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More efficient cooling for data centers

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Increasing reliance on digital technologies in general and artificial intelligence in particular are dramatically increasing the energy consumption of data centers.  Data centers consume far more energy per square foot than other commercial buildings.  By the year 2030, data center energy consumption in the US is projected to reach 9% of the country’s electricity generation. 

Computing hardware consumes large amounts of energy and generates large amounts of heat in the process.  Currently, cooling the equipment so it doesn’t burn out accounts for as much as 40% of a data center’s total energy use. 

Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a new cooling technology that could significantly improve the energy efficiency of data centers.  The technology makes use of a specially engineered fiber membrane that passively removes heat through evaporation.

The membrane has a network of tiny, interconnected pores that draw cooling liquid across the membrane surface using capillary action.  As the liquid evaporates, it removes heat from the electronics underneath.  No extra energy is required.

Tests of the membrane demonstrated record-breaking performance in removing heat from electronics and being able to withstand very high levels of heat flux.

The researchers say that the technology is still operating well below its theoretical limit, and with additional work, can lead to optimized performance.  The membranes will be integrated into cold plates, which are components that attach to power-hungry computing components to dissipate heat.  The team is also launching a startup company to commercialize the new cooling technology.

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New Cooling Tech Could Curb Data Centers’ Rising Energy Demands

Photo, posted January 23, 2023, courtesy of Jefferson Lab via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

A biostimulant for wheat

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Feeding a global population projected to reach nearly 10 billion by mid-century is a massive challenge.  Wheat provides a fifth of the calories in the global human diet and is a significant source of protein, minerals, vitamins, and fiber.  Finding ways to increase the yield of wheat crops has great value.  However, wheat has complex genetics, which makes it difficult to improve yields by traditional breeding methods or even by genetic engineering.

Researchers at Oxford University and the nearby Rosalind Franklin Institute have developed a biostimulant that can deliver increased wheat yields of up to 12%.  It is applied as a spray and a four-year study in Argentina and Mexico demonstrated that it delivers major yield improvements irrespective of weather conditions.

The biostimulant is based on trehalose 6-phosphate (T6P), which is a natural molecule that regulates the plant equivalent of blood sugar.  T6P prompts plants to produce more starch and increases the rate of photosynthesis.

Naturally occurring T6P cannot be applied topically because it cannot cross cell membranes.  The researchers developed a membrane-permeable precursor of T6P that releases T6P into a plant in the presence of sunlight.

The biostimulant can be manufactured on an industrial scale and would be inexpensive to use. 

The researchers have created SugaROx, a spinout company whose mission is “to increase the productivity, resilience, sustainability, and profitability of crop production” using active ingredients inspired by powerful natural plant molecules.

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New biostimulant treatment significantly boosts wheat yields, field studies confirm

Photo, posted July 28, 2014, courtesy of Brad Higham via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Storing carbon in buildings

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According to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Davis and Stanford University, construction materials used in buildings have the potential to lock away billions of tons of carbon dioxide.  The study, published in Science, shows that storing CO2 in buildings could be a major contributor to efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Overall efforts in carbon sequestration take carbon dioxide – either as it’s being produced or once it’s already in the atmosphere – and store it away.  Storing it might involve injecting it into underground caverns or deep in the ocean.  Alternatively, storing it might involve converting it into a stable form using chemical reactions.  These various strategies involve both practical challenges and potential environmental risks.

The new study suggests that many materials that are already produced in large quantities have the potential to store carbon dioxide.  These include concrete, asphalt, plastics, wood, and brick.  More than 30 billion tons of these materials are produced worldwide every year.

Ways to accomplish carbon storage include adding biochar into concrete, using artificial rocks loaded with carbon as concrete and asphalt aggregates, plastic and asphalt binders based on biomass instead of petroleum, and including biomass fiber into bricks. 

The largest potential is using carbonated aggregates to make concrete.  Concrete is by far the world’s most popular building material with more than 20 billion tons being produced each year.

The feedstocks for these ways to store carbon in building materials are mostly low-value waste materials, so the economics of implementing these carbon sequestering strategies are likely to be quite favorable.

