And yet, PLA is considered not yet a full alternative to traditional petroleum-based plastics, as it is costly to produce.
However, PLA is not yet a full alternative for petroleum-based plastics due to its cost. The production process for PLA is expensive because of the intermediary steps."
Of course, PLA will never fully replace petroleum-based plastics. For one thing, some objects, such as toilet drain pipes, are meant not to be biodegradable.
"To use our pipeline, you don't have to know about computing tools, "Cheng said.""You just need to upload files
Considering that nearly one-third of every fuel tank is spent overcoming friction in automobiles, a material that can achieve superlubricity would greatly benefit industry and consumers alike.
and is produced easily may lead to better gas separation, water purification, drug delivery and DNA recognition, according to an international team of researchers.
The doctoral student initially made a suspension of silver nanowires in ethanol using wet-chemistry techniques. She then transferred this suspension with a pipette onto a substrate, in this case a silicon solar cell.
therefore consider hundreds of menopausal women in whom NHANES scientists had measured at least one potential endocrine disruptor chemical (EDC) by gas or liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy.
The study is also a reminder that the burning of fossil fuels remains the main cause of global warming.
Burning fuel produces about four times more climate pollution every year than forestry and agriculture combined figure that is growing.
Greenhouse gases released by farming, such as methane from livestock and rice paddies, and nitrous oxides from fertilizers and other soil treatments rose 13 percent after 1990, the study concluded.
and decomposing waste produce a lot of methane. They produce so much methane, and eat so much fertilized feed,
that livestock are blamed for two-thirds of agriculture climate pollution every year. ee seeing an expansion of agricultural lands in some areas because of the growing global population,
Such impacts are harder to quantify accurately than are the pollution impacts of burning fuel.
and second runner-up Karan Jerath, who efined and tested a novel device that could allow an undersea oil well to rapidly
"Less fuel-burn lowers the cost to get up there, plus it enhances spacecraft operational flexibility, survivability and longevity."
#Weighing Gas with Sound and Microwaves NIST scientists have developed a novel method to rapidly and accurately calibrate gas flow meters,
such as those used to measure natural gas flowing in pipelines, by applying a fundamental physical principle:
When a sound wave travels through a gas containing temperature gradients, the sound wave average speed is determined by the average temperature of the gas.
Schematic diagram of a gas-filled pressure vessel. The red-to-blue shading represents the temperature gradient in the gas, with the higher (red) temperatures near the top.
The ovals represent a standing sound wave; its frequency is determined mostly by the average temperature of the gas.
The wavy line represents a resonant electromagnetic wave; its frequency is determined mostly by the length of the tank.
Wavelengths are not to scale. Schematic diagram of a gas-filled pressure vessel. The red-to-blue shading represents the temperature gradient in the gas, with the higher (red) temperatures near the top.
The ovals represent a standing sound wave; its frequency is determined mostly by the average temperature of the gas.
The wavy line represents a resonant electromagnetic wave; its frequency is determined mostly by the length of the tank.
Wavelengths are not to scale. Accurate calibrations of gas flow meters issues are of urgent interest to meter manufacturers and calibration labs, with potential impact throughout the natural gas industry.
Conventional calibrations are conducted typically during measured time intervals by flowing a gas stream through the meter being calibrated.
The quantity of gas that passes through the meter is determined by collecting the gas in a large tank and measuring its average temperature and pressure,
which in turn reveals the amount of gas. However, the process of collecting the gas in large tanks generates temperature gradients (different temperatures in different parts of the tank
which make the average difficult to measure. Those gradients persist for hours or days. Thus a fast reading is inherently inaccurate.
To get around that problem, current practice entails calibrating many small meters, one at a time, and then using them in parallel to calibrate a larger meter.
This produces a more accurate reading, but is inherently time-consuming, and therefore expensive. NIST innovation replaces the difficult problem of accurately measuring the average temperature of a large volume of gas with the easier problem of accurately measuring the average speed-of-sound in the gas.
In one recent paper NIST researchers deduced the internal shape, thermal expansion, and volume of a 300 liter collection tank by measuring which microwave frequencies resonated (formed standing waves) within the evacuated tank.
