In an economic downturn many companies turn to survival mode and look to slash costs in a bid to manage through the difficulties, however, it is the smart firms that seek out new places to sell their products rather than simply track the broad trends of the industry. This is very much the case with the downstream aluminium industry, which has seen considerable focus on green applications as a way of increasing sales or rather slowing the rate of decrease in sales in what has been a most severe recession. The idea of aluminium being a so called "green" metal has been around for sometime of course, with the relatively low cost and ease of recycling being cited as a compelling argument for its use versus competing materials. Indeed, we will discuss later in the article how aluminium's credentials as a green material are driving demand in the transportation sector. However, the use of aluminium in applications which are themselves considered "green" has expanded sharply over the past few years, with renewable energy applications and solar in particular at the forefront of this.
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