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Breaking Down Crab Shells Could Improve Solar Technology
Posted On: March 2, 2012At Kyoto University in Japan, researches have found an interesting composite that might just meet these requirements in an unlikely place — a crab shell. A crab shell was put through a number of different chemical washes and was broken down into a material called chitin. The chitin is combined with a resin to create the desired compound. This material can then be formed into a flexible sheet that could have applications in solar panels, improving the efficiency of the technology. Researchers also believe that this chitin/resin material could also have many applications within the electronics community.
The chitin/resin panel is not only flexible, allowing for, well, flexibility in the use of these panels, but it maintains its efficiency, even when hot. The traditional composite currently used in most panels has been shown to lose well over half its conductivity when heated to a certain temperature. The chitin/resin panel can withstand far higher temperatures without any reduction in efficiency.
Newcastle University scientists work on using marine bacteria to produce electricity
Posted On: February 22, 2012How to find and exploit new sources of energy for our power-hungry society is something which has been bugging experts for decades.
Now scientists at Newcastle University are working on how to harness bacteria to produce electricity.
And some of the microbes in the study are Bacillus stratosphericus – commonly found in high concentrations in the stratosphere orbiting the Earth with the satellites.
They are a key component of a bacteria “designer” slime which has been created at the university.
The scientists tested each of 75 bacteria species found in sediment from the estuary of the River Wear – including the space bugs which were also discovered to be present in the sample.
Their aim was to select the top 10 electricity-producing bacteria and allow them to grow and colonise an electrode. The experiment involving a microbial fuel cell (MFC) resulted in a doubling of electrical output by using the best-performing bugs.
The study is being led by Professor Keith Scott, of the university’s School of Chemical Engineering and Advanced Materials, and Grant Burgess, Professor of Marine Biotechnology.
OECD Global Forum on Biotechnology: Marine Biotechnology Enabling Solution for Ocean Productivity and Sustainability (Vancouver, Canada, 30-31 May 2012)
Posted On: February 20, 2012The OECD, in partnership with Genome Canada, Genome British Columbia, Genome Atlantic, Health Canada, The Research Council of Norway, the Norwegian Ministry of Trade and Industry, and the Korean Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs, will host a major conference on marine biotechnology on 30-31 May 2012 at the Wosk Centre for Dialogue in Vancouver, Canada. This conference will review opportunities for marine biotechnology and look at how to realise these opportunities.
This event is the first time the OECD has taken a systematic look at what marine biotechnology can contribute to the grand challenges of food and fuel security, population health, green growth and sustainable industries. The event will increase awareness among policymakers about potential of the marine environment which may be realised through marine biotechnology. Those areas where policy may be able to influence positive the translation of marine biotechnology to economic benefit and environmental sustainability will also be discussed. Participants will have an opportunity to contribute to discussions and identification of areas which would benefit from further work.
University of Toronto student gets financial boost for top spot in a national automotive R&D competition utilizing marine-derived Chitin
Posted On: February 3, 2012A new biodegradable material made from shrimp and crab shells that can replace petroleum-based plastics used in auto components helped a University of Toronto student win a national automotive competition. Aaron Guan, a master of science student, won the AUTO21 TestDRIVE competition, receiving a $10,000 scholarship for his work on recyclable, lightweight, polymeric nanocomposites.
Shrimp and crab shell fibres called chitin nanowhiskers form the base of this new material, which would allow automotive components to meet strict environmental standards without compromising vehicle safety. This material has a much higher strength-to-weight ratio compared to conventional plastics used in most automotive components, and provides higher mechanical strength without aesthetic flaws or deformation at lower densities.
Due to the composite nature of the material, mechanical properties can easily be engineered to suit various strength, stiffness and weight requirements simply by varying the combination of chitin nanowhisker and polymer content. The material is also completely renewable and sustainable as chitin nanowhiskers are derived from the waste of the fishing industry.
Algae-based fuels a growing business in New Mexico
Posted On: January 22, 2012Sapphire Energy Inc., which uses a proprietary process to turn algae oil into renewable gasoline to replace fossil fuels at the pump, broke ground last June on a 300-acre commercial demonstration facility in Columbus.
In Hobbs, in the heart of southeast New Mexico’s oil patch, Massachusetts-based Joule Unlimited Inc. broke ground this fall on a five-acre site that will use concentrating-solar biorefineries to extract ethanol and diesel from bacteria in salt-water mixed with carbon dioxide.
