Ch-ch-ch-changes
12 October 2009
Author : Paul Wolfe
This David Bowie song has been whizzing around my head for the last few days, and for good reason. Every day, in so many ways, I’m seeing changes in every facet of life.
We’re always living through a time of change, but perhaps it’s more stark right now with the global recession, the impact it’s having on everybody and the way we think about the future. It’s true that every day, in some way, changes are occuring, but sometimes its good news we’re faced with. Although during these times, are we immune to hearing good news, because we’re always expecting bad?
Nissan has announced that its sales in Western Europe were up by 17% in September. It’s largely thanks to sales of small cars, which still feature a plethora of electronic driver-aids. So with some positive news in the automotive sector, perhaps other industries will also see trade pick up too.
There’s a buoyant market in certain consumer units, as The NPD Group reports, (Make a note of ‘recession-proof’ products) with the ‘back-to-school’ market helping sales in notebook PCs to rise. “Notebooks seem to be recession proof and this back-to-school season was no exception,” reports Stephen Baker, Vice President of industry analysis at NPD. “We are seeing more consumers opt for netbooks and low-cost notebooks under $500 as viable options despite the changing economy.” This shift in buying patterns is perhaps why Dell has declared that it can no longer operate its North Carolina plant because the market for desktop computers is apparently diminishing. Approximately 905 employees will be affected by the closure, with about 600 to be released in November; the closure is expected to be completed in January 2010.
However, the very way we use energy is changing, and UK students are preparing for this (Training the energy researchers of the future), thanks to a £3m venture. The postgraduates will be trained in renewable energy, power generation and carbon capture, hydrogen and fuel cells, sustainable building, energy efficiency, and many other areas crucial to the low carbon economy of the future. And the future for printed silicone is looking healthier too. NanoMarkets has released Opportunities for Printed Silicon: 2009 to 2016, which provides eight-year forecasts of printed silicon materials and devices used for photovoltaics, display backplanes, and RFID tags, as well as other emerging applications. The key findings are that the biggest opportunity will come from photovoltaics as printed silicon offers the best of all worlds; good environmental stability without the need for complex encapsulation, potentially very high performance, and lowered costs through the use of high-throughput printing. It’s predicted that printed nanosilicon PV panels will generate over $1 billion in revenue by 2016.
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As Bowie said, ‘time may change me,’ but some things will never change.
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