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Plants Paying For Biofuels | Earth Wise

May 7, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Plants can make biofuels cheaper

Biofuels are an important element in broader strategies to replace petroleum in transportation fuels like gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel.  The idea is that biofuels recycle carbon by getting it from growing plants rather than from fossil sources.  The biggest problem with biofuels is that they cost more than conventional petroleum fuels, so there is economic incentive to keep burning the fossil fuels.

One strategy to make biofuels cost competitive is to have the plants provide additional economic benefits beyond being a feedstock for fuel.  This in principle can be done by engineering plants to produce valuable chemical compounds, or bioproducts, as they grow.  Bioproducts include such things as flavoring agents and fragrances as well as biodegradable plastic.  These bioproducts can be extracted from the plants and then the remaining plant material can be converted to fuel. 

Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory recently published a study to determine what quantities of bioproducts plants need to produce to result in cost-effective biofuel production.

The study looked at a compound called limonene, which is used for flavoring and fragrance.  They calculated that if this compound was accumulated at 0.6% of the biomass dry weight, it would offer net economic benefits to biorefineries.  This corresponds to recovering 130 pounds of limonene from 10 tons of sorghum on an acre of land.

Such quantities are completely practical but, on the other hand, none of these substances are needed in huge quantities. Just six refineries could supply the world with limonene.  So, fuel crops would need to be engineered to produce a broad range of bioproducts to enable a viable cost-effective biofuel industry.

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Making Biofuels Cheaper by Putting Plants to Work

Photo, posted September 28, 2019, courtesy of Michele Dorsey Walfred via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

A New Membrane For Converting Carbon Dioxide | Earth Wise

March 24, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Efficiently transforming CO2 into fuel

Methanol is a valuable chemical used as fuel in the production of countless products. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that is produced by countless industrial processes.  Carbon dioxide can be converted into methanol, which is one way all that CO2 can be put to good use instead of causing harm. 

In research recently published in Science, chemical engineers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a process that converts CO2 to methanol in a more efficient way by using a highly effective separation membrane they produced.  

The chemical reaction responsible for the transformation of CO2 into methanol also produces water, which severely restricts the continued reaction. The Rensselaer team has found a way to filter out the water as the reaction is happening, without losing other essential gas molecules. 

They produced a membrane made up of sodium ions and zeolite crystals that was able to carefully and quickly permeate water through small pores — known as water-conduction nanochannels — without losing gas molecules. The sodium ions effectively only allow water to go through. When water was effectively removed from the process, the team found that the chemical reaction was able to happen very quickly. By removing the water, the equilibrium shifts, which means more CO2 will be converted and more methanol will be produced.  

The team is now working to develop a scalable process and a startup company that would allow this membrane to be used commercially to produce high purity methanol.  This membrane could also be used to improve a number of other reactions. 

In industry there are many reactions limited by water and this RPI membrane could be an important enhancement for many of them. 

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Water-Conducting Membrane Allows Carbon Dioxide To Transform into Fuel More Efficiently

Photo courtesy of RPI.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Saving Costs And Reducing Emissions From Shipping | Earth Wise

March 2, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Reducing freight costs and greenhouse gas emissions

International shipping is a large and growing source of greenhouse gas emissions.  Maritime transport produces about a billion tons of CO2 annually, accounting for about 2.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions.  The environmental impact of shipping includes air pollution, water pollution, and even acoustic pollution.  In many coastal areas, ships are responsible for more than 18% of some air pollutants.  Overall, there are more than 100,000 transport ships at sea, of which about 6,000 are large container ships.

In recent years, the shipping sector has had both internal willingness and external pressure to reduce emissions, but shipping is a tough, competitive business and it isn’t easy to stay competitive and help protect the environment.

A recent study at Abo Akademi University in Finland has found that improved ship utilization rates and investments in environmentally sustainable technologies for enhanced energy efficiency would significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions.  Of equal importance, those same measures would contribute to lowering of freight costs.

If the same cargo volume can be shipped using less fuel, shipping companies will gain major savings in terms of fuel costs.  Digitalization can provide valuable benefits.  For example, new digital planning and booking systems would enable smarter use of routes while also diminishing traffic with half-empty vessels or even ones with no cargo aboard.  Reducing such underutilization would improve the capacity utilization rate and eliminate emissions caused by so-called ballast traffic.

