Scaling Up Saharan Solar

November 02, 2009

The idea has been thrown around for a while: Let's put a bunch of mirrors--the most ever!--in the desert to provide massive amounts of electricity to faraway places. A newly-formalized consortium is going to do just that, in the Sahara Desert.

Twelve European businesses that form the Desertec Industrial Initiative consortium just signed a pact on Friday in Munich to erect parabolic mirrors on more than 6,500 square miles in the desert. The mirrors will concentrate the sun's rays on giant water containers that will power steam turbines, generating electricity to be transported using high-voltage direct current transmission lines. Tanks containing molten salt will temporarily store excess heat from day. Similar solar projects exist, but this would be the first on such a scale.

The Desertec project plans to provide 15 percent of continental Europe's energy needs by 2050. Several North African countries are interested in joining the consortium and Desertec expects to deliver electricity to local African consumers as well. The technical and financial details of the project, which was first announced two years ago, will be ironed out by 2012 with power deliveries to Europe starting three years later. While I can hardly fathom the crazy financing required, advancements in solar technology make me optimistic that Desertec won't turn out to be a mirage.

Photo Credit: Solar Millennium AG.

Traffic Control for Turtles

October 29, 2009

Scientists have been tagging turtles for a little while to see where they go, but a new combined effort could mean fewer turtle tragedies in the open water.

Juvenile loggerhead turtles, which are a threatened species, can unintentionally become bycatch on fishing vessels. In the fall, sometimes they enter water that's too cold and become stranded. Researchers from the U.S. Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, are hot on the turtle trail, tracking their movements to better understand their behavior so fishermen can avoid them.

Working with support from the Atlantic sea scallop fishing industry, the NEFSC captured two juvenile turtles in August, attached satellite-linked tags to their carapaces, and has been tracking their movements since (they're off the coast of North Carolina now). The scientists also sent a remotely operated vehicle or ROV into the ocean to get visuals on turtle movements in the wild--the first time this has been done, according to the FEFSC. Here's a cool underwater video showing an ROV-view of a young loggerhead turtle.

The hope is that this pilot project leads to a larger turtle behavior study, as well as better fishing gear technology that prevents turtles from getting caught. That way we'll be able to keep on finding Nemo.

Photo: Attaching a satellite-linked data logger. Credit: Eric Matzen, NEFSC/NOAA.

When Is Bamboo...Rayon?

October 23, 2009

I've had the bamboo fiber pulled over my eyes. Following a settlement with a clothing maker, the Federal Trade Commission announced that fabrics made from processed bamboo can't be pedaled as green--they're as synthetic as the rayon shirt hiding in your closet.

Under the FTC's settlement terms, retailer Bamboosa agreed not to make any environmental claims about its bamboo textiles being biodegradable, antimicrobial, and wholly made from bamboo fiber unless they could be backed up with reliable evidence. (Bamboosa's site still had green claims when I checked, though.)

Are there actually any green bamboo fabrics? An FTC advisory to consumers says not if they feel soft: "They are made using toxic chemicals in a process that releases pollutants into the air. Extracting bamboo fibers is expensive and time-consuming, and textiles made just from bamboo fiber don't feel silky smooth."

What about all those wonderful antibacterial, breathable properties bamboo fabric was said to have? Greenwashing. "Even when bamboo is the 'plant source' used to create rayon, no traits of the original plant are left in the finished product," the FTC reported. I'll won't repeat the "we've been bamboozled" cliché. But it gives me a good idea for a t-shirt.

Photo: Handspun bamboo thread that has been carbonized for color. Credit: Heather Kennedy.

Wide Angle: Tsunami-Proof Buildings Gaining Ground

October 20, 2009

Geotechnical engineer Yumei Wang, who works for Oregon state, warns that it's only a matter of time before a tsunami hits the Pacific Northwest. Yikes. I mean, YIKES!!! Fortunately for the vulnerable populace, Wang has a plan.

She proposes that low-lying communities collaborate to construct what she calls "tsunami evacuation buildings." I think "post-wave outposts" sounds better, but that's just me. Such a building would be made from reinforced concrete and have an 18-foot first floor, wide columns connected to a deep pile foundation, a wide external stairwell, and seawalls along the exterior to dissipate waves. An open plan would allow the building to have other daily uses.

As an engineer with the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries in Portland, Wang is meeting with officials in Cannon Beach about potentially constructing the nation's first tsunami evacuation building (PDF) by retrofitting the town hall. While the estimated cost is between $1 million and $2 million, doing nothing would be worse since around 100,000 people live in the state's risk areas. Maybe they could even use green concrete. A retrofit definitely beats my idea: water wings as fashionable accessories.

