Mold remediation class at U of Minnesota

The U of MN will be offering a two day mold remediation course January 18 and 19, 2012.  Course information is available at this link.  The class size is limited. The first day of the workshop reviews investigative techniques to find areas of fungal growth and covers issues surrounding sampling and the review of reports.  Participants will get to work with IR cameras, microscopes, samplers and fungal cultures.  The second day of the workshop covers mold remediation.  Participants will learn how to set up a containment and wear proper PPE.

Aspergillus spp. - photo N. Carlson

Algae production next to ethanol plants

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports on plans to locate several algae production facilities near existing ethanol plants.  Surprisingly the most profitable products produced  are Omega 3 fatty acids, fish food and animal feed and not fuels.  The lower value oils produced will be sold for biodiesel or other fuels.   This is a joint venture between BioProcess algae, LLC and Green Plains Renewable Energy.  Recent tests by U of Illinois researchers have found the feed to work well for poultry.  


Additional information is available from a 2007 New York Times article on U of MN researcher Roger Ruan.

Roger Ruan - NY Times photo

According to the November 2011 Discover article on Power Plays, an area the size of Montana would be needed to converted to algae biofuel production to replace our current need for gasoline.  This compares to approximately 1/4 of the country if we were to use corn.  The research into algae is in its early stages.  Donald Weeks a University of Nebraska at Lincoln biochemist compares it to the discovery of teosinte 8,000 years ago which was eventually bred into the modern corn.  We are at the initial discovery stage investigating thousands of species of algae.  At a recent E3 conference the biofuel production between strains and species varied by as much as 10 to 100x.  Other variables such as temperature, sunlight and carbon dioxide levels also affected production.  I anticipate an update on the research on November 7th at the E3 2011 Conference.

Solar panels on U of MN building

UOP at U of MN - U of MN photo

Solar panels will be going on a U of MN building the University Office Plaza as reported in the MN Daily.  It is adjacent to the light rail station (LRT) and the U of MN TCF Bank stadium.  The installation is expected to reduce the electrical load by 3- 5%.  Recommissioning of the building will save an additional 15- 20%.  After the panels are installed there will be an online interface allowing people to keep track of the amount of energy saved.

It will be interesting to see how this progresses as I have worked with this building for many years.  The building has a good location.  Tracking the cold climate maintenance issues associated with the solar panels and the effectiveness of the installation will help with future projects.  I will post pictures after the panels have been installed and provide a link to the monitoring web site.

USDA wood based biofuels

The USDA is supporting wood based biofuel initiative in the Pacific Northwest.  Local wood produced in proximity to the plant would provide cellulose that would be converted into jet fuel, diesel or ethanol.  The cellulose input would include waste trees during the harvest of more valuable timber and fast growing trees such as aspen grown specifically for processing as a biofuel.

University of Minnesota researchers have been working on improving the growth rate of Aspen trees for the past 20 years and have had success in doubling the production.  The aspen trees can be grown on land that is unsuitable for agricultural food production.  A suitable crop can be generated in seven years.  Late in the summer of 2011 through the fall of 2011 the U of MN Extensions service is producing a seven part Biomass Webinar Series.  Most of the earlier sessions were recorded are available to view online.  Two upcoming free sessions are on October 26th and November 16th.

U of MN Extension Service

It would be interesting to check on research using bamboo as a source of cellulosic fuel because that plant also grows quickly on marginal land and is native to many tropical areas.  

Paper solar cells

MIT researchers are now using paper and plastic as a backing for solar photo cells  Find out more in this article by Kate Taylor MIT prints solar cells on paper.  This can significantly reduce the cost of the solar cell because glass is much more expensive as a backing material than paper or plastic.  The cells are also flexible.  At present the efficiency is at 1% and needs to be increased to make it more practical.

From my perspective, the flexible plastic backing probably from recycled plastic makes more sense as  it will be more resilient in wet environments.  The plastic would also need to be able to withstand wide temperature changes.

Photo from TG Daily

World population 7 billion

MSNBC has a good article with an interactive graphic on world population trends.  The graphic provides population data from 1950 with predicted population levels in 2050 for the major areas of the world.  Unfortunately the increase in population is predicted to occur in areas without adequate carrying capacity such as Pakistan and Africa.  The population trend data focuses the problem on sustainable agriculture noted in an earlier post.

Commuter train in Mumbai India -  photo by Rafiq Maqbool / AP

Using DNA to shape nanostructures

Ira Flatow from NPR reports on research using DNA to shape nanostructures by Chad Mirkin from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. His research team has focused on the therapeutic benefits of the nanostructural design but there are applications in many fields of study including solar energy harvesting and energy storage.  The therapeutic applications have been commercialized through a company called Nanosphere. 

The Nova PBS series Making stuff smaller is available at this link. 

Plastic to oil conversion

A Japanese man has developed a small scale plastic to oil convertor.  It heats a wide variety of plastics and converts them into oil.  The oil can be further refined into gasoline, kerosene and diesel fractions.  He would like people to view plastic waste not as garbage to fill up landfills and the oceans but as a fuel source.  Thanks to Anna E. for forwarding this clip.

This may be a way of converting large areas of floating plastic debris in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean into a resource used for oil refining.

Carbon nanotube based solar panels

Northwestern University professors Mark C. Hersam and Tobin J. Marks are developing carbon nanotube solar cells.  In addition to the lower cost of the raw materials the solar cell is also flexible and can be incorporated into fabrics or other materials such as back packs.  It would be interesting to determine if it could be incorporated into parts of a building exterior.  The solar cell would not have to be a separate and recognizably discrete building element.  It could also be interwoven into the roof material.

This is an NSF interview with Mark C. Hersam on the construction of double walled carbon nanotubes.   He has set up the Hersham Research Group to coordinate research activities on the use of carbon nanotubes for optical and electrical devices.  

Renewable energy investment up stock prices down

Investments in renewable energy hit a record in 41.8 billion dollars in the third quarter of 2011.  Stock prices for renewable energy companies fell because of the over supply of renewable products such as solar cells and wind turbines.  It is a good time to be a renewable energy project developer and not a good time to be a manufacturer of the products.   Reporting on this is available from Bloomberg and MPR Marketplace.  Investments in off shore wind farms in Europe and on the East Coast of the US will be increasing in the next year.

Green Investments - MPR stock photo