Global shipping continues to grow.  It is essential that it becomes smarter and more efficient to protect the environment and improve its economics.

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Environmentally friendly shipping helps to reduce freight costs

Photo, posted February 18, 2016, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Jet Fuel From Acetone | Earth Wise

February 25, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Greening Jet Fuel

Acetone is a common organic solvent.  It is used to make plastic, fibers, drugs, and other chemicals.  It is commonly used by consumers as nail polish remover.  Acetone is a manufactured chemical, but it is also found naturally in the environment in plants, among other places. There are now companies that produce acetone entirely by fermentation of plant feedstocks, such as corn.

Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory have now developed a process by which acetone can be converted into a fuel additive that can improve the performance of petroleum-based jet fuel, providing both environmental and economic benefits.

The process takes biomass-derived acetone and converts it to isophorone, which they produce by a process called photochemical cycloaddition that creates more complex hydrocarbons.  They then use ultraviolet light to convert the isophorone into cyclobutane, which is a type of hydrocarbon with high energy density that is suitable for aviation fuel applications.

Acetone itself is quite volatile and is unsuitable for fuel applications.  It also cannot be added directly to any fuel supply since it can dissolve engine parts and o-rings.  Cyclobutane, on the other hand, is a safer and more energy-dense fuel that can be a replacement for additives that require high-pressure hydrogen treatment in their synthesis.  Currently, most hydrogen is produced by a process that generates carbon dioxide.  The new conversion process does not result in carbon emissions.

According to the Los Alamos researchers, their process can result in a domestically generated product that will provide environmental benefits, create domestic jobs, improve U.S. energy security, and further U.S. global leadership in bioenergy technologies.

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Acetone plus light creates a green jet fuel additive

Photo, posted December 18, 2007, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Conspicuous Consumption

February 6, 2020 By EarthWise 2 Comments

human consumption and the circular economy

Human civilization consumes vast amounts of material.   The Circle Economy think tank actually puts some numbers on it.  According to their latest report, the amount of material consumed by humanity has passed 100 billion tons every year.  So, on average, every person on Earth uses more than 13 tons of materials per year.

That number has quadrupled since 1970, which is far faster than the population, which has only doubled during that time.  In the past two years alone, consumption has jumped by more than 8%.  While this has been going on, the proportion being recycled has been falling.

Of the 100 billion tons of materials, half of the total is sand, clay, gravel, and cement used for building, along with other minerals used for fertilizer.  Coal, oil and gas make up 15% and metal ores 10%. The final quarter are plants and trees used for food and fuel.  About 40% of all materials are turned into housing.  A third of the annual materials consumed remain in use, such as in buildings or vehicles.  But 15% is emitted into the atmosphere as greenhouse gases and a third is treated as waste.

The global emergencies of climate change and disappearing wildlife have been driven by the unsustainable extraction of fossil fuels, metals, building materials, and trees.  The authors of the report warn that if we continue to treat the world’s resources as limitless, we are heading for a global disaster.

The Circle Economy think tank promotes the idea of a circular economy in which renewable energy supports systems where waste and pollution are reduced to zero.  Some nations are taking steps towards circular economies, while others are not.  This is a problem we can’t allow to be unaddressed.

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World Consumes 100 Billion Tons of Materials Every Year, Report Finds

Photo, posted March 13, 2015, courtesy of Joyce Cory via Flickr.

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Extreme Heat From Solar Power | Earth Wise

January 23, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Renewable sources are playing a growing role in meeting our energy needs, but one place where they have continued to fall short is in industrial processes that require extreme heat.  These include the cement, steel, and glass industries, among others.  These industries account for a significant amount of CO2 emissions because the most effective way to reach the necessary temperatures continues to be combustion of fossil fuels.  The cement industry alone accounts for 7% of global emissions and the need for cement continues to grow.

A previously stealthy startup company backed by Bill Gates and fellow billionaire Soon-Shiong has made a breakthrough in the area of using solar energy to achieve high temperatures.  The company, called Heliogen, has created a solar oven that is capable of generating heat above 1800 degrees Fahrenheit, which is enough for high-temperature industrial processes.

