According to a soon-to-be-released report from Business Communications Co., Inc. (BCC), "RC-237 World Industrial Gas Business," the global market for industrial gases is currently estimated at $36 billion. The market is expected to reach nearly $52 billion by 2008, growing at an AAGR (average annual growth rate) of 7.5% through the forecast period. This will be a result of the worldwide manufacturing sector using huge quantities of industrial gases for the production of environmentally cleaner products such as food and fuels, and to upgrade increasing supplies of heavy crude oil. Applications for glass production, steel, nonferrous and new materials processing will also help drive demand, and clean energy alternatives will represent a major opportunity. Consumption of gases for renewable energy applications is expected to increase at an AAGR of 17.3% as commercialization intensifies.

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