Interesting engineering news and general interest to get you through the week. » Latest Engineering News » Environmental and Life CycleEnvironmental and Life Cycle No-one will deny that the environment is an important factor to consider when doing anything these days. Engineers are the ones largely coming up with the solutions.
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Clipped to the Drawing Board by Administrator
If the ‘progressives’ get their way on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, it will be ordinary Americans who suffer, says John Entine
Let’s call it the black box syndrome: making revolutionary changes or new products without any real handle on what has actually been created or the potential impact. No-one really knew what the risks were when the wizards of Wall Street launched the inscrutable credit products that led to the current financial bubble that is now imploding, rocking the world economy.
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Monday 19 May, 2008 07:47 AM |
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Clipped to the Drawing Board by Administrator
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Did you know Trivia - Scientists at Bangor University are trying to copy the way that leaves create energy.
As leaves, nature's most efficient form of solar energy production, are bursting into view all around us, the Bangor scientists are investigating whether it is possible to replicate plant life's ability to turn sunlight into energy.
The Bangor team, led by Dr Peter Holliman from the School of Chemistry, are set to begin a feasibility study into 'biosolar energy', or harnessing the sun's energy potential. using the same methods as used by plant-life- photosynthesis in newly designed solar cells. click this link to read more
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Friday 16 May, 2008 08:31 AM |
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Clipped to the Drawing Board by Sean
Renewable energy is a hot topic these days, given soaring gasoline prices and discussions of how production of ethanol, now primarily a home-grown, cornstarch product, can be boosted to reduce the nation's reliance on imported oil.
more stories like this
One way to do that, industry specialists say, is to develop ethanol based on cellulose, or glucose units found on plants' cell walls. And that's exactly the goal of Agrivida Inc., a small five-year-old Medford company that is researching the use of corn husks and leaves for the ethanol process.
"Instead of using corn kernels, or the conventional process, we're taking the husks and leaves to create sugar which, when mixed with yeast, will yield ethanol," Michael Raab, a cofounder and chief executive of Agrivida, said during an interview recently in the company's 6,500-square-foot quarters.
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Friday 16 May, 2008 02:25 AM |
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Clipped to the Drawing Board by Administrator
Furfural-etc is a third biofuel which is directly useable in diesel engines. Furfural and related materials have been commercially produced since 1922, initially by Quaker Oats. It is used as a solvent and for manufacture of speciality chemicals, largely used for plastics and binders. A recent price for furfural imports from China is $700/Mg, or about $2.24/USgal. Furfural-etc can be produced from agricultural residues, not the food quality materials such as are used in biodiesel and fuel ethanol. The “-etc” is associated with the name because there are several similar furan (an oxygenated five-membered aromatic ring) compounds which can be produced, many of which can be used as diesel fuel.
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Tuesday 13 May, 2008 02:36 AM |
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Clipped to the Drawing Board by Adam Crighton
The looming global food crisis appears to vindicate the Government's conviction that food security is best guaranteed when ownership of the means of production is in the hands of the majority and not a few individuals and multinational companies.
....click the link to read more
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Wednesday 7 May, 2008 06:04 PM |
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Clipped to the Drawing Board by George Tan
COSTA RICA, Brazil – The other side of ethanol, vilified as a cause of soaring food prices and hunger, can be seen in Brazil, where farmers are pushing down energy costs – both at the pump and the electricity meter.
Twenty thousand acres of sugar cane are sprouting through the red soil around this small town, destined for fuel tanks across the world. It's the start of a $2.7 billion ethanol project put together by Brazil Renewable Energy Co., or Brenco, a private venture financed by U.S. and Brazilian investors.
....click the link to read more
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Wednesday 7 May, 2008 02:23 AM |
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Clipped to the Drawing Board by Susan Decker
BOSTON--Water is the new oil --a resource where demand continues to rise but supply is limited.
Experts at the Ceres Conference here on Tuesday focused on the risks to businesses and communities that the "global water crisis" poses, one with economic, environmental, and human health impacts. Ceres is a network of environmentally oriented investors.
