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£25 fridge gadget that could slash greenhouse emissions
David Adam, The Guardian
It is made of wax, is barely three inches across and comes in any colour you like, as long as it’s black. And it could save more greenhouse gas emissions than taxes on gas guzzling cars, low energy light bulbs and wind turbines on houses combined. It is the e-cube, and it is coming soon to a fridge near you.
The patented cube mimics food and is designed to fit around a fridge’s temperature sensor, which usually measures the temperature of the circulating air.
Because air heats up much more quickly than yoghurt, milk or whatever else is stored inside, this makes the fridge work harder than necessary. With the cube fitted, the fridge responds only to the temperature of the food, which means it clicks on and off less often as the door is open and closed. ..
Spencer Freedman of Ecube Distribution said about 10,000 of the devices have now been sold, and tests are under way at the Dorchester hotel in London, as well as Asda, GreeneKing IPA, Iceland, Netto and Starbucks. Guy Lamstaes, co-inventor of the device, said heightened concern about climate change had made companies more interested in saving energy. “We tried to market these for years but nobody was interested.” ..
(17 Mar 2007)
Catalyst could help turn CO2 into fuel
Tom Simonite, New Scientist News
A new catalyst that can split carbon dioxide gas could allow us to use carbon from the atmosphere as a fuel source in a similar way to plants.
“Breaking open the very stable bonds in CO2 is one of the biggest challenges in synthetic chemistry,” says Frederic Goettmann, a chemist at the Max Planck Institute for Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam, Germany. “But plants have been doing it for millions of years.”
Plants use the energy of sunlight to cleave the relatively stable chemical bonds between the carbon and oxygen atoms in a carbon dioxide molecule. In photosynthesis, the CO2 molecule is initially bonded to nitrogen atoms, making reactive compounds called carbamates. These less stable compounds can then be broken down, allowing the carbon to be used in the synthesis of other plant products, such as sugars and proteins.
In an attempt to emulate this natural process, Goettmann and colleagues Arne Thomas and Markus Antonietti developed their own nitrogen-based catalyst that can produce carbamates. The graphite-like compound is made from flat layers of carbon and nitrogen atoms arranged in hexagons. ..
(15 Mar 2007)
Science turns sun, surf into green energy
Deborah Smith, Sydney Morning Herald
A REVOLUTIONARY technology that uses sunlight and sea water to produce an unlimited supply of clean, hydrogen fuel could be developed within a decade, Sydney researchers say.
Leigh Sheppard, of the University of NSW, estimated that 1.6 million of the solar devices, installed on rooftops, would be able to produce enough hydrogen gas to supply Australia’s entire energy needs. While other energy options under discussion, such as nuclear power, produce harmful wastes, the only by-products of this solar hydrogen technology would be oxygen and fresh water, Dr Sheppard said.
Dr Sheppard said much more research was needed, but the university team was confident it would be able to make the process efficient enough within 10 years for it then to be developed commercially. Its technique relies on using a light sensitive material, titanium dioxide, to harness the power of the sun to split water into oxygen and hydrogen gas. “The process has the additional advantage that it works best in sea water,” Dr Sheppard said. ..
(21 Mar 2007)