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Storing Carbon in Buildings Could Help Address Climate Change

Photo, posted October 19, 2022, courtesy of Alexandre Prevot via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Reducing methane from cattle

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Livestock is responsible for almost 15% of global greenhouse gas emissions.  Most of that is in the form of methane that cattle release when they burp.  Grazing cattle produce more methane than feedlot cattle or dairy cows because they eat more fiber from grass.  There are 9 million dairy cows in the U.S. but more than 64 million beef cattle.

Beef cattle spend most of their lives grazing in pastures and producing methane.  Controlling the food of pasture-raised cattle is difficult because they often graze far from ranches for extended periods of time.  During the winter and during times when grass is scarce, ranchers supplement the diet of cattle.

A new study by researchers at the University of California – Davis has found that feeding grazing cattle a seaweed supplement in pellet form reduced their methane emissions by nearly 40% without affecting their health or weight.  There have been previous studies that showed seaweed cut methane emissions by 82% in feedlot cattle and over 50% in dairy cows.  But this is the first study to test the effects of seaweed on grazing beef cattle.

The seaweed pellets were made available to grazing cattle and they ate the supplement voluntarily.  Compared to a group of cattle who didn’t receive the supplements, the seaweed eaters had a 40% reduction in methane emissions.

Other research studies to reduce methane emissions using feed additives have taken place in controlled environments with daily supplements.  This method provides a way to make a seaweed supplement easily available to grazing animals.  It could even be introduced through a lick block for cattle.

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Feeding Grazing Cattle Seaweed Cuts Methane Emissions by Almost 40%

Photo, posted February 18, 2016, courtesy of Beverly Moseley/NRCS via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

A Food For The Future | Earth Wise

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Researchers predict that climate change will negatively impact most staple food crops, including rice, corn, and soybeans.  Therefore, climate resilient food crops – those that are salt, drought, and heat resilient – will have an important role to play in global food security.  Examples of climate resilient crops include quinoa, kernza, amaranth, millet, and tepary beans.    

According to a new study by researchers from Northwestern University, breadfruit – a starchy tree fruit native to the Pacific Islands – will be relatively unaffected by climate change.  Because breadfruit is climate resilient and well-suited to grow in regions with high levels of food insecurity, the research team suggests breadfruit could be a part of the solution to global hunger.

While it has ”fruit” in its name, breadfruit is more like a potato.  It’s starchy and seedless, and is closely related to jackfruit.  Breadfruit is nutrient-rich, and high in fiber, vitamins, and minerals.  It can be steamed, roasted, fried, fermented, and even turned into flour.  People in tropical regions around the world have been eating breadfruit for thousands of years. 

In the study, which was recently published in the journal PLOS Climate, researchers determined the climate conditions necessary to cultivate breadfruit and then looked at how these conditions are predicted to change in the future.  They examined two future climate scenarios: one that reflects high greenhouse-gas emissions and another in which emissions stabilize.

In both scenarios, the regions suitable for breadfruit cultivation were mostly unaffected.  Additionally, the researchers identified new suitable land where breadfruit cultivation could expand.   

As the climate continues to change, breadfruit might soon be on a table near you.

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Climate-resilient breadfruit might be the food of the future

Photo, posted August 11, 2007, courtesy of Malcolm Manners via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Tepary Beans | Earth Wise

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Tepary beans are an ancient crop native to the northern part of Mexico and the southwestern part of the U.S..  They have been grown in those places by native peoples since pre-Columbian times.  They are still grown in Native American reservations in Arizona’s Sonoran Desert.  One can purchase them from some small farms in that region. 

What sets tepary beans apart from other beans is that they are among the most drought- and heat-tolerant legume crops in the world.  They can be grown without irrigation under conditions that are not viable for other crops.  They can be consumed by people like many other kinds of beans, and they can also provide forage for livestock with better nutrition content than many other plants.  They seem to be a very attractive option for a crop in the changing climate.  What is lacking, at present, is large supplies of tepary seeds to be planted.