Finally, they heated the top of the tank to establish a temperature difference across the gas of 4%of the average gas temperature.
%This result implies that the acoustic resonance technique could be used to measure the collected gas, even in the presence of a temperature gradient,
As blood flows through these tiny capillaries oxygen diffuses from the blood into the surrounding tissue supplying them with the essential gas.
Oxygen diffuses from the gas compartment to the microfluidic channel allowing researchers to control how much oxygen cells are exposed to.
However, diesel fuel is expensive to deliver to these locations, and diesel generators, though inexpensive to install,
engineers have been working with alternative fuels. A Norwegian engineer is currently pursuing a new approach: With Vindskiptm, he has designed a cargo ship that is powered by wind and gas.
Software developed by Fraunhofer researchers will ensure an optimum use of the available wind energy at any time.
Running on heavy fuel oil freighters contribute to pollution. The International maritime organization (IMO) wants to reduce the environmental impact of ocean liners.
Starting from 2020, ships will only be allowed to use fuel containing maximum 0. 1 percent sulfur in their fuel in certain areas.
However, the higher-quality fuel with less sulfur is more expensive than the heavy fuel oil
Shipping companies are thus facing a major challenge in reducing their fuel costs while complying with the emission guidelines.
A new way of reducing fuel consumption, emissions and bunker expenses is being pursued by the Norwegian engineer Terje Lade,
With Vindskiptm he has designed a type of ship that does not use heavy fuel oil but utilizes wind for propulsion.
and cost-effective propulsion machinery running on liquefied natural gas (LNG). With the combination of wind and liquefied natural gas as an alternative fuel to heavy fuel oil,
the fuel consumption is estimated to be only 60 percent of a reference ship on average. Carbone dioxide emissions are reduced by 80 percent, according to calculations by the Norwegian company.
Weather routing module determines the optimal course For efficient operation, it is critical that the available wind energy is used in the best possible way.
in order to consume as little fuel as possible. As a result costs are reduced. After all, bunker expenses account for the largest part of the total costs in the shipping industry,
Due to its very low fuel consumption, Vindskip#can utilize liquefied natural gas (LNG) as fuel and still be capable in the worst case of 70 days of steaming between bunkering.
it can meet all of today and tomorrow challenges with regards to fuel economy and emission control.
and also improve transmission through the lenslet sandwich they used an optical oil, which allows small motors using a minimal amount of force for the mechanical tracking. he vision is that such a microtracking CPV panel could be placed on a roof in the same space as a traditional solar panel
It has now been published in ature Communicationshollow Fibre Filled with Gasan infrared laser pulse is sent into a hollow fibre filled with gas.
The nonlinear interaction between the light and the gas atoms in the special fibre makes different wavelengths travel at different velocities.
they focused the pulse onto a target of xenon gas ionizing the xenon atoms. Depending on the exact shape of the laser pulse the electrons ripped away from the xenon atoms can be sent into different directions. t is an ultrafast electron switchsays Tadas Balciunas.
multi-rotor UAV (Unmanned aerial vehicle) that uses its own structural elements to store fuel. e realized that the structures of these drones were hollow inside,
fill it with a useful gas, which is hydrogen. Unlike any of the other currently-available drones that can stay in the air for no more than 20 to 30 minutes at a time
In a clever design feature, the Hycopter stores 120 g of hydrogen gas at 350 bar (5, 075 psi) in its existing structural tubing no separate canister is required.
According to HUS, this amount of hydrogen fuel should provide as much energy as 3 kg worth of lithium batteries.
The lightweight lithium-polymer hybrid fuel cell that converts the hydrogen gas into electricity to power the rotors was developed by a sister company,
Researchers hope that as the new HUS Hycopter hits the market later this year (no word on the pricing yet), hydrogen fuel cell technology,
But many of the advances rely on petroleum-based plastics and toxic materials. Yu-Zhong Wang, Fei Song and colleagues wanted to seek a reenerway forward.
