Green Technology Forum

EnerTech Environmental, Inc. announced today that it has signed an Expression of Interest to build a SlurryCarb demonstration facility at Masdar City in Abu Dhabi. Masdar City will be the world’s first zero-carbon, zero-waste, car-free city, completely powered by renewable energy.

EnerTech’s SlurryCarb demonstration facility will process biosolids (sewage sludge) produced from the permanent buildings erected during Masdar City’s first phase as well as from the accommodation for the several thousand workers building Masdar City between 2008 and 2016. Biosolids from the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, the workers’ accommodation, and the headquarters of Masdar will be converted into renewable E-fuel, a fossil fuel replacement. The demonstration facility is the first step towards installing a permanent SlurryCarb facility in the city.

“This is an opportunity to showcase the SlurryCarb process to the Middle East and work with the international community to build a city that truly embodies sustainable living and working,” said Kevin Bolin, EnerTech CEO. “It showcases the SlurryCarb process as the best available biosolids technology when it comes to sustainability, renewable energy, and the reduction of greenhouse gases.”

Masdar is Abu Dhabi’s multi-faceted, multi-billion dollar investment in the development and commercialization of advanced and innovative technologies in renewable, alternative and sustainable energies as well as green design. By applying scale and leveraging Abu Dhabi’s low-cost, tax-free manufacturing base, businesses will enjoy significant competitive advantages, allowing them to compete internationally and provide significant diversification to the Abu Dhabi economy. On February 9, 2008, Masdar broke ground for Masdar City.

Source: prweb.com

This Wednesday, May 14, actor Ed Norton, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and experts in the field of green building appeared before Chairman Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming to discuss how more efficient buildings and better building policies can reduce energy costs and cut global warming pollution. Norton is a Trustee for the Enterprise Foundation and works to bring green building practices to low-income housing development.

The building sector is responsible for 48 percent of all heat-trapping emissions, and it is estimated that 76 percent of all electricity generated by U.S. power plants goes to operate buildings. As energy prices rise — increasing the costs of cooling, heating and construction — green building has become a popular mantra for homeowners, corporations and environmentalists alike. Yet the numerous definitions of green buildings can lead to confusion, inaction or ineffective policy. As Congress examines all sources and causes of global warming emissions, it must consider how the buildings we work and live in can contribute to reducing the impact of climate change.

Source: globalwarming.house.gov

Researchers at the University of Illinois in Urbana Champaign have developed a simple process to grow upright copper nanowires on different surfaces. The nanowire arrays could find use in field-emission displays, a new type of display technology that promises to provide brighter, more vivid pictures than existing flat-panel displays. In such an application, the nanowires would be used to fire electrons at phosphor particles on a screen, lighting them up.

The new manufacturing method, developed by Kyekyoon Kim and Hyungsoo Choi, leads to copper nanowires between 70 nanometers and 250 nanometers wide. The researchers can use the process to grow the nanowires on various surfaces, including silicon, glass, metal, and plastic. They describe the nanowire array and demonstrate a prototype field-emission display in an online Advanced Materials paper.

Source: technologyreview.com

With the cost of energy rising almost daily, it only makes sense to focus on energy efficiency in homes built for Habitat for Humanity families. That’s exactly what they’re doing in Harrisonburg.

In fact, the Central Valley Habitat for Humanity chapter there is working on its fourth house built to higher energy standards that conserve resources. The program is one that would benefit Habitat programs here and elsewhere across Virginia.
The recently built homes are equipped with solar water heaters and solar panels. The water heaters use sunlight to heat water.

Although the systems cost thousands of dollars to purchase and install, they reduce electricity bills substantially, said Johann Zimmerman, a construction manager with Habitat for Humanity. At one house, he said, the panels and an attached system could reduce the family’s water-heating bills by 80 percent. That’s good for the family’s budget and for the finite energy supplies that fuel power generation across Virginia.

The panels, Zimmerman said, “are part of the design instead of an after-thought. It’s economically stupid not to do it.”

Source: newsadvance.com

The Lightning Car Company offered a detailed look at its 700-horsepower electric Lightning GT this week, with word that “reservations for 2009 delivery are now being taken.” The Lightning GT, which requires a deposit of $30,116 and will cost roughly $300,000, makes the $100,000 Tesla Roadster look like a bargain.

