Laboratory Equipment

U.S Can Grow Copious Amounts of Pond Scum for Fuel

A new analysis shows that the nation’s land and water resources could likely support the growth of enough algae to produce up to 25 billion gallons of algae-based fuel a year, one-twelfth of the country’s yearly needs.

The findings come from an in-depth look at the water resources that would be needed to grow significant amounts of algae in large, specially built shallow ponds. The results were published in Environmental Science and Technology.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/05/us-can-grow-copious-amounts-pond-scum-fuel

Seabed Pebbles are So Loud They Interfere with Experiments

The oceans are very noisy places: shrimp crackle, fish bark, dolphins click, humpbacks sing and many species talk to each other. Humans steer loud ships through the waters.

According to research by a graduate student at the Univ. of Washington, even the gravelly seabed contributes to the cacophony, particularly when the tide is strong. Indeed, the noise of the gravel can be so loud it often drowns out the other noises, making it impossible for scientists to hear the other sounds of the sea if the animal is not close to the microphone.

Since there is increasing interest in harnessing the currents and tides for energy, scientists need to know as much about the environment as they can, and the noise was getting in their way.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/05/seabed-pebbles-are-so-loud-they-interfere-experiments

Meat Leftovers Can Make Nutritious Ice Cream

Food industries are now turning meat leftovers into high-protein content ingredients for food supplements, or to be added to processed food, including ice cream. But a EU-wide regulation covering them is still lacking.

Most of the animal proteins found in the meat industry waste have, until now, been underutilized. The challenge is to transform such waste into food of higher functionality and added value. Thanks to the findings of the EU funded PROSPARE project, it is possible to reuse the protein and lipid fraction of disused food, according to project co-ordinator Arnaldo Dossena, who is the head of the food science department at the Univ. of Parma.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/05/meat-leftovers-can-make-nutritious-ice-cream

Compressed Air Stores Green Energy

Enough Northwest wind energy to power about 85,000 homes each month could be stored in porous rocks deep underground for later use, according to a new, comprehensive study. Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Bonneville Power Administration identified two unique methods for this energy storage approach and two eastern Washington locations to put them into practice.

Compressed air energy storage plants could help save the region’s abundant wind power — which is often produced at night when winds are strong and energy demand is low — for later, when demand is high and power supplies are more strained. These plants can also switch between energy storage and power generation within minutes, providing flexibility to balance the region’s highly variable wind energy generation throughout the day.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/05/compressed-air-stores-green-energy

Coca-Cola Aided Study Examines At-Home Recycling

Researchers from the Univ. of Exeter are working with Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) on a ground-breaking study with 20 households in Great Britain and France to observe at-home recycling behaviors.

The study will seek to understand why recycling rates are so low, despite people expressing strong beliefs towards environmental behaviors.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/05/coca-cola-aided-study-examines-home-recycling

Cotton is Eco-Friendly Way to Clean Up Oil Spills

With the Deepwater Horizon disaster emphasizing the need for better ways of cleaning up oil spills, scientists are reporting that unprocessed, raw cotton may be an ideal, ecologically friendly answer, with an amazing ability to sop up oil. Their report, which includes some of the first scientific data on unprocessed, raw cotton’s use in crude oil spills, appears in the ACS journal Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/05/cotton-eco-friendly-way-clean-oil-spills

Great Lakes Still Have Big Problems Despite Years of Aid

A decades-old effort to nurse the battered Great Lakes to health has made progress toward reducing toxic pollution and slamming the door on invasive species, but the freshwater seas continue to face serious threats, a U.S.-Canadian agency says.

The International Joint Commission, which advises both nations on issues affecting shared waterways, says their governments had compiled a mixed record in restoring the Great Lakes, which for much of the 20th Century were fouled by industrial and household sewage and overrun with exotic fish and mussels.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/05/great-lakes-still-have-big-problems-despite-years-aid

Carbon Aerogels Absorbs Hydrocarbons

Foamy aerogels made of carbon, like their more well studied silicon-based cousins, have innumerable potential uses, from catalysts to sensors. Until now, their synthesis has been expensive or complicated, or has required toxic materials. A team led by Yu Shuhong at the Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Micrscale (HFNL), Univ.of Science and Technology of China (USTC) is pursuing their production from biomass. They selected bacterial cellulose (BC) pellicles, a commonly used, inexpensive, nontoxic form of biomass consisting of a tangled network of cellulose nanofibers, as precursor to produce carbon nanofiber aerogels in large-scale. This biomass can easily be produced on an industrial scale through microbial fermentation.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/05/carbon-aerogels-absorbs-hydrocarbons

Safer Green Flame Retardant Has Dual Effects

Amid concerns over the potential health effects of existing flame retardants for home furniture, fabrics and other material, scientists are reporting development of an “exceptionally” effective new retardant that appears safer and more environmentally friendly. Their report on the first-of-its-kind coating, ideal for the polyurethane foam in couches and bedding that causes many fire deaths, appears in ACS Macro Letters.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/05/safer-green-flame-retardant-has-dual-effects

Doom of Coral Reefs is Not Inevitable

Coral reefs are in decline, but their collapse can still be avoided with local and global action. That’s according to findings reported in the Cell Press journal Current Biology based on an analysis that combines the latest science on reef dynamics with the latest climate models.

“People benefit by reefs’ having a complex structure — a little like a Manhattan skyline, but underwater,” says Peter Mumby of The Univ. of Queensland and Univ. of Exeter. “Structurally complex reefs provide nooks and crannies for thousands of species and provide the habitat needed to sustain productive reef fisheries. They’re also great fun to visit as a snorkeler or diver. If we carry on the way we have been, the ability of reefs to provide benefits to people will seriously decline.”

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/05/doom-coral-reefs-not-inevitable