Just a few articles back, Marina talked about plastics and some of its perennial issues with recycling. A new breakthrough promises to end all those ecological headaches. If new research is to be believed, boffins at IBM may have developed a process that does away with the petroleum based process for plastics. Instead, the new technology uses plants as the mother source.

Plastics derived from plants have one game turning advantage – they can be made biodegradable. Chandrasekhar “Spike” Narayan, a manager of science and technology at IBM’s Almaden Research Center in Northern California said that the plastics will not only be biodegradable but the entire manufacturing process will be energy efficient.

According to Narayan,

“Plant plastics for things such as car parts could be made at lower costs than petroleum-based plastics while materials of soda bottle quality are ‘competitive’.”

IBM said – “This discovery and new approach using organic catalysts could lead to well-defined, biodegradable molecules made from renewable resources in an environmentally responsible way.”

If the new process can be translated to industrials scale, it could usher in an era of sustainability and permanently do away with the problem of choking landfills.

The new age process uses organic catalysts that can be repeatedly recycled. Petroleum based plastics, on the other hand, use metal oxide catalysts which are single use and the whole plastic manufacturing process is a polluting nightmare.

The far reaching effects of biological plastics could be in medicine. Made bio-compatible, they can be used for precision drug delivery.

What is lending credence to the discovery is IBM’s involvement. The innovation has come out from their labs and now one of the world’s biggest technological behemoths is working with scientists at King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia to put the discovery to work, especially in the recycling of plastics used in food and beverage containers.

This new breakthrough could be very fortuitous for the much hammered plastic industry too. It may allow them to go on with just a change in process. And we can continue to enjoy the advantages of this versatile product without any of the eco-sensitive consequences.

In order to recycle plastics, you have to have some knowledge about the types of plastics and which ones you can even recycle. If you don’t have much experience recycling plastics or are unsure of which ones can go in your curbside bin, this overview of plastics by the numbers can be your guide.

Most plastics have a number imprinted inside of a recycling triangle, usually at the bottom of the product, which actually tells you quite a bit about the plastic. These resin identification codes are used to label different types of plastics, and your local recycling center or curbside pick up will only take certain numbers. Below are plastics one through seven so you can do more reducing, reusing and recycling.

Plastic No. 1
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) are clear plastic bottles that often hold water. Because of the material, it’s best to use these bottles only once. It’s easy for bacteria to grow inside these bottles, and if you put hot water in them, you can degrade the plastic and ingest harmful materials.

Plastic No. 2
High-density polyethylene (HDPE) is commonly recycled, and you will find products such as milk, juice and yogurt in these types of containers.

Plastic No. 3
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) has more limitations when it comes to recycling, especially PVC pipe. This material is used in binders/notebooks, eating utensils, upholstery and more. Food wrappers that contain PVC are known to leach harmful chemicals that can disrupt a human’s hormones.

Plastic No. 4
Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) is a plastic found in grocery and bread bags. Although LDPE is commonly recycled, it’s best to check with your specific recycler.

Plastic No. 5
Polypropylene (PP) is usually turned into margarine tubs, straws and prescription bottles.

Plastic No. 6
Polystyrene (PS) is found in foam plastic cups and other containers of this sort. This plastic poses a health concern, because the carcinogenic styrene can leach into liquids.

Plastic No. 7
This category includes more than one type of plastic (polycarbonate [PC], polyactic acid [PLA] and other miscellaneous plastics. PLA is derived from corn, so instead of recycling it, you can compost it. This is the most confusing category of plastics, and it will depend on your recycler as to whether or not they will accept these.

Sundrop Fuels, a Louisville, CO, -based company has developed a method of using concentrated solar power to heat the biomass to 1200 or 1300 ºC, and even produce syngas more efficiently than the standard technology, which uses only 30 to 35 percent of the biomass.

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Biofuels are a hot topic when discussing alternative fuel methods. Many nations have biofuels readily available for use in vehicles. Many airlines have also taken to using, or at least experimenting with, biofuels. Many argue, however, that the use of biofuels causes valuable farm land to be used for fuel crops instead of food.

Not only does using a food crop for fuel potentially limit the amount of land available for consumer food crops, it also has been criticized as detrimental to the environment. However, many wish to see biofuels produced from the waste of crops like corn, not the corn itself. This is called cellulosic ethanol and the process to create it is known and used, but expensive.

The current way in which to produce cellulosic ethanol often involves enzymes which are expensive. However, a more cost-effective way of producing the ethanol may have been discovered by a duo of researchers at the University of Wisconsin. The researchers, Joseph B. Binder and Ronald T. Raines, have discovered a process using salt with a low melting point, alongside water and acids, in order to produce cellulosic ethanol.