CNF offers many benefits over current chip substrates, she says. he advantage of CNF over other polymers is that it a bio-based material and most other polymers are based petroleum polymers.
a senior investigator with NHGRI Translational and Functional genomics Branch and head of the Developmental Genomics Section. hat we have done is to establish an entire pipeline for knocking out many genes and testing their function quickly in a vertebrate
Self-pollinating crops such as rice, wheat and other cereals, soy beans and certain vegetable-derived oils
While biofuels have proven to be an effective, renewable, low-carbon alternative to gasoline and diesel, jet fuels pose unique challenges.
and the BP energy company. ee combined chemical catalysis with life-cycle greenhouse gas modeling to create a new process for producing bio-based aviation fuel as well as automotive lubricant base oils,
a chemical engineer with joint appointments at Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley. he recyclable catalysts we developed are capable of converting sugarcane biomass into a new class of aviation fuel and lubricants with superior cold
The paper is titled ovel pathways for fuels and lubricants from biomass optimized using life-cycle greenhouse gas assessment.
The concentrations of carbon and other greenhouse gases in Earth atmosphere are now at their highest levels in the past three million years, primarily as a result of the burning of petroleum and other fossil fuels.
Biofuels synthesized from the sugars in plant biomass help mitigate climate change. However jet fuels have stringent requirements that must be met. et fuels must be oxygen-free,
have the right boiling point distribution and lubricity, and a very low pour point, meaning the fuel can become gelatinous in the cold temperatures of the stratosphere,
Bell says. iofuel solutions, such as farnesane, mixed directly with petroleum jet fuel have been tested, but offer only modest greenhouse gas reduction benefits.
Ours is the first process to generate true drop in aviation biofuels. Scown cites the Intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC) on the importance of drop in aviation biofuels. n a 2014 report
the IPCC pointed out that drop in biofuels are the only viable alternative to conventional jet fuels,
she says. f we want to reduce our dependence on petroleum, air travel is going to require renewable liquid fuels
because batteries and fuel cells simply aren practical. The process developed at EBI can be used to selectively upgrade alkyl methyl ketones derived from sugarcane biomass into trimer condensates with better than 95-percent yields.
These condensates are deoxygenated then hydro into a new class of cycloalkane compounds that contain a cyclohexane ring and a quaternary carbon atom.
These cycloalkane compounds can be tailored for the production of either jet fuel or automotive lubricant base oils.
Lubricant base oils can produce even more greenhouse gas emissions on a per-mass basis than petroleum-derived fuels
if even a fraction of the lubricant is repurposed as fuel. The ability of the EBI process to yield jet fuel
or lubricants should be a significant advantage for biorefineries. ugarcane biorefineries today produce ethanol, sugar and electricity, says PNAS paper co-author Gokhale, a chemical engineer,
who is managing the research project from BP side. xpanding the product slate to include aviation fuels
and lubricant base oils could allow for operators to manage their market risks better, which is exactly how petrochemical refinery complexes operate today.
Rather than optimize for one product, they try to optimize the overall product slate. Adds Scown,
nother important advantage offered by our process is that it enables refineries to convert a portion of the bagasse,
the fibrous residue that remains after juice is extracted from sugarcane stalk, into fuels and other products.
The rest of the waste biomass can be combusted to produce process heat and electricity to operate the refinery.
This new EBI process for making jet fuel and lubricants could also be used to make diesel
and additives for gasoline as Gokhale explains. ith some minimal modifications to both the catalysts
Although the goal of this study was to develop a strategy for the flexible production of jet fuels and lubricant base oils in a Brazilian sugarcane refinery,
but hold that there still important incentives to encourage investments. ee shown in this study that biorefineries can use inexpensive catalysts to produce a suite of hydrocarbon fuels and lubricants,
biorefineries can also operate without any fossil-derived inputs. o
#Research Simplifies Recycling of Rare-earth Magnets Despite their ubiquity in consumer electronics, rare-earth metals are,
enabling them to dissolve in solvents like benzene or toluene. The dysprosium complexes do not dissolve,
much like the coalescing of oil droplets in water, with the hydrophobic ends pointing inward
including an oil company in Thailand and Japanese heavy-equipment manufacturer IHI Corp. The process has received eight patents
and can log a distance of 148 kilometres on a single tank of gas. The one-third scale prototype is controlled remotely
it is critical that that we continue to develop new antimalarials that act against previously unexploited targets in the parasite to keep priming the drug pipeline.