Photo: Walk this way: Shirahama tsunami evacuation structure in Japan. Credit: Nobuo Shuto.

Wide Angle: Klymit Takes Control of the Elements

October 13, 2009

Early today the Ogden, Utah-based company Klymit ships out its first batch of adjustable insulation vests. The key elements? Noble gases.

President and CEO Nate Alder came up with the idea while still a student at Brigham Young University after learning that weightless argon has insulation properties and was being used in double glazed windows. 

Argon, krypton, and xenon are already present in the air we breathe, Alder says. A cryogenic process removes them so they can be put into Klymit's vests. I wondered, could you ever run out of these noble gases? "You would have to suck the entire atmosphere out. And where would you put it?" Alder says. "It’s not like gasoline."

Klymit makes four kinds of different sports vests, which retail in the $200 range. The insulation level is adjustable with a valve and a recyclable canister that lasts around three seasons on the slopes. None of the beta testers punctured the vests, but they can easily be patched should that happen.

Alder adds that the company has filed for patents to use the technology for a wide variety of applications beyond outdoor apparel. Last weekend I could have used it while watching a pumpkin paddling contest in Vermont on a windy fall day. Some of the racers probably could have used some noble gases, too.

Photo: Klymit president and CEO Nate Alder shows of a noble vest. Credit: Salt Lake City Outdoor Recreation Examiner.

GET MORE OF THE WIDE ANGLE
Inventors rule:

Top 5: Dean Kamen's Fav Innovators

Top 10: Accidental Inventions

Slide Show: Da Vinci's Inventions

News: Salt and Pepper Make Disposable Batteries

Engineering an Earth Airbag

October 07, 2009

If global warming causes all hell to break loose on our home planet, I'd feel better knowing humanity has a plan. A new geoengineering institute in the United Kingdom could help figure out one that doesn't give us all the willies.

The Oxford Geoengineering Institute recently launched with a board of eminent academia and industry folks, including knighted scientist David King. Director Tim Kruger founded Cquestrate, an open-source project looking at adding lime to the oceans to absorb carbon and reverse acidification. Shell is funding it, but this is no sinister plot. The project came out of an innovation competition and the company won't get any intellectual property. Kruger says scientists who studied the concept are preparing to publish in academic journals.

He's quick to clarify that the new institute will be looking at an array of ideas. "We need to start investigating whether we can produce an airbag for climate change," Kruger says. "You never really want to use an airbag, and if you do it’s a pretty uncomfortable experience, but it’s better than no airbag at all." And the institute isn't advocating geoengineering--just the need for a holistic, interdisciplinary evaluation that looks not just at the technical side but also ethics, social impact, governance, and economic feasibility.

"People are scared of geoengineering, and rightly so," Kruger told me, pointing out that this is why we need rigorous and clear-headed evaluations. As freaky as Earth-scale action sounds, I'll sleep better at night if we have an airbag.

Image: Compilation of Earth images. Credit: The Living Earth.

GET MORE OF THE WIDE ANGLE
Don't be scared, be smarter:

Wide Angle: Engineering Earth

Top 5: Geo-Engineering Schemes

Double Take: Burying CO2 Emissions

Project Earth: The Fixing Carbon Scrubber

Video: Space Sunshield in a Nutshell

Eating Dinner From the Future

September 30, 2009

I joked about becoming a stowaway when the Waterpod, an eco-art-science barge touring New York City this summer, came to Queens. Turns out the crew was serious about hospitality, and it included a taste of the future.

This week, on the Waterpod's final day open to the public, I went to find out how the project had gone. My plan was to meet Waterpod mastermind Mary Mattingly, look around, take notes, and peace out. Then she kindly invited me to stay for dinner with the remaining crew. It's hard to say no to ripe vegetables from vines at your fingertips.

Gathered in the well-used kitchen, co-curator Ian Daniel and graywater specialist Andrew Carter contemplated post-barge living. Mattingly prepared a giant yellow squash to go on the rocket stove and reflected on how she'd adjusted the experimental ecosystem.

"I think there's a confidence about [the] ability to be self-sustaining that I have now, and a lot of people who come on board do," she said before we all dug into brown rice, seasoned cooked squash, and spicy marinated eggplant, tomato, and green pepper salad. If rising ocean levels force us to figure out how to float, it might not be an entirely bad thing. Especially if the food tastes like this.

For more, check out the audio slideshow:

Photo: Mary Mattingly rocks the rocket stove. Credit: Alyssa Danigelis.

