Cyclone Power Technologies, a Pompano Beach, Florida company, focuses on solving our dependence on fossil fuels with its heat regenerative external combustion engines. In a recent press release Cyclone announced that it has received a patent in
The Atlanta Google data center is utilizing a “sidestream” treatment plant that uses grey water rather than potable water for cooling.
Originally built in 1997, the Google data center uses an innovative evaporative cooling process which is 50 percent more efficient than standard mechanical chillers. Initially using potable water for the data
A U.S. startup company says it has developed a technology to convert plastic waste into a highly refined, low-sulphur oil, an innovation company officials say could provide a domestic source of fuel and keep untold amounts of plastic out of landfills.
Developed by New York-based JBI Inc., the Plastic2Oil
Africa, typically a dumping ground for electronic waste from other nations, could produce more e-waste than the European Union by 2017, experts say.
Across Africa, a combination of population growth and increased access to mobile phones and other technology will produce a surge in e-waste over the
How Waste = Food
Imagine if we could create a super-efficient world where there was no waste… Actually, there’s no need to imagine it: nature is already ahead of us on this one.
In nature, almost all “waste” from one organism can be used as “food” or fuel by another organism—a
concept explored by William McDonough and Michael Braungart in their seminal book Cradle To Cradle.
For example: a fruit tree’s blossoms fall to the ground and decompose into food for other living things. Bacteria and fungi feed on the organic waste of both the trees and the animals that eat its fruit, depositing nutrients in the soil in a form ready for the tree to use for growth. And so one organism’s waste is food for another, and nutrients flow indefinitely in cycles of birth, death, decay and rebirth.
Humans—the only creatures on the planet that produce landfills—are not quite so efficient. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the United States alone generates about 250 million tons of waste annually, with nearly 175 million of those tons being thrown into landfills. To make matters worse, the decomposition of waste in landfills releases large amounts of methane into the atmosphere, making landfills the most significant human–related source of methane in the United States.
Clearly, humans need to change their ways to avoid turning the earth into one massive landfill. Fortunately, a number of clean technology companies are taking innovative steps to address this problem by turning what seems to be waste into energy, fuel, or other useful materials.
For example, California-based Enventix is developing proprietary conversion systems for turning waste, biomass, and other low-grade feedstocks into ultra-clean energy. This technological breakthrough rids waste and biomass of impurities in an economical manner—helping municipalities generate renewable power that is free of harmful emissions at efficiencies that were previously unattainable.
Meanwhile, Washington-based General Biodiesel, Inc. has tackled the seemingly dirty job of collecting used cooking oil from hundreds of Seattle-area restaurants. But instead of burning or burying it, the company recycles the grease as biodiesel, the ultimate non-foreign fuel. Springboard Biodiesel, based in Chico, California, takes this idea “on the road” by providing smaller biorefinery machines that can process used cooking oil wherever it’s generated, whether it’s at a restaurant, a community co-op, or a university.
California-based Micromidas is tackling an even dirtier form of waste than used cooking oil: sewage sludge. The company has found a way to harness microbes to naturally transform the carbon and other nutrients in sewage into biodegradable plastics that are safe enough to be used as food packaging or as biomedical sutures.
Across the Atlantic, French company Pyrum Innovations is developing a tire-recycling machine that “deconstructs” used tires back into separate quantities of rubber, metal, and usable petrol. This invention provides a way to tackle the existing mountains of used tires that never degrade and thus pose a huge environmental problem. It also offers tire factories a way to more effectively handle new waste that they produce. Given that European tire plants generate 2,000 to 7,000 tons of production waste annually—and have to pay €200 to dispose of a single ton—Pyrum’s potential impact is sizable.
With each of these innovations, our wasteful ways can come a little bit closer to nature’s closed-loop system—one where “waste = food”.
As you know, population is straining our natural resources a lot. There are only a few resources left for our future generation, some of which are facing extinction. If you want to give your children the same standard of living that we have enjoyed, you must preserve these natural resources. So it is inevitable for us to go green.
Mexico City has announced plans to close one of the world’s largest open-air garbage dumps as part of an initiative to convert more of the city’s waste into reusable materials or energy.
By the end of the year, garbage trucks will no longer be allowed to drop trash at the Bordo Poniente, a
Use recycled materials to create a musical keepsake for your loved one. It’s an old timey gift with a 21st century sound track!
Looking for a DIY gift for your daughter or niece? This is the perfect project for an experienced tinkerer–all you need is a cigar box, an old MP3 player, and a few hours of time. The great thing
Thanksgiving is almost here, and whether you eat Tofurkey or Turducken, we hope it’s warm, safe, and spent with friends and family!
In celebration of the season, we decided to round up a few apps and other geeky tools that will impress your friends as well as green your feast. Since food
European engineers have completed a 90-foot bridge over the River Tweed in Wales that is made completely from recycled plastic, the first thermoplastic bridge to be built outside the U.S.
The bridge, which consists of 50 tons of recycled high-density polyethylene materials that would have
58 percent of all cans recycled last year in the U.S., But…
Aluminum can recycling rates in the U.S. peaked at over 65 percent in 1994. At the time, the country was a world leader in the category. Times have changed.
In 2008, when the U.S. aluminum can recycling rate
The new targets for collecting electronic waste backed by the European Parliament are set to cause some trouble with reluctant EU member states.
Electronic waste is a number of different types of waste streams. It can include old computers, TV’s etc. The European Parliament and the 27 EU
Researchers at the University of Leeds and Durham University have solved a long-standing problem that could revolutionize the way new plastics are developed. The breakthrough will allow experts to create the perfect plastic with specific uses and properties by using a high-tech ‘recipe book’. It will