NEWS OF THE W EEK
MORE SOLAR SILICON PHOTOVOLTAICS: Despite p energy gy slump
and credit crisis, Wacker expands
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WACKER CHEMIE
Polysilicon forms on deposition rods.
LUMMETING OIL PRICES are making renewable energy less financially attractive at the moment, and a global credit crunch is confounding business plans. Undaunted, Wacker Chemie says it will build a nearly $1 billion plant in Germany to make hyperpure polycrystalline silicon, a major component of solar electricity cells. Wacker will build the 10,000-metric-ton-per-year facility at its Nünchritz site in Saxony and integrate the plant with its existing silicone fluids and polymers operations there. When it reaches full capacity at the end of 2011, the polysilicon plant will employ 450 people. Wacker says it will also raise the capacity of an ongoing expansion at its Burghausen production site in Bavaria, Germany, from 7,000 to 10,000 metric tons. As energy costs slide and cash gets
BISPHENOL A RESTRICTIONS REGULATION: Canada will ban baby y bottles containingg BPA, regulate g the substance in can liners and wastewater
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ECLARING THAT BISPHENOL A (BPA) po-
tentially may harm infants and is toxic to fish, the Canadian government has unveiled a multipronged approach to restrict this widely used chemical. This will mark the first regulation of the compound anywhere in the world. BPA is a high-production-volume substance used in the manufacture of polycarbonate and epoxy-based plastics, including those used to line food cans. The chemical mimics estrogen, and some studies suggest that exposure to BPA may cause reproductive and developmental harm (C&EN, June 2, page 36). On Oct. 17, two governmental agencies, Health Canada and Environment Canada, announced the country’s actions against the compound. The first is a ban, which will take effect sometime in 2009, on the import, sale, and advertising of polycarbonate baby bottles that contain BPA. Canada initially proposed to ban BPA-conWWW.CE N-ONLI NE .ORG
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harder to come by, however, prospects for solar energy companies aren’t as bright as they once were. For instance, Schott Solar, a German maker of photovoltaic components, abandoned its $900 million initial public stock offering earlier this month. Richard M. Winegarner, president of solar consultancy Sage Concepts, says the 40% annual growth rate for solar-cell production over the past few years seems hugely optimistic now. “My personal belief is that by 2012 we will see a glut of solar polysilicon on the market,” he says. Even government subsidies, which have helped the solar business percolate along, could be in jeopardy because of the economic slowdown’s effect on government finances, Winegarner adds. Still, Wacker is optimistic about the long-term prospects for the solar energy market. “We expect crystalline solar technology to show continued strong growth and customer demand for polysilicon to remain high,” Wacker CEO Rudolf Staudigl says. So confident is Wacker in solar energy over the long term that it plans to have total polysilicon capacity of 35,500 metric tons by the end of 2011, up from 10,000 metric tons today. The new additions and others now under way will bring Wacker to within hailing distance of its largest competitor, Hemlock Semiconductor. A joint venture of Dow Corning, Shin-Etsu Handotai, and Mitsubishi Materials, Hemlock plans to have polysilicon capacity of 39,000 metric tons by the end of 2011 at its Hemlock, Mich., site.—MARC REISCH
taining baby bottles in April (C&EN, April 28, page 11). As a second action, Canada will develop stringent standards for the amount of BPA that can migrate from plastic linings of metal cans into infant formula. The government is also exploring the expansion of this requirement to all canned foods. Canada’s new standards “should benefit U.S. babies because four major companies make canned infant formula sold in both countries,” says Sonya Lunder, senior scientist at Environmental Working Group, an advocacy organization. In addition, Canada will propose limiting the amount of BPA allowed in wastewater discharges. Environment Canada has determined that the chemical is getting into the environment through wastewater and leachate from landfills. Because BPA breaks down slowly, the compound could build up in Canadian waters and harm fish and other aquatic life, the agency says. Canada is basing its regulatory actions on its justreleased scientific assessment of BPA. The assessment concludes that the chemical “may constitute a danger in Canada to human life or health” and “is acutely toxic to aquatic organisms.” Steven G. Hentges, executive director for the polycarbonate/BPA global group at the American Chemistry Council, an industry association, maintains that scientific data show that people are exposed to BPA at levels below those that cause health effects.—CHERYL HOGUE
OCTOBE R 27, 20 08
