Now, a solar-toilet to turn human waste into power

The researchers plan to collect the hydrogen in a fuel cell to power a light or possibly even a self-cleaning mechanism, New Scientist reported.(Reuters) 

A scientist, who has been experimenting with solar-powered water treatment on a small scale, is now planning to incorporate the technology into a portable toilet. Michael Hoffmann at the California Institute of Technology found that sunlight powers an electrochemical reaction with human waste in water that generates microbe-killing oxidants and releases hydrogen gas. The researchers plan to collect the hydrogen in a fuel cell to power a light or possibly even a self-cleaning mechanism, New Scientist reported. Hoffmann received a grant this week from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to build a prototype. He says he can build one toilet for 2000 dollars and hopes to reduce the cost through design refinement and mass production.The grant is part of the Gates Foundation's latest global public health initiative to improve sanitation. Source: Indian Express

Read More........→March 30, 2013

New Technology was Discovered to Minimize the Carbondioxide from the air

evolution of carbondioxide Gas

Scientists say they've found  a  better, cheaper  way  to  remove  carbon dioxide  from  smokestacks  and

George A Olah

other sources, including the atmosphere. Alain Goeppert, G K Surya Prakash, chemistry Nobel Laureate George A Olah and colleagues say their process achieves one of the highest carbon dioxide removal rates ever reported for real-world conditions where the air contains moisture. Existing methods tend to be energy intensive and inefficient. But, in research published by the American Chemical Society, the group's used solid materials based on polyethylenimine, a readily available and inexpensive polymeric material. After capturing the carbon dioxide, says the team, the materials give it up easily, so that the CO2can be used in making other substances, or permanently isolated from the environment. The capture material then can be recycled and reused many times over without losing efficiency, they say. The researchers suggest the materials could be useful in closed environments such as submarines, or could capture it at source in smokestacks. The process could also be used out in the open atmosphere, where they could clean up carbon dioxide pollution that comes from small point sources like cars or home heaters - which represent about half of the total CO2 emissions related to human activity. Source: Ananta-Tec

Read More........→February 27, 2013