Paucity of Materials - A Potential Constraint to the Growth of Many Markets Including Displays and Photovoltaics

摘要

There has been plenty of publicity about the rapid increase in the price of indium. This price rise was the result of factors such as it only being mined as a by-product of zinc [1] and their being limited stockpiles. This was exacerbated by a large increase in its use for transparent conducting coatings for the display industry as well as the newer and faster increase of use within the photovoltaic industry. The net result of this was that companies suddenly found that recycling did make sense and so the supply was enhanced, at least for a time, by the input of recovered indium.rnIf you have observed the metals trading markets you will have seen all kinds of price increases in materials that heretofore we have thought of as abundant. In reality with the increased world population and increasing affluence, the demand for goods is increasing and the amount of materials being tied up in these goods is increasing. This requires mining more materials and, for some, this is becoming more difficult and expensive as these materials are found to be increasingly scarce.rnA number of these materials have already past their peak in world production and yet, in some markets, predictions of market growth appear to be oblivious to the dwindling resources that will cause inevitable shortages [2].rnThese shortages are likely to affect a whole range of products from fluorescent lights, photovoltaics and light emitting diodes (LEDs). All of these are products that are aimed at reducing energy consumption of for energy production. This paper will highlight some of the materials that are predicted to be under threat.