The Heliogen technology uses concentrated solar power to generate heat.  Concentrated solar power uses arrays of mirrors to reflect sunlight and focus it to a single point.  That technology is not new;  there are systems that use it to produce electricity and, to some extent, heat for industry.  But it could not achieve high enough temperatures for producing cement or steel.

The new system uses computer vision software, automatic edge detection and other sophisticated technologies to focus the sun’s rays far more finely than ever before and thereby generate far higher temperatures at the focal point.

Heliogen is now focused on demonstrating how the technology can be used in a large-scale application, such as cement-making.  The selling points to industry are that not only will there be no emissions generated, but that the fuel needed to obtain their extreme heat will be free.

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Secretive energy startup backed by Bill Gates achieves solar breakthrough

Photo courtesy of Heliogen.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Floating Solar Fuel Farms

September 20, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Limiting global warming will require a massive reduction in CO2 emissions from fossil fuel burning.  Renewable energy sources are playing a growing role in the power grid and electric cars are becoming increasingly popular.  Despite all this, carbon-based liquid fuels will continue to dominate our energy use for the foreseeable future.

Researchers in Norway and Switzerland have described a potential scheme that would help remove CO2 from the atmosphere and produce a valuable liquid fuel.

The idea is to create floating islands containing large numbers of solar panels that convert carbon dioxide in seawater into methanol, which can fuel airplanes and trucks.

A combination of largely existing technologies would be the basis of these floating islands, which would be similar to present-day floating fish farms.  The researchers envision clusters each composed of 70 circular solar panels that in total cover an area of roughly half a square mile.  The solar panels would produce electricity, which would split water molecules and isolate hydrogen.  The hydrogen would then react with carbon dioxide pulled from seawater to produce usable methanol.

The technology already exists to build the floating methanol islands on a large scale in areas of the ocean free from large waves and extreme weather.  Suitable locations are off the coasts of South America, North Australia, the Arabian Gulf, and Southeast Asia.

A single floating solar farm could produce more than 15,000 tons of methanol a year – enough to fuel a Boeing 737 airliner for more than 300 round-trip flights across the country.  Floating energy islands would not be a magic bullet for limiting the effects of climate change, but they could well be an important part of an overall strategy.

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Giant Floating Solar Farms Could Make Fuel and Help Solve the Climate Crisis, Says Study

Photo courtesy of PNAS.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Powering Cars With Cactus Juice

June 24, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Back in 2016, a company called Nopalimex, located in Micoacan, central Mexico, built the world’s first cactus-powered energy plant.  The facility utilizes a biodigester to make biogas from nopal, also known as prickly pear cactus.  The nopal plant has been called the ‘Green Gold of Mexico’ and is a staple in Mexican diets, medicine and cosmetics.

Nopalimex is now using the cactus to make biofuel for vehicles.

The fruit of the cactus is pureed, mixed with manure, and then left to decompose, producing methane.  The methane produced – about eight tons a day – fuels the biodigester which powers the company’s corn chip and cactus chip production and is being tested in a fleet of government vehicles.

The biogas will cost just 65 cents per liter, which is about a third cheaper than the cost of regular gasoline.  Using prickly pear as a feedstock for biofuel is attractive because it can be grown in places where traditional energy crops cannot.  One can imagine vast fields of cacti in remote, arid areas of the country where normal crops cannot grow.  It would not suck up the resources or space needed to feed people, which is an ongoing criticism of current bioenergy crops.

As long as the nopals are regularly replanted, the process is almost entirely sustainable, producing only water and nopal waste, which can be used to fertilize other crops.

Finding sustainable ways to produce fuel while doing minimal damage to the environment is an important challenge for countries around the world.  In Mexico, harnessing the power of the prickly pear cactus is a unique and clever solution.

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Mexico’s ‘green gold’: The company powering cars with cactus juice

Photo, posted July 8, 2006, courtesy of Christian Frausto Bernal via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Our Growing Appetite For Energy

June 13, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Energy consumption in the United States set a record high in 2018.  Overall, energy consumption reached 101.2 quadrillion BTUs or quads last year, breaking the previous record of 101.0 set in 2007.  Most of us are not too familiar with quadrillions of anything, nor with BTUs for that matter.  If it is any more illuminating, 101 quads are the equivalent of about 300 billion kilowatt hours.  Our energy use increased by 3.6% from 2017, which was the largest annual increase since 2010.