Availability of fresh water has long been a concern for countries that are water stressed. But water is a tangible concern to more parties, including corporations which are integrating water into their climate change strategies.
A nuclear power plant in Tennessee was derated last year because of a drought in the region. In another case, a huge brewery was shut down because of a lack of available water.
....click the link to read more
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Thursday 1 May, 2008 06:23 AM |
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Clipped to the Drawing Board by jackson Browne
CORAL GABLES, Florida - It sounds like something out of a householder's fantasy - walls covered with self-cleaning paint that repels dirt and grime.
But this new kind of paint is a reality now being tested on the walls of research lab at the University of Miami College of Engineering. The experimental initiative is designed to fit into the university’s commitment towards environmental sustainability on campus.
Dr. James Giancaspro, an assistant professor at the department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering has applied the innovative product on the walls of his lab, where undergraduate and graduate students work.
....click the link to read more
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Wednesday 30 April, 2008 10:08 AM |
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Clipped to the Drawing Board by Ali Hamoud
Now that green is not just a color but also an environmentally conscious way of living and doing business, there is a growing need for classes that incorporate "green" knowledge. The Johns Hopkins Engineering and Applied Science Programs for Professionals are responding to that need.
"The environmental and conservation movement is revitalized, with a new strategy focused on finding innovative solutions for the most pressing ecological challenges," said Allan Bjerkaas, EPP associate dean. "Most of the 'green' technology is in the early stages, which presents practically unlimited opportunities for scientists and engineers to create systems that use energy more efficiently. Companies' desire to incorporate this new knowledge into their operations fits the EPP paradigm to provide students with a relevant, cutting-edge education."
A number of EPP instructors are actively engaged in research related to the sustainability of vital human ecological support systems, and they're sharing what they've learned about "green" technology with students.
....click the link to read more
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Tuesday 29 April, 2008 10:02 PM |
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Clipped to the Drawing Board by Susan Decker
IN 1916, automotive giant Henry Ford was a whisker away from financing an enormous engineering pioneer project in the Bay of Fundy. The project would have generated enough electricity to light up the entire Maritimes and make Nova Scotia a world leader as a tidal power pioneer.
Ford was just about "ready to sign on the dotted line, but at the last moment he drew back," Dr. William L. Archibald used to relate. Archibald was secretary and a founder of the Cape Split Development Company, which formed early in 1916 to assess establishing a tidal power project in the Bay of Fundy. As chief fundraiser, Archibald had sought out Ford when only a handful of local supporters stepped up to invest in the project.
....click the link to read more
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Tuesday 29 April, 2008 10:45 AM |
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Clipped to the Drawing Board by Sean
Proposals to cool Earth by injecting the atmosphere with sulfate particles would deplete the ozone layer and have "perilous effects" on the planet , according to a paper to be published Friday.
As concerns grow over climate change and global warming, large-scale efforts to alter the planet's climate through geoengineering are being taken seriously by academics.
....click the link to read more
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Sunday 27 April, 2008 10:18 PM |
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Clipped to the Drawing Board by Ryan
Earth Day is celebrated once a year — in this year's case, April 22 — but University of Wisconsin-Madison civil and environmental engineering students are working to create plans that offer sustainable benefits for years to come.
UW-Madison civil and environmental engineering professor Mike Oliva advises CEE-649, a popular, semester-long special topics course in which ten handpicked students assess the structural engineering of current projects in the community.
"We're working on a lot of sustainability ideas and there are no classes offered in sustainable design, so we're doing things that aren't even taught in class," says Oliva. "We have two projects right now. The class splits and chooses which they prefer."
....click this link to read more
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Wednesday 23 April, 2008 10:16 AM |
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Clipped to the Drawing Board by Adam Crighton
This week sees the start of another of those green initiatives that set out to meet the environmentalists’ demands to force engineers to “do something about climate change”. As from today, under something called the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO), transport fuels sold in the UK have to contain 2.5 per cent biofuel.
