Plastic pollutants are the main pollutants produced by human activities. Plastics can become the main pollutants because they are difficult to degrade. If you want the plastic to degrade naturally in nature, it usually takes 200 to 1,000 years. Even ordinary plastic bags have a natural degradation time of 200 to 400 years.

Although plastic is difficult to degrade, another material used by humans is tougher than plastic and has a much longer existence in nature. It is glass. Is there any basis that glass can survive longer than plastic? Of course, there is. Because humans have a long history of manufacturing glass, as early as 1000 BC, that is, more than 3000 years ago, the ancient Egyptians had mastered the glass blowing technology.

By blowing glass, the ancient Egyptians could make all kinds of exquisite glass products. And more than 1,000 years before the advent of glass blowing, there were glass products. In other words, 4,000 years ago, humans could

Until today, archaeologists have discovered a large number of glass products from different periods, and these glass products are well preserved. This shows that there has been no effect on glass for thousands of years. Glass can be stored for thousands of years, so what if it is longer? In fact, the existence of glass in nature is much longer than you think. To know how long glass can exist, we must first understand what glass is. The main components of glass are silicon dioxide and other oxides. It is an amorphous solid with an irregular structure.

The so-called irregular structure means that the arrangement of atoms inside the glass looks messy and irregular.

 

Under normal circumstances, the molecular arrangement of liquids and gases is chaotic, while the arrangement of atoms in solid substances, especially metal substances such as iron, is extremely orderly. Glass is solid, but the arrangement of atoms is as chaotic as a liquid. what is the problem? In fact, the atomic arrangement of glass means that chaos contains order.

On the whole, the atomic arrangement of glass is indeed irregular, but if you observe it one by one, you will find that every silicon atom is connected to four oxygen atoms. This chaotic arrangement of atoms is orderly. A special term is called “short-range order.” This is why glass is very hard but very fragile.

The special arrangement of atoms gives the glass high hardness. On the other hand, due to the extremely stable chemical properties of glass, it hardly reacts with any substance, which makes it almost impossible for glass to be corroded in nature.

, So the only way to destroy the glass is to conduct a physical attack. In nature, the erosion of wind and rain, the abrasion of sand and rock, and the movement of geology can cause the glass to break. After all, glass is very fragile. In our daily lives, we often see such a phenomenon that the transparency of newly installed glass will decrease after several years of use. This is due to the physical wear of the glass surface caused by the erosion of rain and the friction of wind and sand.

As we all know, the diamond, which symbolizes loyal love, is a relatively hard natural substance known in the world and is usually used to cut glass in the industry. As a raw material for diamonds (diamonds), carbon is one of the attractive elements, and exploring new forms of carbon has always been the eternal theme of scientific research.

A paper published in the National Science Review (NSR) in early August introduced a new type of glass born in the laboratory: AM-III, which is the hardest glass material known so far. Scratch the diamond crystal and approach its strength.

The producers of AM-III carbon are a group of materials scientists from Yanshan University. They found that crystalline and amorphous carbon can produce high-strength glass under a certain ratio. Molecule) After compression under high temperatures and high-pressure environment, this hard carbonaceous material is formed.

In addition to superior strength, AM-III also has the characteristics of electrical conductivity and high-temperature resistance. In other words, this new material has a hardness comparable to that of diamonds, as well as good electrical conductivity that diamonds do not have. In the future, this material has broad application prospects, or it can be used in bulletproof glass, military weapons,

and optoelectronic equipment.

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Road to the decarbonization of the glass industry: electrification. Unlike steel and cement, glass has a clear path to decarbonization: electrification. However, renewable power has been scarcer than the industry had hoped, raising concerns about its ability to meet EU climate targets. The recovery rate of the glass bottle industry is as high as 70%.

To meet the EU’s 2030 decarbonization target, the glass bottle industry now hopes to switch gas furnaces to electricity supply, providing 80 percent of electricity and 20 percent of gas for businesses in a “Kiln of the Future” pilot.