The researchers have indicated that their method does not yet meet the amount of ethanol produced using the enzyme method, however it is quite close. They have indicated that with further research the sugar produced should equal that of the more expensive method. Their total findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal.

Nanoscience is quite fascinated with the process of photosynthesis. They want to duplicate this process exhibited by green plants and utilize the solar power for energy use. Till now power generating solar panels are not in a position to replace the fossil fuels. They produce little amount of energy and quite expensive also. Generation [...]
Posted in: Biofuels, Inventions, Solar Power

People tend to think electric cars will be more expensive and unaffordable than their petrol/diesel relatives. Furthermore, people usually expect high maintenance costs, because of the batteries.

Eat Less Nutrient-poor Foods

In keeping with your healthy diet, one thing that should be limited is your intake of nutrient-poor foods. Such foods and beverages are high in calories but low in nutrients, and they are a waste of plastic, paper and other resources. They often contain saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol and sodium—ingredients detrimental to your heart health. Your daily food choices can be made simpler by paying close attention to the Nutrition Facts panel, which will tell you how much nutrients each food or beverage contains. Just remember that changing your poor eating habits can significantly lower your chances of developing heart disease in the future.

Here are a few recommendations to help you make good food choices:

• Choose meats and poultry that are lean and prepare them without skin or added saturated and trans fat.
• Replace high-fat dairy products for their fat-free and low-fat counterparts.
• Limit your intake of foods containing hydrogenated vegetable oils found in margarine, fast food, fried food, etc., because this will help reduce trans fat in your diet.
• Stay away from trans fats found in processed and refined foods and prepare your meals with fresh ingredients instead.
• Minimize the amount of sugar-filled foods and beverages you consume, such as cakes, cookies, candy, soda, etc., because excess sugar eventually becomes fat in the body.
• Try keeping your carbohydrate intake (pasta, potatoes, bread, etc.) at a minimum, since excess carbohydrates stimulate the production of triglycerides (fat)—one of the indicators of heart disease.
• Make it a goal to reduce the amount of foods you eat that are high in dietary cholesterol—less than 300 milligrams of cholesterol each day is a good rule of thumb.
• Choose and prepare foods with little or no salt, because you should be consuming less than 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day. Try replacing salt with other flavors, such as freshly ground black pepper, garlic, crushed red pepper, etc.
• Consciously consider your portion sizes each time you eat, especially when dining out.

Lead a Healthy Lifestyle

Also following these guidelines in your every day life can help too:

• Stop smoking and avoid being in situations where you are exposed to second-hand smoke.
• Limit your intake of alcohol. Alcohol depletes your body of vitamins and minerals.
• Try to reduce stress and anxiety in your life. High levels of both may lead to high blood pressure and other health conditions.

Becoming more in touch with the types of foods and beverages you put into your body will make you more in sync with the environment and eco-friendly farming practices.

Usually, plastic bottles, (aka PETs) are recycled by mechanical technologies, and they get several other uses afterwards: carpets, sweaters, etc. They don't ever return to their original water bottle use.It is possible to chemically recycle PETs, but the method has been so far very expensive and the industry doesn't want that option.

The traditional way of determining a country’s greenhouse gas emissions involves taking into account all of their industries, car pollutants and various other means of  generating emissions. When determined in this manner, China is the top emissions producer in the world, having surpassed the United States some years ago. However, a new study is pointing to imports being a large contributor to a country’s emissions, emissions that are not counted towards the country that is importing.

Researchers based in the United States recently published their study on importing emissions in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal. The researchers determined emissions by studying global trade databases. The products used in a particular country were then counted towards that country’s emission levels, not the country that produced the products.

China, the current world leader in emissions, actually exports almost a quarter of the emissions they generate to western nations. In total, 22.5 percent of the emissions China produces each year are produced for products that are exported. Of this percentage, 7.8 percent is exported to the United States.

The United States, however, was not the country importing the greatest portion of emissions. France, Sweden, Switzerland and Austria import about a third of their emissions when determined in the manner of this study. Overall, European Union residents produce about 10 tons of carbon dioxide each year per resident. When this study is taken into account, the emissions increase to about 14 tons of carbon dioxide each year per resident.

This study supports many who claim the current emissions determination methods are inaccurate and benefit the rich nations of the world. The researchers of this study believe the richer nations should have a larger part in reducing emissions. However, there are those that feel the production of these exports benefit the country which is producing them and therefore they should be responsible for the generated emissions.