Effect of Regulation on the Increasing Price of Metals and Minerals to Meet the Challenges in Clean Energy Transitions: A Case Study of China

Considering that the development of science and technology depends on metal support, the EU, USA, and China have issued a critical metal list on the development report. However, the scarce and important mineral deposits on a global scale will not be enough to meet the huge needs of economic development in the future. Many fields such as renewable energy, high-performance computing, and AI all require critical metals as essential supports. A proper price regulation of such important metals will contribute to the fair price power on the international market. In this paper, the pricing history and strategy of critical metal support are fully studied and discussed. Since China has become a major consumer country, China should gain fair price power in the market of important metals.

The Future of Scandium Recovery from Wastes

With growing demand for renewable and clean energy technologies, the need in rare earth metals is increasing. Scandium, which is often considered a rare earth element (REE), is a critical metal mainly used in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) and high strength aluminum alloys used in aerospace and 3D printing applications. Furthermore, scandium supply is limited due to its scarcity and the high cost of its production in Asia and Russia while Europe has no production of scandium. Therefore, scandium extraction from alternative resources such as secondary resources located in Europe is of great concern. Within this context, this work provides a condensed state-of-art review of the issue of scandium recovery from industrial wastes. Priority was given to addressing the technological and economic challenges associated with the recovery of scandium from the said residues, with particular emphasis on the bauxite residue from alumina production, which represents nearly 5 million tons on dry basis per year in Europe.

A DedA Family Membrane Protein in Indium Extrusion in Rhodanobacter sp. B2A1Ga4

Indium (In) is a critical metal widely used in electronic equipment, and the supply of this precious metal is a major challenge for sustainable development. The use of microorganisms for the recovery of this critical high-tech element has been considered an excellent eco-friendly strategy. The Rhodanobacter sp. B2A1Ga4 strain, highly resistant to In, was studied in order to disclose the bacterial mechanisms closely linked to the ability to cope with this metal. The mutation of the gene encoding for a DedA protein homolog, YqaA, affected drastically the In resistance and the cellular metabolic activity of strain Rhodanobacter sp. B2A1Ga4 in presence of this metal. This indicates that this protein plays an important role in its In resistance phenotype. The negative impact of In might be related to the high accumulation of the metal into the mutant cells showing In concentration up to approximately 4-fold higher than the native strain. In addition, the expression of the yqaA gene in this mutant reverted the bacterial phenotype with a significant decrease of In accumulation levels into the cells and an increase of In resistance. Membrane potential measurements showed similar values for native and mutant cells, suggesting that there was no loss of proton-motive force in the mutant cells. The results from this study suggest a potential role of this DedA family protein as a membrane transporter involved in the In efflux process. The mutant strain also has the potential to be used as a biotool in bioaccumulation strategies, for the recovery of In in biomining activities.

Rutile in Amphibolite Facies Metamorphic Rocks: A Rare Example from the East Qinling Orogen, China

Rutile is an important ore mineral to meet the increasing demand of critical metal Ti in various sectors. Here we report a rare example of rutile deposits hosted within the Baishugang–Wujianfang amphibolite-facies metamorphic rocks in the East Qinling Orogen, central China. The rutiles are mostly located within or along the margins of biotite and show 94.6 to 99 wt% TiO2. Rutiles occur as chains, thin layers along the foliation, and dense clusters. The grains are coexisted with magnetite. Based on Zr-in-rutile thermometer the estimated crystallisation temperature is at 630 °C at 7.0 kba. Based on Cr/Nb ratio, the source of the rutile is correlated with Ti-bearing silicate minerals such as biotite from aluminous sedimentary protoliths. The rutile deposit formed during lower amphibolite-facies metamorphism, and is distinct from the eclogite- and granulite-related types elsewhere in the orogen. The LA-ICP-MS U–Pb analyses of rutiles from the deposit yield lower intercept 238U/206Pb ages of 386 ± 16 Ma at the Baishugang–Wujianfang district. These ages correspond to a Devonian arc–continent collisional event between the South and North Qinling domains in the East Qinling Orogen.

Unsettled Issues Regarding Power Options for Decarbonized Commercial Vehicles

While direct electrification appears to provide the most cost-effective route to decarbonization of commercial vehicles, uptake may be constrained by critical metal supply. Additionally, it will be many years before hydrogen power becomes decarbonized or if it can ever compete economically with direct electrification. An electric road system (ERS) could offer a highly efficient and cost-effective route to direct electrification that would greatly reduce the volume of batteries required, but pilot schemes are urgently needed to provide concrete data on operating costs for different ERS technologies. Furthermore, if plug-in hybrid electric vehicles could obtain most of their power from an ERS, liquid biofuels and “electrofuels” may prove useful for occasional off-grid range extension. To achieve extremely long-range for operation in remote locations, liquid fuels remain the only viable option. Unsettled Issues Regarding Power Options for Decarbonized Commercial Vehicles discusses the analysis required to understand the lifecycle energy use for different power options for decarbonized commercial vehicles.

Investigating the effect of an identified mutation within a critical site of PAS domain of WalK protein in a vancomycin-intermediate resistant Staphylococcus aureus by computational approaches

Background Vancomycin-intermediate resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VISA) is becoming a common cause of nosocomial infections worldwide. VISA isolates are developed by unclear molecular mechanisms via mutations in several genes, including walKR. Although studies have verified some of these mutations, there are a few studies that pay attention to the importance of molecular modelling of mutations. Method For genomic and transcriptomic comparisons in a laboratory-derived VISA strain and its parental strain, Sanger sequencing and reverse transcriptase quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) methods were used, respectively. After structural protein mapping of the detected mutation, mutation effects were analyzed using molecular computational approaches and crystal structures of related proteins. Results A mutation WalK-H364R was occurred in a functional zinc ion coordinating residue within the PAS domain in the VISA strain. WalK-H364R was predicted to destabilize protein and decrease WalK interactions with proteins and nucleic acids. The RT-qPCR method showed downregulation of walKR, WalKR-regulated autolysins, and agr locus. Conclusion Overall, WalK-H364R mutation within a critical metal-coordinating site was presumably related to the VISA development. We assume that the WalK-H364R mutation resulted in deleterious effects on protein, which was verified by walKR gene expression changes.. Therefore, molecular modelling provides detailed insight into the molecular mechanism of VISA development, in particular, where allelic replacement experiments are not readily available.