Wind, solar, and natural gas provided the largest increases in energy supply.  In 2018, solar and wind energy were both up by 0.18 quads, representing a 22% gain for solar and a 7.5% increase for wind.  Over the past ten years, overall renewable energy has doubled in the U.S., with wind increasing by a factor of 5 since 2008 and solar by an amazing factor of 48. 

Natural gas generation increased by 10.7%, or a total of 3 quads over the previous year.   The growth in natural gas use isn’t good news, but since much of it represents replacing coal, it at least corresponds to reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

The unfortunate part of our energy consumption is that the majority of it is still in the form of “rejected energy”.  It most often takes the form of waste heat, such as the warm exhaust from automobiles and furnaces.  The efficiency of our cars, lightbulbs and factories determines how much waste heat is produced and in turn how much fuel and electricity can be put to productive use.

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US energy consumption hits record high in 2018, solar/wind/natural gas grow

Photo, posted April 27, 2015, courtesy of Mathias Appel via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

The World’s Largest Storage Battery

May 24, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Many homeowners are installing solar energy systems with battery backup.  Energy stored in the battery can be used when the sun isn’t shining.   As battery prices come down, utility-scale solar installations are also turning to battery-based energy storage.

Florida Power & Light has announced plans to build the world’s largest solar-storage combination facility in Manatee County.  The 409-MW Manatee Energy Storage Center will be the largest solar-battery system by a factor of four.  The specifics of the technology and source of the battery system components have yet to be announced.

The system, which is scheduled to be completed in late 2021, will be charged by a nearby FPL solar power plant.  The plan is to discharge batteries during times of higher demand, thereby offsetting the need to run other power plants.  As a result, there will be reduced emissions and customers will save as much as $100 million through avoided fuel costs.

Installing the mega-sized battery system will accelerate the retirements of two nearby 1970’s-era gas-fired generation units.  At peak efficiency, the Manatee energy storage system will be able to power 390,000 homes for up to two hours.

FPL has already been pursuing the use of battery storage technology.  Last year, they added a 10 MW battery storage system to its 74.5 MW Babcock Ranch Solar Energy Center in Charlotte County.

These large battery systems are increasingly practical because of dramatic reductions in lithium-ion battery costs.  The levelized cost of electricity from lithium-ion batteries has declined a remarkable 38% just since the beginning of 2018.  The economics of clean energy continue to get better and better.

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FP&L Plans World’s Largest Energy Storage Battery To Support Its Renewable Energy Goals

Photo, posted April 21, 2010, courtesy of Frank Starmer via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Deepwater Impacts Lingering

May 10, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

On April 20, 2010, an explosion on the BP-owned Deepwater Horizon drilling rig released an estimated 210 million of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.  Some of the oil was recovered, burned, or dispersed at sea, while some washed up onto coastal shorelines. 

Now, more than nine years later, a long-term study suggests the oil is still affecting the salt marshes of the Gulf Coast.  A multi-institutional research team began sampling in the region once the spill was contained and continue their work to this day.

The researchers found that heavily-oiled marsh areas remained less healthy than less polluted sites more than six years after the spill.  They fear that complete recovery of these oil-soaked regions will likely take more than a decade. 

But the researchers also discovered that salt marsh grasses play a key role in coastal wetland recovery.  Two plants dominate healthy salt marshes in the Gulf: smooth cordgrass and black needlerush.  Single-celled, plant-like organisms known as benthic microalgae also abound in healthy salt marshes, as do many small invertebrates. 

In heavily-oiled areas, the researchers found that nearly all the plants died, and benthic microalgae and small invertebrate populations declined significantly.  Importantly, however, they also found that it was only after smooth cordgrass started its comeback in these areas that invertebrate populations began to recover.  They noted that these salt marsh grasses provide habitat, bind soil, slow water, facilitate colonization, and fuel the food web. 

Plants are the foundation of and play a crucial role in salt marshes.  The researchers hope these findings will help shape the mitigation strategies of any future oil spills. 

