Concentrated solar energy applications in materials science and metallurgy

New energy sources have been researched with the objective of achieving a reduction in the emissions of greenhouse gases as well as other polluting gases. Solar energy is one of the options as when properly concentrated offers a great potential in high temperature applications. This paper offers a review on all fields connected with materials where concentrated solar energy has been applied. These applications include metallurgy, materials processing (welding and cladding; surface treatments; coatings and surface hardening; and, powder metallurgy), and non-metallic materials (ceramics, fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, and production of lime).