ADDITIONAL COVERAGE

Waterpod Project Website

Blog: Waterpod People Take Manhattan

TreeHugger: Waterpod Demonstrates Self-Sufficient, Sustainable Living

New York Times: Life, Art and Chickens, Afloat in the Harbor

Wide Angle: Biodiesel Takes to the Rails

September 18, 2009

High speed rail and biodiesel aren't mutually exclusive, but the railroad industry has traditionally been reluctant to test out alternative fuels. A biodiesel project currently under way in Iowa could change that.

The U.S. railroad system consumes more than 3 billion gallons of diesel fuel annually. That's a lot of emissions. Unfortunately the industry is in a bind: train engine manufacturers haven't approved the use of biodiesel in their engines so railroad companies use regular diesel in order to keep their warranties.

This year, Iowa Interstate Railroad Ltd. (IAIS) is volunteering to test two different blends of biodiesel from Renewable Energy Group (REG) in an engine that's no longer under warranty.

"Most people don’t understand that you could use biodiesel in a locomotive engine," says Dave Slade, technical services manager at REG. "We’re very happy that the Iowa Interstate Railroad is willing to try it."

The test started in June with B10, a fuel with 10 percent biodiesel. Next Thursday the engine switches to B20, which has 20 percent, for the next three months. REG's biodiesel comes from animal fats and vegetable oils that have been chemically modified to burn cleaner. The cost per gallon is competitive with regular diesel, Slade says. The Transportation Research Institute at the University of Kansas is conducting air quality tests on the locomotive's exhaust stacks for each fuel type and will have the results after the project wraps up in December.

Although the project is testing lower-percentage blends, Slade says that mining companies already use fuels with 50 to 100 percent biodiesel to power underground engines similar to the ones in locomotives. If the Iowa tests show that the train runs cleaner or more efficiently on biodiesel, the railroad industry might be persuaded to start making the switch. "This test is critical," Slade says.

Photo: The IAIS yard in Council Bluffs with white biodiesel blend tank. Courtesy of REG.

DNA Tech for Catching Wildlife Poachers

September 16, 2009

A team of scientists from several institutions has expanded a tool that makes it easier for border agents to identify whether mystery products come from endangered species.

Researchers, who hail from the American Museum of Natural History, Barnard College, and the University of Colorado-Boulder, have sequenced DNA for about two dozen hunted wildlife species--including monkeys, alligators, crocodiles, and antelope. They published the work in the September issue of the journal Conservation Genetics. The sequences were then added to the Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) initiative, an open-access online repository of species codes.

"The database we've contributed to gives border agents the opportunity to send [a sample] off for identification," says research lead Mitchell Eaton, who is now a postdoctoral ecologist at the U.S. Geological Survey Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. Without DNA analysis, law enforcement might only be able to charge a trafficker for illegal transporting agricultural products, versus a more serious charge for trading in endangered species.

The database has other advantages, Eaton says. While researching legal subsistence bushmeat hunting in Central Africa, Eaton sometimes had trouble identifying meat from the market. Using the database, he can find out exactly which species are being sold. The genetic community has been adding sequences to BOLD since 2003. "We need to have the ability to determine which species are being hunted in order to conserve these populations and the humans that depend on them," Eaton says.

Photo: A subsistence hunter in Africa tracks crocodiles. Used with permission from Mitchell Eaton.

Heavy Duty: Bacteria Could Take on Radioactive Waste

September 08, 2009

Cleaning radioactive metal contamination is a challenging business--expensive, tedious, and sometimes nearly impossible. Now, a University of Missouri biochemistry professor might have a better bacteria-based solution within her grasp.

Mizzou's Judy Wall is studying a widespread sulfate-reducing--and stinky--bacterium called Desulfovibrio vulgaris found in soil that metabolizes radioactive and heavy metals. Think iron pipes corroding underground. The bacteria prompt an electron transfer that can turn uranium into the mineral uraninite, which will sink in water.

"So if you're not going to drink it from your faucet, you can be protected from consuming [the uraninite]," Wall says. Bacteria are a lot like people--they're not all good or bad, she says. Through Department of Energy-supported research, Wall and scientists at the Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory in California are trying to figure out how best to tap this bacterium's good side, especially since oxygen can kill it.

The scientists want to know how much oxygen the bacteria can withstand, which environmental factors affect it, what stimulates its growth, and what happens to the precipitated metals over time. So far, the scientists have identified several genes in the bacterium that are important for cleaning up uranium. Wall's colleague at LBNL Terry Hazen is also conducting experiments with contaminated soil. According to the EPA there are more than 1,000 sites around the United States contaminated with radioactive waste. When it comes to daunting cleanups, the answer might already be in the ground.

Photo: Oxygen, you can't touch this: University of Missouri professor Judy Wall with sulfate-reducing bacteria. Credit: MIZZOU magazine.