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Continuing impacts of Deepwater Horizon oil spill

Photo, posted April 21, 2010, courtesy of Deepwater Horizon Response via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

California Fires And Precipitation

April 11, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Two things we have heard a lot about in recent years have been the persistent drought in California and the terrible wildfires the state has experienced.  Along the way, the state has had some pretty wet and snowy winters.  This past winter, the California snow pack has seen incredible levels building up, which is great news for the state’s farmers.  But does that also mean that the next year should see some relief from severe wildfires?

The answer appears to be no.  A new study from an international team that includes the University of Arizona has comprehensively looked at the amount of winter precipitation in California and the severity of the subsequent wildfire season. 

The position of the North Pacific jetstream over California is strongly linked to the amount of winter precipitation.  This has been true for hundreds of years and continues to be the case.

From 1600 to 1903, the linkage between winter precipitation and wildfire severity was also very strong.  But after 1904, that connection weakened.  As a result, fire suppression policies were instituted.  When fires arose, they were put out as quickly as possible.  The result over time is fuel buildup, making larger fires far more likely.

According to the new study, after 1977, the connection between winter precipitation and wildfire severity disappeared entirely.  There no longer appears to be any relationship between jet stream dynamics and fire.  The warming climate and the results of fire suppression dominate the potential for wildfire.  California’s wet winter of 2016-2017 provides a good example.  That winter was followed by many large fires in 2017.

So, this very wet winter in California does not imply that this should be a year without severe wildfires.

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Wildfire Risk in California No Longer Coupled to Winter Precipitation

Photo, posted July 26, 2018, courtesy of Bureau of Land Management California via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Liquid Fuel From The Sun

February 21, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Most forms of energy we use ultimately come from the sun in one way or another.  Even fossil fuels are the end product of millions of years of plant life that captured solar energy.  The advantage fossil fuels have over direct solar power is that they are, in fact, fuels and therefore can be stored for use when needed.

Scientists in Sweden have now developed a specialized fluid that absorbs some of the sun’s energy, holds it for months or even years, and then releases it when needed.  This solar thermal fuel is like a rechargeable battery for heat rather than electricity.

The special fluid is pumped through transparent tubes where ultraviolet light from the sun excites its molecules into an energized state.  A compound called norbornadiene is converted into quadricyclane. The quadricyclane is a quite stable substance until it is passed over a cobalt-based catalyst, which causes it to turn back into norbornadiene and release copious amounts of heat.

Such a solar thermal fuel could be stored in uninsulated tanks in homes or factories or piped or trucked to where it was needed.  It could then be used for water heaters, dishwashers, or clothes driers.  The room temperature fluid quickly warms to about 183 degrees when passed over the catalyst, plenty warm enough for heating a home or office.  Both the fuel and the catalyst are damaged very little by the reactions, so the process can be recycled many times.

There is much development work needed to optimize shelf life, energy density, good recyclability and other properties before this technology can be commercialized but there are at least 15 groups around the world now studying this intriguing way to get liquid fuel from the sun.

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Scientists transform sunlight into a liquid fuel that can be stored for 18 years

Photo, posted August 17, 2009, courtesy of Hiromichi Torihara via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Can Germany Meet Its Energy Goals?

February 4, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Germany has been a global leader in efforts to decarbonize its massive economy.  A national initiative known as Energiewende – or clean energy transition – has been in place since 2010 and relies heavily on renewable energy sources, energy efficiency, and energy demand management.

The program has involved some of the most aggressive deployment of renewable energy sources in the world.  Germany was the first country to install 1 GW of solar energy and still has the 5th largest amount of solar power in the world despite actually being a country with fairly limited sunshine.  Germany has nearly 30,000 wind turbines, most of which are onshore, unlike many other countries in northern Europe.  Over the past five years, government support and cost to consumers for the shift to clean energy have totaled over $180 billion.

However, despite these efforts, Germany’s greenhouse gas emissions have not declined as rapidly as expected, even though nearly 40% of the country’s electricity now comes from renewable sources.

This lack of expected success comes as a shock to the environmentally conscious German population, nearly 90% of which supports the program.