Just two weeks before it was due to come into effect, and after companies had committed themselves to spending billions to meet the RTFO, Greenpeace, aroused by reports of shippers wanting to grab at US subsidies by shipping biofuels to and fro across the Atlantic, suddenly decided that it didn’t like the idea.
....click this link to read more
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Friday 18 April, 2008 06:08 PM |
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Clipped to the Drawing Board by Ali Hamoud
Many Texans are cutting back on gasoline. They're taking small steps, like going to the store less often, and big ones like trading in their gas guzzlers. It added up to lower per capita gasoline usage during the winter, although consumption surged in March.
....click this link to read more
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Monday 14 April, 2008 06:09 AM |
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Clipped to the Drawing Board by Adam Crighton
Awareness of the need to save energy and safeguard natural resources has grown markedly over the last decade as scientific evidence of climate change and its potential consequences has permeated the popular imagination. This has led the world into a frenzy of engineering activity in a bid to find solutions, to ensure a ‘brighter’ future, without entirely undermining the lifestyle benefits that have accompanied economic progress and development.
....click the link to read more
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Friday 11 April, 2008 06:06 PM |
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Clipped to the Drawing Board by Yan Chu
PNC Bank is leading the way when it comes to green building with a total of 46 green branches and three green corporate branches. A local example is a branch at 960 Schechter Drive, Wilkes-Barre Township, near the Wachovia Arena.
Peter Danchak, president of PNC Bank’s Northeastern Pennsylvania region, commends the bank’s decision to build a “Green Branch.”
“It’s a quiet thing, but we’re very proud because we’re a leader among companies in the U.S.,” he said. “It’s good for the employees, the costumers and the environment.”
....click the link to read more
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Tuesday 8 April, 2008 06:06 AM |
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Clipped to the Drawing Board by Ali Hamoud
Energy companies are planning to revive a polluting engineering technology developed by the Nazis to replace dwindling supplies of oil with synthetic fuels derived from coal.
Senior industry figures told a high-level conference in Paris this week that coal-to-liquids (CTL) technology could fuel cars and aircraft for decades to come.
Green campaigners reacted with alarm because the process produces twice as much greenhouse gas as using oil. Supporters say much of the carbon pollution could be captured and stored underground, and that the synthetic fuel burns cleaner than conventional diesel.
....click the link to read more
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Sunday 6 April, 2008 06:05 AM |
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Clipped to the Drawing Board by Susan Decker
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You cannot look into the eyes of a child who is dying from a disease caused by drinking dirty water -- something that rarely, if ever, happens in the United States -- and not feel changed. You cannot stand before her parents without thinking, "I'm an engineer. There must be something I can do." ....click the link to read more
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Friday 28 March, 2008 02:08 PM |
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Clipped to the Drawing Board by Administrator
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EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – EU leaders have just agreed to try and get legislation on the bloc's ambitious green targets approved by early next year but criticism about the role of biofuels as part of the pollution-reducing engineering measures has been growing.
The increasing debate about whether EU support for the production of biofuels – it wants them to account for 10 percent of fuel for transport by 2020 - would actually contribute to environmental damage as well as pushing up world food prices is being conducted globally. ....click the link to read more
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Thursday 27 March, 2008 06:09 PM |
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Clipped to the Drawing Board by Administrator
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WASHINGTON, March 24 The United States and Bahrain signed a deal Monday on peaceful nuclear energy cooperation, holding it up as a model for the Middle East that contrasts with Iran's disputed atomic program.
The memorandum of understanding (MOU) on nuclear energy cooperation was signed by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her Bahraini counterpart Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa during a ceremony at the State Department.
The two top diplomats shook hands without delivering any remarks to journalists. ....click the link to read more
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Wednesday 26 March, 2008 10:09 AM |
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Clipped to the Drawing Board by Administrator
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To prevent rain over the roofless 91,000-seat Olympic stadium that Beijing natives have nicknamed the Bird's Nest, the city's branch of the national Weather Modification Office--itself a department of the larger China Meteorological Administration --has prepared a three-stage engineered program for the 2008 Olympics this August. ....click the link to read more
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Tuesday 25 March, 2008 10:21 PM |
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