Although recycling consumes less energy than producing glass bottles, it is still energy-intensive.

The energy used so far has been based on fossil fuels, making recycling and glass bottle production generally less green than is often assumed.

As a result, according to a senior spokesperson for THE European glass container industry body, FEVE, the glass container industry emits about 8-9 million tons of CARBON dioxide per year, which accounts for more than 1% of the EU’s 27 industrial emissions, a significant share.

In the face of decarbonization pressure, the glass packaging bottle industry for electrification.

The aim is to build a proof-of-concept furnace in Germany, where the Ardagh Group, a multinational glassmaker, is building a new plant.

Ardagh declined to comment on the construction status.

The goal is to build an electric furnace by 2023 that will use electricity to melt glass of various sizes and colors while being twice as energy-efficient as a traditional fossil fuel furnace.

Fabrice Rivet, FEVE’s technical director, said, “We want to show that it’s possible to meet with 80 percent electricity, and that’s the goal.”

For technical reasons, first-generation electric stoves were forced to derive 20 percent of their energy from natural gas.

For the second generation, we will definitely see how to replace 20 percent of the natural gas to bring some heat to the melt.

To do this, the industry is considering options such as second-generation electric heating, hydrogen, or biogas, and the development of the second-generation electric furnace will begin in 2027.”

If the initial pilot goes according to plan, the model could be rapidly replicated across the glass container industry, achieving a 50% reduction in emissions by manufacturers across all plants.

However, high research and development and power costs hold back the industry, which needs public support.

The Furnace of the Future project hopes to tap into EU innovation funds and is currently in the second phase of the selection process with a €20 billion grant.

Recently, the European industry has been increasingly vocal about its challenges in decarbonizing production and remaining competitive.

While the industry’s new electric stoves will be more energy efficient than traditional fossil fuel stoves, their decarbonization effect will also largely depend on the availability of renewable electricity.

About 20 percent of Germany’s electricity comes from coal and the industry is seeking green power purchase agreements to ensure sufficient quantities of renewable energy for the future.

However, the glass industry’s shift to renewable energy has also heightened concerns in other energy-intensive industries: rising demand and the slow growth of renewable electricity.

As the economy is electrified, demand for clean power is rising in new sectors such as transportation, construction, and industry.

According to industry experts, Germany’s electricity demand will soar from 567.6 billion kilowatt-hours in 2019 to 700 billion kilowatt-hours in 10 years.

As a result, UlrikStridbæk of Danish energy company ø Rated warns that renewable power capacity needs to be increased quickly, or the supply of renewable energy will soon become a bottleneck for other sectors, such as green hydrogen production.

“We need to double existing renewable energy capacity to meet the 55% greenhouse gas target set by the EU climate law by 2030,” warns Michaela Holl.

This will further encourage EU countries and private investors to build renewable power generation capacity as soon as possible.

Container freight rates soared by 300%, With the global pandemic’s pervasive impact, the cross-border market has been experiencing substantial fluctuations, exacerbated by the inefficiencies in logistics operations. Shipping companies, in response to the challenging circumstances, have uniformly increased prices, leading to an imbalance in the global supply chain and an acute shortage of available shipping capacity.

These combined factors have contributed to the current dilemma, characterized by the scarcity of container space, escalating freight rates, container shortages, and, in some cases, the suspension of shipping services. Since the onset of June, the freight rates on various key routes, including the US, Africa, Mediterranean, and Nordic routes, have witnessed persistent and significant surges.

According to the latest available data, the freight rates for both the US West and US East routes have soared by a staggering 161.6%. This alarming upward trend in freight rates has significantly disrupted international trade flows, creating considerable challenges for businesses reliant on cross-border operations and pushing up costs across multiple industries. The persistent strain on the global logistics sector continues to present a critical challenge for businesses seeking to navigate the complexities of the current global trade landscape.

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