Anna C. Balazs, Phd, Distinguished Professor of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering and Steven P. Levitan, Phd, John A. Jurenko Professor of Electrical and Computer engineering, integrated models for self-oscillating polymer gels and piezoelectric micro-electric-mechanical systems to devise a new
By working with Dr. Victor V. Yashin, Research Assistant professor of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering and lead author on the paper,
it could give us very good improvement in fuel efficiency Improving fuel efficiency would benefit everyone it would help automotive industry meet new strict regulations for emissions,
However, scientists estimated that fuel efficiency could be improved by as much as 10%,given 50%friction energy conversion efficiency.
and 10%savings in terms of fuel consumption are pretty big leap forward. But, as usual, we will have to wait
and evaluate the antibodies point the way forward, added Jody Berry, the former Director of Pipeline Research of Emergent biosolutions,
current director of pipeline research of Emergent biosolutions. here are multiple filoviruses that threaten our communities, front line medical workers and defense personnel,
professorr Vasily M. Studitsky and his colleagues found that the thread can be repaired without complete unwinding of DNA oils The highly conserved histones play an important role in this process as changes in their structure are rejected by natural selection.
works on growing metal organic frameworks onto cotton samples to create a filtration system capable of capturing toxic gas,
captures harmful gas and weaves transistors into shirts and dresses. otton is one of the most fascinating and misunderstood materials,
can be manipulated at the nano level to build nanoscale cages that are the exact same size as the gas they are trying to capture. e wanted to harness the power of these molecules to absorb gases
It widely utilized in an eclectic collection of fields spanning anthropology, fuel science, physiology and meteorology.
and drove a precise sampling pattern for more than eight hours just above a natural methane seep.
Natural methane seeps play an important but poorly understood role in the ocean ecosystem. The organisms that depend on methane from the seeps play a substantial role
not only in the marine food web but also in altering the quantity of methane released to the ocean surface and, potentially, in the overall chemistry of the ocean.
Scientists lack a clear understanding of how sedentary or slow-moving animals move between the widely separated seeps,
like when you pour oil on a floor. It easier for the grain boundary to move
Sustainable, low-carbon fuel Hydrogen presents a significant opportunity as a sustainable, low-carbon alternative to fossil-based transport fuels.
However, hydrogen is stored typically as a compressed gas in bulky high pressure tanks and these costly storage problems are a barrier to its use as a transport fuel of the future.
reater understanding of how the nanoscale structure of the storage material can influence gas storage capacities is expected to lead to more accurate evaluation methods for existing porous hydrogen storage materials.
Shift in focus These findings open the door to a shift in focus towards pore design with future research looking to exploit storing high density hydrogen in solid materials, rather than as a liquid or a gas q
virtually no methane emissions In addition to a near elimination of greenhouse gases associated with its growth, SUSIBA2 rice produces substantially more grains for a richer food source.
but it also the one of the largest manmade sources of atmospheric methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
Now, with the addition of a single gene, rice can be cultivated to emit virtually no methane from its paddies during growth.
With their warm, waterlogged soils, rice paddies contribute up to 17 percent of global methane emissions, the equivalent of about 100 million tons each year.
methane is about 20 times more effective at trapping heat. SUSIBA2 rice, as the new strain is dubbed,
low-methane rice that could offer a significant and sustainable solution. Researchers created SUSIBA2 rice by introducing a single gene from barley into common rice
resulting in a plant that can better feed its grains, stems and leaves while starving off methane-producing microbes in the soil.
and with colleagues at China Fujian Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Hunan Agricultural University. he need to increase starch content and lower methane emissions from rice production is recognized widely
resulting in even more methane emissions. It an issue that must be addressed. uring photosynthesis, carbon dioxide is absorbed
and convert it to methane. Researchers introduced SUSIBA2 into a common variety of rice and tested its performance against a non-modified version of the same strain.
Over three years of field studies in China, researchers consistently demonstrated that SUSIBA2 delivered increased crop yields and a near elimination of methane emissions f
how to keep milk cold without burning diesel fuel. Theye been selling refrigerators in India for two years;
The dairy collection center in Chetawala, in the state of Rajasthan, estimates that it saves around 40,000 rupees ($628) a month on diesel fuel and reduced milk spoilage since installing a Rapid Milk Chiller
such as a gas sensor, an optical switch, and even to reinforce composite materials to make them stronger.
