, such as aluminum and magnesium, by as much as 50%. Because those metals are lighter than steel, cutting the costs of their production could make them more available to certain industries, such as car manufacturing, where lighter-weight vehicles would be more energy efficient.