If you’re at all like me, you wonder which articles get the most attention on our website. Every year we publish over 40 feature articles, and at the end of the year we gather statistics to see which ones get the most page views. So, without further ado, here are the five most-viewed articles on www.industrialheating.com based on page views in 2021. This ranking applies only to articles published in 2021.

Did you know that nearly all countryside houses in Sweden are painted red? Incidentally, this tradition made its way to America in the form of the big red barn. The color, known specifically as Falu red, comes from the Falun copper mine in central Sweden, which dates back to the 9th century. At one point in time it was the largest copper mine in Europe.

A 67-year-old retired pastor in Madison, Wis., spends his free time forging guns into garden tools. Jeff Wild, who at one time spent a couple of summers working at a foundry, is also sending a message with his hobby. According to Wild, fire can be destructive, but it can also be transforming.

Morocco is home to the largest concentrated solar power plant in the world. Noor power station uses molten salt storage to produce electricity at night. Made up of three distinct facilities, the site is able to power more than 1 million homes and is estimated to save 760,000 metric tons of carbon emissions every year.

Viewers watching the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing will get a glimpse of Shougang, a once sprawling steel mill. Closed since 2010, the plant will form the backdrop for some of the events, and parts of the complex have been converted to snow-making facilities. It even includes a Starbucks.

The Aluminum Association and Can Manufacturers Institute released a new study confirming that aluminum cans are the most recycled and recyclable material on the market. According to the study, consumers recycle aluminum cans at a rate of 45.2%, compared to just 39.6% for glass bottles and 20.3% for plastic bottles.

Boom Supersonic entered into a three-year strategic partnership with the U.S. Air Force valued at up to $60 million. The deal will accelerate research and development on Overture, Boom’s commercial airliner that will carry 65–88 passengers at twice the speed of today’s airliners. Overture is expected to be the first large commercial aircraft to be net-zero carbon from day one.

Aluminum Shapes LLC will affirm a $1 million penalty and accept 10 willful, 15 repeat and 55 serious violations and one other-than-serious citation in a settlement agreement to resolve two long-running U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration cases related to a fatality and a series of employee injuries at the company’s Delair, N.J., plant.

Aurubis AG and SMS group will build a multi-metal recycling plant in Augusta, Ga. Construction will start in mid-2022. Upon commissioning, which is scheduled for the first half of 2024, the plant will process about 90,000 tons of complex recycling materials annually. The project will create over 100 jobs in the region.

Austal USA contracted with Alabama steel provider SSAB to provide steel for U.S. Navy steel-hulled Towing, Salvage, and Rescue ships (T-ATS). The supplier partnership directly supports hundreds of jobs in the greater Mobile area from both companies.