Read the full story from WBEZ.
A bony fish long deemed the ‘bottom of the barrel’ will appear in sandwiches and on menus under the new name “Copi.”
Day: July 13, 2022
We need to simplify the chemistry industry to make it sustainable
Read the full story at TechXplore.
Like many industries, the chemical industry needs to become more sustainable and, among other things, reduce its carbon footprint. But the situation is particularly complicated in the chemical industry, because in addition to its carbon or climate footprint, its toxicity footprint is also significant. This represents the toxic effects of chemicals released from chemical production processes and from chemical products. Examples of such substances are perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and its alternative product, GenX, which are used in the production of fluoropolymers such as Teflon, as well as plasticizers and UV absorbers for plastics, flame retardants, or UV filters in sun creams.
So far, the toxicity footprint hasn’t stood at the center of the sustainability debate. Over recent decades, it has even increased. Moreover, the carbon footprint and the toxicity footprint have only a limited connection with each other. If in an effort to reduce its carbon footprint the chemical industry uses fewer fossil raw materials and makes production processes more energy efficient, this does not necessarily lead to a reduction in the toxicity problem.
But how can these two footprints still be reduced together? One way is to reduce the amount and number of chemical products on the market.
Energy storage soars despite international and national supply challenges: report
Read the full story at Utility Dive.
Grid-scale energy storage installations quadrupled in the first quarter of the year, compared to the same period in 2021, but geopolitical and domestic conflicts kept figures from being higher, according to the U.S. Storage Monitor report published by Wood Mackenzie and the American Clean Power Association on June 15.
Overall storage installations rose 955 MW and 2,875 MWh during the first quarter, outpacing last year’s results. Large-scale storage is expected to reach 41 GWh by 2026, and residential battery installations are projected to reach 2.3 GWh by that same time year.
California has the most large and small scale storage installations of any state, while Texas has the next highest level of grid storage and Puerto Rico has the second highest level of behind-the-meter storage.
Tests show fuel-flexible linear generators can use both hydrogen and ammonia
Read the full story at Utility Dive.
A fuel-flexible linear generator that uses low-temperature reactions, rather than combustion, to generate energy has passed key tests demonstrating its ability to run on 100% ammonia or hydrogen, according to the device’s manufacturer Mainspring Energy.
The linear generator had already demonstrated an ability to generate electricity from fuels such as natural gas or renewable biogas without generating NOx. But a growing number of customers hoped to pair the generator with emerging low-carbon fuels like hydrogen, according to Mainspring founder and CEO Shannon Miller.
The generator currently represents a potential low or no carbon alternative to backup power generators, but Miller said the company is also working to scale up their product in response to interest from utilities.
Energy-hungry data centers are quietly moving into cities
Read the full story at MIT Technology Review.
Companies are pushing more server farms into the hearts of population centers.
20-year-old from Southern Illinois secures patent — an enormous feat for his age
Read the full story in the Southern Illinoisan.
At age 20, recent Rend Lake College graduate Dakota Tate has received a patent — for his invention of a way to use discarded automotive, truck and implement tires as drainage culverts.
People hate the idea of car-free cities—until they live in one
Read the full story in Wired.
Removing cars from urban areas means lower carbon emissions, less air pollution, and fewer road traffic accidents. So why are residents so resistant?
Stemming the microplastics tide
Read the full story in Filtration & Separation.
Recent research has found microplastics in both human blood and deep inside the lungs of living people. As scientists try to determine how exposure might affect human and marine life, Filtration & Separation examines some of the developing filtration technologies fighting the tide of microplastics pollution.
Solar, storage projects set to bring jobs, tax revenue to Illinois coal communities
Read the full story from Energy News Network. See also As Illinois Coal Jobs Disappear, Some Are Looking to the Sun over at In These Times.
A recent state procurement formalizes plans to put solar and storage on the site of several retired coal plants. The owners will receive grants and higher-value renewable energy credits to finance the projects.
Compost heat recovery spawns aquaponics enterprise
Read the full story at Biocycle.
The need to switch from windrows to aerated static piles to manage odors prompted Michigan landscape supply company to take advantage of the opportunity to recover heat.
Environmental News Bits 