Waste-to-Energy

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Clemson University, Clemson, SC, has established the first program to train engineers to recycle and reprocess medical devices. Medical device reprocessing was identified as a core component of green technology, so in response, the university’s Biomedical Engineering Innovation Campus (CUBEInC) established its Medical Device Recycling and Reprocessing Certificate Program. Reprocessing is the cleaning and sterilization of single-use medical devices by FDA-regulated, third-party companies. Hospitals can buy them for half the cost of original devices, allowing them to save on supply costs and divert medical waste from landfills.
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OKW Enclosures, Inc. (Bridgeville, PA) is now offering its design-oriented standard plastic enclosures in a bioplastic material. This biomaterial is manufactured from renewable raw materials and is formulated to replace the fossil plastics currently being used.
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New technology from North Carolina State University and West Virginia University can reduce air pollutant emissions from some chicken and swine barns while also reducing their energy use by recovering and possibly generating heat. A proof-of-concept unit incorporates a biofilter and a heat exchanger to reduce ammonia emissions.
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When one circuit within an integrated chip cracks or fails, the whole chip – or even the whole device – is a loss. University of Illinois engineers have now developed a self-healing system that restores electrical conductivity to a cracked circuit in less time than it takes to blink.
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The University of Maryland has won top honors at the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2011 by designing, building, and operating the most cost-effective, energy efficient, and attractive solar-powered house. Purdue University took second place followed by New Zealand (Victoria University of Wellington) in third.
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Marlow Industries (Dallas, TX) has introduced the EverGen series of thermoelectric-based energy harvesting devices, offering a zero-maintenance power solution for wireless sensor applications. EverGen thermal energy harvesters power wireless sensors without a battery, reducing replacement costs.
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Noble metals such as platinum and palladium are becoming increasingly important because of growth in environmentally friendly applications such as fuel cells and pollution control catalysts. Because the world has limited quantities of these materials, manufacturers will have to rely on efficient recycling processes to help meet the demand.
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STMicroelectronics (Geneva, Switzerland) has released a high-efficiency circuit and optimized power components that will produce cost savings and are ideally suited for boost or buck converters - power devices usually used in solar inverters - or SMPS (Switched-Mode Power Supplies) for computers and telecom equipment.
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Société de Conseil et de Prospective Scientifique (SCPS), located in Rosny-sous-Bois, France, developed a technology that allows the nickel-zinc battery system to work as close as possible to its theoretical performance, with a long cycle life.
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Dialight (Farmingdale, NJ) has introduced ultra-bright DuroSite LED High Bay fixtures that incorporate Cree’s Xlamp® XP-G LEDs, delivering nearly 12,000 lumens while consuming only 150 watts. Free of hazardous materials including mercury, the fixtures can be recycled at the end of their life cycle.
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A new process for storing and generating hydrogen to run fuel cells in cars has been invented by chemical engineers at Purdue University. The process uses a powdered chemical called ammonia borane, which has one of the highest hydrogen contents of all solid materials.
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Fluorescent lamps are a popular lighting option for businesses and consumers that are looking for ways to conserve energy and cut down on wastes. Since mercury - a very useful but very toxic element - is used to conduct the charge in fluorescent lamps, these benefits can come at a significant environmental and health risk.
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A new nanotech catalyst developed by McGill University chemists Chao-Jun Li, Audrey Moores, and their colleagues offers industry an opportunity to reduce the use of expensive and toxic heavy metals. Li describes the new catalyst as, “use a magnet and pull them out!”
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Researchers from the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science have genetically modified a cyanobacterium to consume carbon dioxide and produce the liquid fuel isobutanol, which has great potential as a gasoline alternative. The reaction is powered directly by energy from sunlight, through photosynthesis.
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Electronic Manufacturers Recycling Management Company (MRM) is the winner of EPA's National TV Recycling Challenge. MRM developed a TV collection network that uses a variety of collection approaches, including establishing collection points with charities and self-storage units, to recycle approximately 3 million pounds of TVs.
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The EPA has awarded 43 grants to teams of university students who will design technologies addressing sustainability challenges in the developed and developing world. The People, Prosperity, and the Planet (P3) competition asks students to design and build technologies that improve quality of life, promote economic development, and protect the environment.
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Penn State researchers are demonstrating a renewable method for hydrogen production from wastewater at the Napa Wine Company in Oakville, CA. The refrigerator-sized hydrogen generator will take winery wastewater and - using bacteria and a small amount of electrical energy - convert the organic material into hydrogen.
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Lithium-ion batteries for advanced vehicles still have issues of safety and costs in terms of materials resources and abundances, synthesis, and recycling processes. Jean-Marie Tarascon, a professor at France's University of Picardie Jules Verne, discusses materials for better lithium-based storage systems.
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Los Alamos National Laboratory and University of Alabama researchers have come up with a new method for recycling hydrogen-containing fuel materials, which could open the door to economically viable hydrogen-based vehicles. The researchers worked within DOE’s Chemical Hydrogen Storage Center of Excellence.
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This summer, University of Bath, UK researchers are constructing a “BaleHaus” made of prefabricated straw bale and hemp cladding panels on campus. Straw is a truly environmentally-friendly building material, being both renewable and a by-product of farming.
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