As an efficient, inexpensive, low-tech way to treat water, Dr. James Amburgey’s research could bring clean, safe drinking water to potentially millions upon millions of people. Simplicity is the primary objective of the rapid sand filter system Amburgey is developing. ‘The idea is to make it as simple as possible, he said. ‘All that is needed is some PVC pipe, sand and inexpensive treatment chemicals. The only way to practically deploy a system to the people of less developed countries is for it to be inexpensive and simple. Amburgey, an assistant professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, specializes in drinking and recreational water treatment. He has done work in the past with slow sand filters, but his latest research with rapid sand filters is demonstrating the ability to clean water much more effectively and 30 to 50 times faster. ‘One significant challenge with sand filters is in removing Cryptosporidium oocysts, Amburgey said. ‘One ‘crypto’ is five microns in diameter, but the gaps between grains of sand are approximately 75 microns. So, we have to get the crypto to stick to the sand grains. To achieve this, Amburgey has developed a chemical pretreatment scheme based on ferric […]
Climate change is already having a detectable impact on birds across Europe, says a Durham University and RSPB-led scientific team publishing their findings to create the world’s first indicator of the climate change impacts on wildlife at a continental scale. Published in the journal PLoS ONE, Durham University scientists working with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds have shown a strong link between recent population changes of individual species and their projected future range changes, associated with climate change, among a number of widespread and common European birds, including the goldfinch and the lesser spotted woodpecker. By pulling together Europe-wide monitoring data, the team has compiled an indicator showing how climate change is affecting wildlife across Europe. The European Union has adopted the indicator as an official measure of the impacts of climate change on the continent’s wildlife; the first indicator of its kind. The paper and the indicator were produced by a team of scientists from the RSPB, Durham University, Cambridge University, the European Bird Census Council, the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, the Czech Society for Ornithology, and Statistics Netherlands. European population data for birds was compiled by The Pan-European Common Bird Monitoring Scheme […]
Fossil fuel use, ranging from electricity generating power plants to automobiles, pumps billions of tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere annually, changing the climate in ways that are likely to be detrimental to future generations. The rising use of fossil fuels, driven by population growth and rising standards of living across the globe, adds to the urgency of finding a solution to the problem of rapidly increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide, the major greenhouse gas. At Penn State, a team of researchers led by Craig Grimes has come up with an ingenious method of turning captured CO2 into methane, a combustible fuel, using the energy of the sun. Writing in Nano Letters (Volume 9, 2009, pp 731-737), Grimes and his team describe a highly efficient photocatalyst that can yield significant amounts of methane, other hydrocarbons, and hydrogen in a simple, inexpensive process. The team used arrays of nitrogen-doped titania nanotubes sputter-coated with an ultrathin layer of a platinum and/or copper co-catalyst(s). The titania captures high energy ultraviolet wavelengths, while the copper shifts the bandgap into the visible wavelengths to better utilize the part of the solar spectrum where most of the energy lies. In addition, the thin-walled nanotubes increase […]
The decline of manufacturing in Michigan and the United States has closely followed globalization and its downhill trajectory toward sourcing components and assembly from low-cost nations like China and Mexico. But the gradual emergence of a domestic U.S. wind energy industry appears to be countering that trend by coupling concerns over economic and environmental sustainability with logistic practicalities. ‘Domestic content for domestic (wind) turbines is a big sale and a big push,’ said Marty Gibbons of Barre, Vt.-based Northern Power. ‘Most of our end-users would prefer us to do 100-percent sourcing in the United States and they’re willing to pay for it.’ At the 2009 Michigan Wind Energy Conference earlier this week in Detroit, supply chain managers from European wind turbine makers Vestas, Nordex and Siemens outlined their needs for more domestic suppliers to produce critical components. ‘The directive we have in my group is to look for localized content 100 percent. So sourcing America for America,’ said Gene Cuenot, a purchaser for Vestas’ nacelles division. That line and others like it drew applause from the room packed full of manufacturers. It was also notable to watch as audience members positively swarmed the wind representatives […]
WASHINGTON — The Senate’s top Democrat on Thursday proposed new federal authority to build special power lines that carry renewable energy - like solar and wind power - from remote places. The Federal government would be able override states and direct where the lines would go and who would pay for them. In unveiling the proposal, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said an increased federal role in locating power lines was needed to encourage greater availability of electricity produced from wind, solar, geothermal and other renewable energy sources. ‘Reforming our energy policies to build a cleaner, greener national transmission system - an electric superhighway - must be a top national priority,’ Reid said in a statement. His proposal was expected to become part of a broader energy bill the Senate plans to take up in the coming weeks. Reid’s measure would give the president authority to declare ‘renewable energy zones’ that have great potential for generating electricity from renewable sources such as wind and solar but which have no high-voltage transmission lines to bring that power to consumers. While states and the federal government would jointly develop ‘green’ transmission plans for such […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