At this point, it appears that the Lightning GT, which its makers say has a 0-60-mph time of 4.0 seconds, is not yet bound for the U.S. “We’ve had tremendous interest from customers in the United States,” says the company on its Web site. “We’re looking into the necessary federal certification requirements to enable us to retail the car in the U.S.”

The Lightning Car Company says “the build of the prototype [is] well underway” and should be finished later this year. The Lightning GT runs solely on electricity. It features a lightweight body built from carbon fiber and Kevlar, along with NanoSafe battery packs. The company says the battery packs have a life expectancy of more than 12 years and use nano titanate materials.

Source: edmunds.com

In keeping with its penchant for innovation in the mobile space, Samsung has announced the development of a cell phone that is powered by a fuel cell that uses water to begin the chemical process. Samsung Electro-Mechanics’ research center developed the fuel cell and water-induced process.

When the mobile is turned on, metal and the water that has been added to the phone react to produce hydrogen gas. The gas is then sent to the fuel cell where it reacts with oxygen in the air to generate power. The micro fuel cell and hydrogen generator can charge mobile devices for 10 hours (about 3 watts), and uses just ordinary water to start the chemical process.

“If the user uses the phone for four hours a day on average, they would have to change the hydrogen cartridge about every five days,” Oh Yong-soo, vice president of Samsung Electro-Mechanics’ research center, said.

Source: brighthand.com

Bioplastics are biodegradable and can be made from a wide range of different plants. In the future genetically modified plants will need less water and reduce the costs. Bioplastics has the potential to reduce the petroleum consumption for plastic by 15 to 20 percent in 2025. Improved technical properties and innovations open new markets and applications with higher profit potentials in automotive, medicine and electronics.

When bioplastic companies change their strategy from just replacing today’s products to new applications, product conceptions and production processes with the advantage of bioplastics the profitability and saleability increase dramatically.

In 2025 Europe will count for 31 percent, USA 28 percent and Asian for 32 percent of the total markets. Asian has the advantage that genetically modified plants are easier to realize and new outlets for agriculture are faster to build up. These are some results of a new released market study by Helmut Kaiser Consultancy.

Bioplastics fast market growth of more than 8-10% per year. Bioplastics cover approximately 10-15% of the total plastics market and will increase its market share to 25-30% by 2020. The market itself is huge, it reached over 1bn US$ in 2007 and will be over 10 billion by 2020. More and more companies are entering and investing in this market. New applications and innovations in the Automotive and Electronics Industry lead to market boom. Over 500 bioplastics processing companies are already available, more than 5000 is expected by 2020.

Source: nanovip.com

SkySails’ first cargo ship, with a huge computer-controlled kite, was recently flagged off by Eva Luise Koehler, wife of German President Horst Koehler.

The ship MV Beluga SkySails started its maiden voyage from the city of Bremerhaven, Germany to South & North America (and back) and the SkySails-System with its 1,722 square-foot towing kite has been put into operation successfully.

This new technology can tow cargo vessels and superyachts, reducing fuel consumption by 10 to 35 per cent on annual average.

Source: engineerlive.com

US firm MTI Micro Fuel Cells intends to be first to bring a fuel cell product to the market with a direct methanol-based device next year which will allow you to recharge a mobile phone seven times before it needs a top-up of methanol.

Albany, New York-based MTI Micro said that methanol-based fuel cells have been approved for use in aircraft by the aviation authorities in the UK, Canada and Japan and should be approved by the US Department of Transport this year.

“We see it as a universal charger,” Peng Lim, company CEO told Electronics Weekly, “there’s no more need to plug into the wall.”The firm’s approach is to use a passive, direct methanol fuel cell. A feature of the technology, which is claimed to make it easier to manufacture, is the integration of the power module with the water conditioning system. This internal flow of water takes place without the need for any pumps, complicated re-circulation loops or other micro-plumbing tools.

Called Mobion, the device has demonstrated power of over 50mW/cm sq. while producing 1.4Wh/cc of energy from the fuel.

Source: electronicsweekly.com

Embryos containing human and animal material have been created in Britain for the first time, a month before the House of Commons votes on new laws to regulate the research.

A team at Newcastle University announced yesterday that it had successfully generated “admixed embryos” by adding human DNA to empty cow eggs in the first experiment of its kind in Britain.

Source: timesonline.co.uk