Researchers at Texas A&M have been funded to bring tepary beans into modern cropping systems and diets.  The goal is to develop tepary bean cultivars with high biomass and yield that are still well-suited to drought and heat conditions.  Getting the beans to the point of widespread commercialization will take several years.  The end result should be of interest to pulse growers, seed industries, and food companies across the U.S.

Tepary beans are higher in fiber and protein than most other beans.  They come in several different colors, each of which has unique flavor and texture characteristics.  The white ones have a naturally sweet flavor.   The brown beans are slightly nutty in flavor and are similar to pinto beans.  If the Texas program is successful, we may all be eating tepary beans some day.

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Tepary Beans Offer Producers A Low-Input, Climate-Resilient Legume Alternative

Photo, posted August 25, 2017, courtesy of Katja Schulz via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

What Is Healthy Soil? | Earth Wise

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Soil supports life by providing many critical ecosystem services.  For example, soil acts as a water filter, a growing medium, and provides habitat for billions of organisms.  Soil is also the foundation of our cities and towns, and the basis of global agroecosystems, which provide humans with feed, fiber, food, and fuel.

For all of these reasons and many more, having healthy soil is vital.  But what does soil health mean? And how should it be measured?

According to new analysis by researchers from Cranfield University and Nottingham University in the U.K., how we think about, measure, and study soil must change in order to better understand how to manage this resource effectively. 

While the term ‘soil health’ is widely used, it means different things to different people.  There is no single agreed upon way to gauge the overall health of soil. 

Current approaches to assess soil health measure individual soil properties and use findings  to assign a single number giving an overall score.  But according to the research team, this does not reflect the wider system perspective that’s needed to fully evaluate the health of soil over time.

Instead, the researchers propose a new system to assess soil health based on a hierarchical framework that takes in several measures, including signs of life, signs of function, signs of complexity, and signs of emergence, which is the extent to which soils recover from multiple stressors. 

This new approach, which can be applied to all soils, moves us closer to an interdisciplinary understanding of the whole picture of soil health.  After all, healthy soil is fundamental to our survival.

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We need to change how we think about soil

Photo, posted April 8, 2008, courtesy of Brian Boucheron via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Car Parts From Agricultural Waste

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A new bio-composite material made from date palm fiber biomass could be used to produce sustainable, lightweight and low-cost parts for the automobile and marine industries.

A team of researchers from the UK has developed a date palm fiber polycaprolactone composite that is completely biodegradable, renewable,sustainable and recyclable, in contrast to synthetic composite materials reinforced by glass and carbon fibers. The team tested the mechanical properties of the material and found that it achieved better low-velocity impact resistance than traditional man-made composites.

The idea would be to use the material in non-structural auto parts such as car bumpers and door linings.   The result would be to reduce the weight of vehicles, contributing to less fuel consumption and lower emissions.  The new material can be produced using less energy than glass and carbon fibers and is biodegradable and therefore easier to recycle.

Date palm fibers are one of the most available natural fibers in many parts of the world.  The trees produce a large quantity of agricultural waste, which is mostly burned or land-filled,causing serious environmental problems.

Convincing industry to use a new class of materials such as natural-fiber reinforced composites is challenging.  First it is necessary to obtain consistent,reliable properties from the material. Then the industries need to work closely with the developers to test the materials and convince themselves of the viability of using them.  The team, led by researchers at the University of Portsmouth, has been working with industry to test the viability of parts made from a variety of other sustainable materials as well including flax, hemp, and jute.  Someday, our cars may have bumpers made from agricultural waste.

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Agricultural waste drives us closer to greener transport

Photo, posted October 27, 2017, courtesy of David Stanley via Flickr. 

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Plant Protein On The Rise

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The United Nations declared 2016 to be the International Year of Pulses.  Pulses, which are also known as grain legumes, are a group of 12 crops that includes dry beans, dry peas, chickpeas and lentils.  They are high in protein as well as fiber and various vitamins.  Pulse crops are highly sustainable and require much less water than many other food crops.  So there is a real effort underway to promote their production as part of improving food security around the world.

[Read more…] about Plant Protein On The Rise

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