In addition, late last year, it debuted a 6tb hard disk drive that apparently squeezed six 1tb platters without the need of helium gas like HGST-or any other exotic technologies.
The idea is that instead of making chips from petroleum-based plastic, we'd be able to use cellulose nanofibril-a flexible,
A two-litre petrol engine drives two fans either side of the pilot to lift the jet pack and up to 120kgs of human into the air,
#California forced to respond after new oil spill The US Coast guard and various environmental groups have begun cleanup efforts in the Santa barbara area after an oil pipeline ruptured yesterday morning.
The line, owned by Plains All American Pipeline, contaminated a 4-mile stretch from El Refugio State Beach to El Capitan State Beach with more than 20,000 gallons (500 barrels worth) of crude oil before the leak was stopped in the afternoon.
The cause of the rupture is still unknown, but a representative for Plains All American also told NBC News that the pipeline was inspected in the last two weeks.
Officials evacuated Refugio State Beach shortly after the leak was discovered. A much larger spill that occurred in Santa barbara in 1969 is credited often with galvanizing the environmental movement.
That spill remains the largest in the history of California, and the third largest ever in the US behind the Deepwater horizon and Exxon valdez spills.
The news comes a little more than a week after the Obama administration gave Shell conditional approval to drill for oil in the Arctic ocean, a controversial decision
This summer, United airlines will starting flying planes using fuel derived from farm animal poop and fats.
The effort is an attempt to curb the greenhouse gas emissions produced by burning jet fuel in commercial aircraft.
all of which will contain about 30 percent biofuel. The animal-based propellent is produced by California-based Altair Fuels.
Wee not letting our animal waste go to wastethe initiative doesn stop there. Today, United will announce a $30 million investment in Fulcrum Bioenergy, one of the largest makers of aviation biofuels.
Globally, airlines have been looking at biofuel use for some time, but this marks the biggest ever investment in alternative fuels by a major commercial airline, reports The New york times. Eventually, United plans to integrate biofuels into its entire fleet.
Typical fossil fuels used in aviation are formed from the organic remains of dead plants and animals that have been buried deep within the Earth.
Burning these fuels is great for combustion but it also releases the organic materialscarbon components into the atmosphere,
which wind up trapping heat. Since farm waste and fats have already been exposed to the atmosphere
and have absorbed carbon during their lifetime, burning them does not introduce any extra carbon into the air t
and measure the concentration of carbon dioxide and ethanol molecules being exhaled from the body. These molecules give off a certain wavelength
The sensors will act as a tracking system to measure the ratio of carbon dioxide molecules to ethanol molecules produced by the driver.
If the ratio hits a certain threshold of ethanol to carbon, the car won't start.
including ethanol levels in the tissue. If the levels register as 0. 08%or more, the car won't start.
The machine will only be setup to analyze ethanol levels, and take multiple readings to ensure an accurate conclusion.
#Scientists Invented Bionic Leaf to Convert Solar energy into Liquid fuel Aided by a new technique, a team of researchers has found a way of converting solar energy into liquid fuel.
which can better handle liquid fuels. Harvard researchers have invented a bionic leaf an integrated system, in which sunlight can be used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen.
to form the liquid fuel isopropanol. Researcher Pamela Silver stated his is a proof of concept that you can have a way of harvesting solar energy and storing it in the form of a liquid fuel.
It is a small leaf sized solar device which is submerged in water to produce hydrogen.
June 24, 2015-One of the knocks against hydrogen fuel cells comes from the way we create hydrogen by burning natural gas.
The shift comes amid a downturn in the oil and gas industry as a whole: Oil prices are down to about half of their peak of $100-plus a barrel a year ago.
Both the economic times as well as Surge new focus were apparent recently at the accelerator annual demo day for its fourth class of startups.
oil and gas companies. any corporates have given the feedback that they like to see a ighterand more professional demo day,
Hinting at just how much data is still in the pipeline just to be generated, Intel and Micron executives shared a forecast that the world will generate roughly 44 zettabytes in the next five years.
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