Maersk Tests Algae-Based Biofuel in Cargo Voyage to India
Posted On: December 27, 2011Maersk is testing a range of algae-based biofuel blends aboard a container ship headed to India as part of a project with the U.S. Navy.
Maersk, based in Denmark, has worked with the Navy for about 30 years. However, the biofuels testing program is the first partnership between the world’s largest commercial container carrier and the Navy’s Naval Sea Systems Command.
Both the Navy and the Maersk Line, which is part of the A.P. Moller – Maersk Group, are on a mission to reduce the environmental impacts of their operations at sea and on land.
Turning algae into energy gets Halifax company on award shortlist
Posted On: December 27, 2011A Halifax biotechnology company is hoping green slime will help its business take flight.
Marine Arctic & Antarctic Technologies Inc. is one of 10 startups that made the shortlist of the Nova Scotia Clean Tech Open, Innovacorp announced Wednesday.
The competition’s goal is to assist a clean technology company in getting established in the province.
Marine Arctic & Antarctic Technologies is developing technology to mass produce micro-algae for use in biofuel and other products.
“It’s like slop,” CEO Mather Carscallen said of the raw material during an interview.
“Some of it smells bad. Some of it doesn’t. It’s pretty much every different smell, shape, colour you could ever imagine.”
The algae would be incubated in a bioreactor that could vary in size and designed to be cost effective, he said.
A more profitable use for fish waste
Posted On: December 6, 2011The majority of fish waste is turned into fishmeal or fish oil. But what if there was a way for processors to earn three to four times more money from selling their fish waste?
Gurry Investments, a Boston-based investment firm established in 2000, is using its technology to produce organic fertilizer using waste from farmed fish. The company, working with fertilizer producer Multi Bloom and Mega Green, which is owned by Consolidated Catfish of Isola, Miss., uses a hydrolysis process. The skin and bones are removed from filleted fish, leaving the protein. The offal is ground into a slurry form, processed and separated in a three-stage centrifuge. The result is a product with 10 percent high quality fish oil and 4 percent sediment, which is used as ground cover, hydrolysate or organic fertilizer.
According to Carl Reetz, president of Gurry Investments, using fish waste for organic fertilizer instead of fishmeal or fish oil can benefit both processors and the seafood industry as a whole.
Acetate from chitin suggested as an economically viable source for bioethanol
Posted On: December 6, 2011In a Viewpoint published in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology, Adão Montel of the Universidade Federal do Tocantins in Brazil suggests that the production of acetate from chitin may be a path to economically viable bioethanol.
Both current methods of producing bioethanol, reducing carbon dioxide or the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose or lignocellulose, are onerous. In this context, the acetate-to-ethanol reduction has shown to be a promising source of economically viable bioethanol. Many works consider that obtaining ethanol from acetate would be excessively onerous due to the cost of separating acetate present in wastewaters.
There is, however, an abundant natural source of acetate that has been neglected in this discussion: chitin. Acetate is abundantly present in chitin, the second most abundant natural polymer in nature (by cellulose only). The obtention of acetate from chitin can take place in a simple way, through the alkaline or acidic hydrolysis of this polymer.
GC Rieber Oils utilizes fish oil for biodiesel
Posted On: November 8, 2011GC Rieber Oils currently possesses two plants in Kristiansund, Norway, where they refine fish oils into omega-3 oils. All processes in the refineries are driven by steam. Until recently, fuel oil from fossil fuel has been used in the steam boiler to create steam. GC Rieber Oils has found a more environmentally friendly replacement for the fuel oil.
When producing omega-3 concentrates, all omega-3-fatty acids are preserved. In fish oil there is also a rather large amount of saturated fat which from a nutritional point of view, is not interesting for further production. Using distillation, these saturated fats are being separated from the process. The waste of fatty acids can be used as biodiesel and replace today’s fuel oil. The Norwegian Climate and Pollution Agency has approved our replacement of fuel oil with self-produced biodiesel.
Biodiesel from fish oils is a renewable resource, and even though the emission of CO2 will be the same, it will be CO2 neutral in the cycle considering the accounting/final statement of greenhouse gasses.
GC Rieber Oils is expecting a reduction of fuel oil of approximately 25% in 2011. Our target is a 100% replacement of fuel oil.
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