As part of the country's growing emphasis on green tech research, Brazilian scientists have developed plastic solar panels that could revolutionise power generation from this clean, renewable energy source.
Fields with more wild pollinators produced more fruit. Honeybees also raised fruit production, but only in 14 per cent of cases. Farmland should include habitat for wild insects.
The biorefinery comprises a solar power system that generates the energy needed to cultivate macroalgae in about 30 hectares of ponds. The major growth in demand for liquid fuel in the next 20 years will take place in developing countries, the researchers say, and developing countries can manufacture this relatively low-tech and efficient system.
Concrete is one of the most extensively used materials worldwide — on average, more than two tons per year of the rock-like stuff is produced for every man, woman and child on Earth, making its use second only to water. And that vast amount of new concrete is responsible for somewhere between 5 and 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, making it a significant target for improvements.
On May 12, 2009, Cleveland State University hoisted its first wind tower amplification system to the rooftop of its Plant Services Building located at the corner of Chester Ave. and E. 24th Street.The system, designed by Dr. Majid Rashidi of CSU’s Fenn College of Engineering, is a wind deflecting structure with small-scale turbines that can generate power at low wind speeds.“The operating principle of this system is based on air velocity amplification,” Dr. Rashidi explains. “When air or any fluid flows onto and around a structure, the flow stream lines assume a velocity profile according to the shape of the structure. As a result, the flow velocity may be amplified at certain locations near the structure.
Slow-moving ocean and river currents could be a new, reliable and affordable alternative energy source. A University of Michigan engineer has made a machine that works like a fish to turn potentially destructive vibrations in fluid flows into clean, renewable power.
The requirement to precisely and efficiently inject ethanol as a gasoline fuel blend led a refinery management company to install an in-line process pump equipped with the PumpSmart's control system from ITT Goulds Pumps unit – allowing a constant pressure to be maintained throughout the injection process.
Wastewater treatment is a biological process, which means it uses bugs, or bacteria, to do all the work. The bugs feed on the waste matter and need oxygen to survive. Too little oxygen or too little food and the bugs begin to stress and become less effective. Too much food leads to too many bugs, which overloads the system. These crucial variable can be controlled by automation.
EPDM and Butyl membranes will keep the city of Hamburg dry. The latest project to improve the security of the city’s dike system is a runway for the Airbus A-380 aircraft facility that will be secured with membranes.
From concept to initial sale, ITT's Sanitaire launched an entirely new technology for treating wastewater in only 18 months. Municipal and industrial customers, especially in water-scarce regions, wanted a more efficient system for cleaning wastewater to use for irrigation or process water, or to discharge into streams with zero harm to the ecosystem.
Vetiver grass (Chrysopogon zizanioides L.) is a perennial, tropical/sub tropical grass that has been used extensively world wide for soil erosion and sediment control and steep slope stabilisation for the last 20 years. Recently vetiver has also been used successfully for mine site rehabilitation in Australia, China, Latin America and South Africa, including stabilisation of steep slopes associated with bunds, tailings dams, and revegetation of mine tailings. Important attributes of vetiver grass are highly tolerant to: 1) Extreme acidity, alkalinity, sodicity, salinity and climatic conditions; 2) Very high levels of heavy metals, pollutants and nutrients; 3) It is sterile and has no potential to become a weed.
The tidal action of the seas of the world is influenced by the rotation of the earth and the gravitational influence of the moon. There is enough energy in the world’s tidal activity to provide electricity to the planet if there is a way to harness it all.
TORESA has six modules: Geophysics, Hydrogeological Modeling, Processing of Satellite Images, Chemical and Mineral Identification; Environmental Soundings and Risk Assessment. The results are included in a Geographic Information System (GIS), which will provide future plans for environmental mine management. The results are presented as a digital data base on the Environmental Mining Management website (GAM).
Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) is the most serious environmental problem facing the Canadian Mineral Industry today. Acid Mine Drainage results from oxidation of sulphide minerals (e.g. pyrite or pyrrhotite) contained in mine waste or mine tailings. It is characterised by acid effluents rich in heavy metals that are released into the environment. A new acid remediation technology is presented in this paper by which metallurgical residues from the aluminium extraction industry are used to construct permeable reactive barriers (PRB) to treat acid mine effluents
This paper describes column tests performed to simulate a PRB constructed using BauxsolTM, a chemically and physically treated bauxite refinery residue, as a reactive material. This experimentation shows promising results in neutralizing pH and removing metals from acidic mine effluents.