There are two major problems Germany faces.  One is that Germany is Europe’s largest producer of coal, which still generates more than a third of the country’s power.  The other is that Germany’s large auto industry is still married to gas- and diesel-fueled cars and emissions from the country’s cars are a big problem.

The Energiewende program was driven by political will and investment certainty.  It is unclear whether Germany can muster these forces again.  The Merkel government has dragged its feet on environmental issues in recent years.  It remains to be seen what effect shifting political power in Germany will have.

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Carbon Crossroads: Can Germany Revive Its Stalled Energy Transition?

Photo, posted August 15, 2011, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

A New Way to Make Hydrogen

January 31, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Many people consider hydrogen to be the fuel of the future, both for powering vehicles and for storing energy generated by renewable sources.   Hydrogen itself is a clean and green fuel.  Generating energy from it using fuel cells results in only water as a byproduct.

The biggest problem with hydrogen is that the most economical way to produce it and therefore the way most hydrogen is produced today, is by reforming natural gas, which is a process that generates carbon emissions.

The desirable way to make hydrogen is to produce it by breaking apart water into its hydrogen and oxygen components, a process known as electrolysis.   There are many ways to do it, but none of them to date measures up in terms of efficiency, cost, and longevity.

Researchers at the University of Toronto have recently developed a new catalyst that uses abundant, low-cost elements to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen.  The catalyst is made from copper, nickel, and chromium, all of which are more abundant and less costly than platinum, which is the usual electrolysis catalyst.

The new catalyst performs well under pH-neutral conditions, which means it could even work on seawater without incurring the expense of desalination.  The Toronto researchers also believe their catalyst could be used as part of a process to make hydrocarbon fuels from hydrogen and CO22.  Their group is among the five finalists in the Carbon XPrize competition, which has a grand prize of $7.5 million for finding a way to convert waste CO2 into fuel.

Finding a low-cost, energy-efficient, and reliable way to make hydrogen out of water will be a big deal if it can be done on an industrial scale.

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Web Links

U of T researchers discover low-cost way to produce hydrogen from water

Photo, posted July 23, 2015, courtesy of Magnus Johansson via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Solar Plus Storage In The Caribbean

November 22, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/EW-11-22-18-Solar-Plus-Storage-in-Caribbean.mp3

The Caribbean is home to nearly 30 island nations and more than 7,000 individual islands with a combined population of around 40 million.  All of the islands are susceptible to disasters such as hurricanes that can leave residents without electrical power for extended periods of time.

[Read more…] about Solar Plus Storage In The Caribbean

Fumes From Gas Stations

November 15, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/EW-11-15-18-Fumes-from-Gas-Stations.mp3

A study by environmental health scientists at Columbia University examined the release of vapors from gas station vent pipes and found that emissions were 10 times higher than the estimates used to establish setback regulations that determine how close schools, playgrounds, and parks can be to the facilities.

[Read more…] about Fumes From Gas Stations

Turning Plastic Waste Into Green Energy

November 14, 2018 By EarthWise 1 Comment

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/EW-11-14-18-Turning-Plastic-Waste-into-Green-Energy.mp3

In the Back to the Future movies, the DeLorean time machine ran on garbage.  We aren’t any closer to building time machines, but it might soon be practical to produce fuel from garbage.

[Read more…] about Turning Plastic Waste Into Green Energy

Electric Buses On The Rise

November 2, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/EW-11-02-18-Electric-Buses-on-the-Rise.mp3

Electric buses are replacing conventional diesel-fueled buses at an accelerating rate that is outpacing the adoption of battery-powered cars.  According to forecasts by Bloomberg New Energy Finance, by 2030 some 28% of car sales will be electric vehicles while 84% of new buses will be electric buses.  So far, some 12 years away, the actual adoption of electric buses is outpacing this optimistic projection.

[Read more…] about Electric Buses On The Rise

Hydrogen Powered Cars

October 31, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/EW-10-31-18-Hydrogen-Powered-Cars.mp3

Hydrogen-powered cars are trying to make inroads in the rapidly-evolving automobile market. Several major automakers – including Hyundai, Toyota and Honda continue to invest heavily in the technology while selling a limited number of cars around the world.

[Read more…] about Hydrogen Powered Cars

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