Archive for the ‘sustainability’ category: Page 565
Dec 27, 2016
The colossal African solar farm that could power Europe
Posted by Lily Graca in categories: solar power, sustainability
Good Morning, People of the Page. Thanks to fellow writer Bruce P. Grether for this story about solar power. And also, thank you, Bruce, for all your wonderful posts to the page, especially in the last few days…the posts you’ve been making in your travels. Much appreciated.
Dec 25, 2016
China Wants to Build a $50 Trillion Global Wind & Solar Power Grid by 2050
Posted by Montie Adkins in categories: climatology, solar power, sustainability
In Brief The company that is tasked with running China’s power grid just proposed a $50 trillion global electricity network to help us tackle pollution and climate change.
It seems that China likes building big things. Take the Great Wall of China. The country has been constructing bigger (and sometimes better) things than the rest of the world for centuries.
Now, the Chinese are at it again, but this time it’s on a global scale. China wants to build a $50+ trillion power grid. For the entire world. And they want to have it in operation by 2050. Talk about ambitious.
Continue reading “China Wants to Build a $50 Trillion Global Wind & Solar Power Grid by 2050” »
Dec 21, 2016
Artificial leaf could make a medicinal mini-factory
Posted by Shane Hinshaw in categories: biotech/medical, drones, internet, sustainability
Leaves are kind of like nature’s power plants, converting incoming sunlight into energy for the plant to thrive on. Inspired by the real thing, scientists have previously created artificial leaves that function in much the same way as their natural counterparts to produce electricity and even liquid fuels. Now a team at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) is using a similar system to produce chemicals, which could one day lead to solar-powered “mini-factories” that can produce drugs, pesticides and other chemicals almost anywhere.
To mimic the light-capturing molecules in leaves, the researchers turned to luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs), materials seen in solar-harvesting window technology and used to catch and amplify laser beams carrying data in Facebook’s drone-mounted internet projec t. These LSCs absorb incoming light, convert it to specific wavelengths and then guide the photons to the edges of the device.
Continue reading “Artificial leaf could make a medicinal mini-factory” »
Dec 21, 2016
China Dominates Solar Energy
Posted by Karen Hurst in categories: solar power, sustainability
(Credit: (Photo by Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)) China is currently domiating in terms of Solar Energy and in here you will find out how they manage their solar industry.
December 21
Dec 21, 2016
Molecular Velcro boosts microalgae’s potential in biofuel, industrial applications
Posted by Karen Hurst in categories: biological, solar power, sustainability
Michigan State University scientists have engineered “molecular Velcro” into to cyanobacteria, boosting this microalgae’s biofuel viability as well as its potential for other research.
The findings, featured in the current issue of ACS Synthetic Biology, show how MSU researchers have designed a surface display system to attach cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, to yeast and other surfaces. The proof-of-concept may improve the efficiency of harvesting algae as well as open avenues to improve the construction of artificial microbial communities for sustainable biofuel production or other industrial projects.
“Inadequate cyanobacterial toolkits limited our ability to come up with biological solutions,” said Derek Fedeson, MSU graduate student and the study’s co-lead author. “So, we wanted to add another tool to the toolbox to expand the capacity of these bacteria, which can harness solar energy for the production of useful compounds.”
Dec 21, 2016
How graphene quantum dots can convert carbon dioxide into liquid fuels
Posted by Karen Hurst in categories: climatology, quantum physics, sustainability
Researchers used nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots to convert carbon dioxide into liquid hydrocarbons like ethylene and ethanol for use as fuel.
The wonder material known as graphene may have a new trick up its sleeve: converting carbon dioxide into liquid fuels. A team of researchers at Rich University in Texas used nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots (NGQDs) as a catalyst in electrochemical reactions that create ethylene and ethanol, and the stability and efficiency of the material is close to common electrocatalysts such as copper.
In the fight to slow climate change, reducing the amount of carbon dioxide that enters the atmosphere is crucial, and plenty of research is looking into how we can capture carbon at the source, using clay, engineered bacteria, metal-organic frameworks, or materials like the “Memzyme” and sequester it into rock and concrete. Other studies are focusing on converting the captured carbon into liquid hydrocarbons, which can be used as fuel.
Continue reading “How graphene quantum dots can convert carbon dioxide into liquid fuels” »
Dec 18, 2016
Reactor that produces liquid fuel from CO2 in the air to be tested in portable pilot plant
Posted by Andreas Matt in category: sustainability
Interesting…
A transportable chemical reactor developed at Germany’s Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and spinoff company Ineratec that uses solar power to convert CO2 from the air and regenerative hydrogen from electrolysis into liquid fuels will be tested in a pilot plant.
Dec 13, 2016
Two electrons go on a quantum walk and end up in a qudit: Russian scientists find a way to reliably connect quantum elements
Posted by Karen Hurst in categories: biotech/medical, computing, nanotechnology, particle physics, quantum physics, solar power, sustainability
This is a BIG DEAL in QC, and Russian Scientists solved it.
Abstract: Scientists from the Institute of Physics and Technology of the Russian Academy of Sciences and MIPT have let two electrons loose in a system of quantum dots to create a quantum computer memory cell of a higher dimension than a qubit (a quantum bit). In their study published in Scientific Reports, the researchers demonstrate for the first time how quantum walks of several electrons can help to implement quantum computation.
“By studying the system with two electrons, we solved the problems faced in the general case of two identical interacting particles. This paves the way toward compact high-level quantum structures,” comments Leonid Fedichkin, Expert at the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vice-Director for Science at NIX (a Russian computer company), and Associate Professor at MIPT’s Department of Theoretical Physics.
Dec 13, 2016
America’s first 3D printed houses
Posted by Klaus Baldauf in categories: 3D printing, habitats, sustainability
The U.S may soon have 3D printed homes, and a new partnership are claiming they will be created in just one day. Construction company Sunconomy have teamed up with Russian 3D printers Apis Cor and their 3D concrete printer and realize this ambition. Larry Haines, founder of Sunconomy, wants the public to join them on a “revolutionary journey to build affordable, smart, sustainable housing with Apis Cor’s new 3D concrete printer “. Sunconomy are currently crowd-funding for this project with a goal of over $500,000.