Latest Sustainable Engineering Content Feed

A first: UAV runs on biofuel

Jared Rader — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 09:28:46 -0600

A Northrop Grumman MQ-8B Fire Scout recently completed the first unmanned biofuel flight. The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) flew from an airfield in Maryland on a combination of JP-5 aviation fuel and fuel made from camelliea, a flowering plant native to Asia.

Machine pulls carbon dioxide out of the air

Jared Rader — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 08:38:17 -0600

A physics professor at Harvard University and CEO of Carbon Engineering, Calgary, Canada, is building a machine that could pull tens of thousand of tons of carbon out of the air in an effort to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmos

Cellulose fuels won’t meet government goals

Jared Rader — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 08:43:06 -0600

The U. S. government‘s Renewable Fuel Standard mandates that by 2022, the U. S. use 15 billion gallons of corn-based ethanol, 1 billion gallons of biodiesel, and 16 billion gallons of cellulosic fuels. A recent peer-reviewed report from the National Academy of Science prepared for Congress concludes that the goals for corn-based ethanol and biodiesel can be met, but those for cellulosic fuels are probably unreachable.

Coming: Self-powered integrated circuits

Jared Rader — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 09:31:08 -0500

Resources:
The IEDM conference

Superconductivity coming to wind turbines?

Jared Rader — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 10:27:54 -0500

Resources:
Advanced Magnet Lab
Argonne National Laboratory

Molded panel lets solar-powered trash compactor catch rays

Jared Rader — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 16:09:55 -0500

Resources:
BigBelly Solar, (781) 444-6002
Mack Molding Co., (802) 375-0349
For a video of the solar-powered trash compactor in action (shot sideways, unfortunately)

National lab teams with China to develop clean energy

Jared Rader — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 16:13:30 -0500

Resources:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Probe developed at Purdue monitors tokamak reactor linings

Jared Rader — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 16:15:41 -0500

Resources:
Purdue University

Tapping tides for clean energy

Jared Rader — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 09:06:56 -0500

Resources:
Atlantis Resources Corp.
Wichita Clutch, an Altra Industrial Motion company

Scanning for Ideas: Heat from boiler room preheats water

Jared Rader — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 09:20:08 -0500

Boiler rooms are hot places, with air near the ceiling at about 120°F in the summer and 90°F in the winter. To use that otherwise wasted heat, inventor Bob Biancardi developed what he calls the Geo-Wasted Thermal Energy Recovery System (Geo- WTERS). It consists of a heat exchanger and fan.