New technologies can provide cheap biofuel

Researchers at Luleå University of Technology have managed to find a cost effective way to clean synthesis gas from carbon dioxide by zeolite membranes. With extremely small holes in the membranes, the gas can be purified from CO2 and developed into affordable biofuels such as methanol and BioDME.

“Because our membrane technology is cheaper than conventional technology, we could lower the price of methanol so that we can afford to buy it as a vehicle fuel," says Professor Jonas Hedlund at Luleå University of Technology.

With funding from the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SFF) and in close cooperation with the strategic research project Bio4Energy, Jonas Hedlund's research group made a big step in the process of separating CO2 using zeolite membranes. He is one of 13 researchers in the country that received funding from the SFF (approximately 21 million SEK) for materials research of strategic importance for Sweden. The overall picture is to develop biofuels from the pulp and paper industry through "Green Technology". Read more

(Photo Courtesy of LTU)

Sweden imports Europe's garbage

Sweden doesn’t seem to have enough rubbish, and has to import more from abroad. Sweden needs garbage for home heating. Every since a ban was imposed on dumping household wastes in landfills, everything that isn’t separated for recycling goes to special facilities. They burn the garbage to heat water, which is then piped to homes and offices.

The problem is that too many of those facilities have been built, and according to one expert who talked to the newspaper Göteborgs-Posten, in a few years Sweden will have a 2 million ton over-capacity for garbage incineration. The solution has been to import wastes from abroad, last year more than 600,000 tons, mostly from neighboring Norway. Of more than 500,000 tons burned last year at a facility in Gothenburg, the newspaper writes, 140,000 tons came from Norway. Read more

(Photo Courtesy of SR)

So What Does the Clean Air Act Do?

Yesterday, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee. In her testimony the Administrator highlighted the agency's ongoing efforts to develop sensible standards that update the Clean Air Act, while ensuring that the landmark law continues to provide Americans the protections from dangerous pollution that they deserve. These reasonable steps will ensure that the air our children breathe and the water they drink is safe, while also providing certainty to American businesses.

Despite these pragmatic steps to implement long overdue updates, big polluters are trying to gut the Clean Air Act by asking Congress to carve out special loopholes from air pollution standards.

The Clean Air Act gives the Environmental Protection Agency the necessary tools to protect our families from a number of harmful pollutants that can cause asthma and lung disease – especially in children. Weakening these standards would allow more pollution in the air we breathe and threaten our children’s health. We thought it might be helpful to refresh everyone on how this landmark law affects our country and protects our health. Read more

Reports Say World Can Be Fossil Fuel Free by 2050

The world has the technical know-how and financial capability to run entirely on renewable energy by the middle of this century, two California researchers say.

Their study says that a large-scale transformation of the world’s energy systems to wind, solar, water, geothermal and other renewable sources would not cost substantially more than continued reliance on conventional power generation.

The research comes as world leaders seek to tackle climate change while also providing electricity to the 1.4 billion people who still lack access to energy. Read more