Precision Ceramics & The Environment – Our Personal Quest Continues

Harnessing energy from the sun, the wind and the waves and tide holds greater and greater promise for the United Kingdom’s clean energy future.

Nowadays, everywhere you look, the roofs of office blocks, factory buildings and domestic properties have taken on a completely new look with the installation of solar panels. In our countryside and tidal estuaries too, more and more wind turbines are shooting up, all making a major contribution to the generation of cheaper and cleaner electricity.

As a company, Precision Ceramics is totally committed to minimising the impact of our operational activities on the environment. The products we make and the partners we have in the Environmental Industry help in the ongoing quest for a cleaner planet.

The UK is also the undisputed global leader in marine energy with around 10MW of wave and tidal stream devices currently being tested in UK waters, more than the rest of the world combined.

All these natural sources will help decarbonise our energy supply, increase energy security and reduce our dependence on imported fossil fuels.

Take wind farms for instance. The larger commercial wind farm turbines have an average tower height of 100 metres. This is generally between two and three times the length of the actual blades. Commonly located on high ground in isolated countryside or in the middle of tidal estuaries, high efficiency, low maintenance operation is vital to their day-to-day operation.

Highly wear-resistant silicon nitride ball bearings supplied by Precision Ceramics contribute greatly to this efficiency and help keep the turbine blades turning in the severest of weather conditions.

In nuclear power too we’re contributing towards a cleaner environment by supplying a variety of boron nitride components which, as well as having extremely high electrical insulation properties, are also excellent neutron absorbers.

Boron Nitride supplied by Precision Ceramics is widely used in the production of photovoltaic cells and our Aluminas and Zirconias have long been recognised for their quality in the manufacture of fuel cells.

Back at our UK headquarters in Lower Tower Street, Birmingham, environment issues are also carefully considered within our manufacturing operations. Here, meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs is paramount.

Within our current strategy, key points include …

• Minimising waste by evaluating operations and ensuring they are as efficient as possible.
• Minimising toxic emissions through careful selection of energy sources.
• Encouraging and promoting recycling both internally and amongst our customers and suppliers.
• Using our own shredded records for product packing as an efficient alternative to costly bought-in materials
• Using an accredited programme to offset the greenhouse gas emissions generated by our activities.
• Meeting or exceeding all the environmental legislation which relates directly to our operations.

In the development of a specialist range of LED lighting by our McGeoch parent, our ongoing commitment to climate change is further demonstrated via the use of state-of-the-art LED technology designed to meet the low energy, high efficiency and environmental lighting demands of the modern world.

This same technology has even recently been applied to our main offices where 8’ LED Tubes are now providing a brighter and more efficient alternative to their now redundant fluorescent predecessors. Our staff are delighted, especially on the cold dark mornings of the British Winter!

Our personal quest for a cleaner planet continues …

Interested in finding out more and if any of our materials are the right fit for your application? Please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Related Topics