Parents to set maximum speed of kid’s car??
Ford Motor Company has announced a new safety feature to be added to its vehicles that will help parents encourage young drivers to be more responsible on the road. MyKey aims to promote safe driving, particularly amongst teens, by encouraging seat belt use, limiting speed and reducing distractions.
MyKey uses technology that allows owners to program a key that can limit the vehicle's top speed and audio volume. The technology also encourages safety-belt usage, improves fuel efficiency, provides earlier low-fuel warnings and provides sound chimes to alert drivers to their speed. For more about this innovation to be implemented in some cars in 2010 click on: http://www.gizmag.com/ford-mykey-lets-parents-set-the-maximum-speed-of-their-kids-car/10157/
This story was provided by Glen Moore, Director of the innovative and hands on Wollongong Science Centre and Planetarium (http://sciencecentre.uow.edu.au ). I don’t think Glen has teenage kids anymore! I&I wonders how many parent-teenager arguments will ensue in spite of the obvious safety advantages for inexperienced drivers!
Queensland goes bananas on energy
Queensland’s peak horticulture organisation Growcom has been piloting the equipment which captures the methane gas from banana waste, and transforms it into biogas that can fuel machinery and vehicles. The pilot plant at Bush Holdings in Tully is expected to process 2,500 tonnes of banana waste per year, producing more than 86,500 cubic metres of methane gas, which creates the energy of more than 94,000 litres of petrol.
The simple production process involves combining rejected bananas and bunch stalks with water at a constant temperature of 38-39 degrees C. The bananas quickly ferment, producing large amounts of high-quality methane gas, which is then vented and stored for compression into a sustainable bio-fuel.
More from: http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/register/p00479ax.pdf
On another Mission for Bio-fuel from waste
Not only in Queensland are there developments in bio-fuel from agricultural waste but also Mission Energy has set up a pilot plant in India to achieve similar aims from waste.
The company says its first Ligno-Cellulosic ethanol pilot plant in India has successfully produced ethanol from agricultural waste material and has the potential to take the company to a new level in the renewable energy industry. The development allows the company to produce bio-ethanol from a range of low cost and abundantly available feedstock, eliminating the need for food crops as feedstock.
The company added that it would also be able to use plant waste from more than 360,000 acres of planted Jatropha, and the technology could be used worldwide as can process various different waste streams. Managing director Nathan Mahalingam said the development is consistent with the company’s vision to become an integrated world-class provider of sustainable renewable energy.
“It is widely accepted that the future of bio-ethanol is in the use of non-food crops, by utilising biomass wood, straws, fuel energy crops, paper pulp and other abundantly available agricultural waste products or biomass,” he said.
"While other technologies have been able to produce bio-ethanol from biomass, they have suffered from a low conversion rate of raw material to bio-ethanol or high conversion cost. Specifically, the high conversion cost is associated with the need to grow special low lignin and low silica grasses, the need to use expensive proprietary enzymes or high capital and operating costs associated with harsh operating conditions of acid concentration/temperature. These high production costs make other projects commercially not viable."
Mahalingam added that these challenges do not exist within Mission’s technology and therefore positions the company to become “one of the few successful next-generation ethanol producers”.
The company said it would continue to work on further improving the technologies and yield at the pilot plant, and at the same time work towards commercialising the technologies. Mission NewEnergy was previously called Mission Biofuels, but changed its name to reflect the company’s diversification into feedstocks and wind power.
Courtesy of PetroleumNews.net and www.EnvironmentalManagementNews.net
I&I comment: Just how many other opportunities are still out there to turn current wastes into energy?
Innovative TAFE course in Industrial Coatings and Abrasive Blasting
TAFE NSW (Illawarra Institute) has collaborated with the Industrial Coatings and Abrasive Blasting industry to set up an innovative course to meet both the company’s and the employees’ needs.
Brendan Cohen of industrial coating company, Chromax, (http://www.i3net.com.au/MemberDetailsPage.aspx?UserId=13) raised the issue of the difficulty of training and accrediting employees in the abrasive blasting and painting/coating industry at a site visit for i3net members (www.i3net.com.au ). He said many firms in the industry were SMEs and could not afford to have employees off work at TAFE for up to two days per week and much of the large specialised equipment used was on site and not at TAFE.
To get around this problem TAFE has developed Certificate 111 in Engineering – Production Systems (Industrial Coatings and Abrasive Blasting). It will use innovative teaching methods, including on-line as well as assessments on the job.
A course launch and information evening is to be held on December 3rd from 5.30pm (including refreshments) at the Painting and Decorating section, Block”O”, Foleys Rd, Wollongong. For further details and to register contact Jeremy Knight (Ph: 4229 0648; jeremy.knight@det.nsw.edu.au ) or Ian Squire (4229 0564; 0422 929979; ian.squire2@det.nsw.edu.au)
I&I wonders if this innovation will be duplicated in other regions.
Event: High performance sports management and the world of work
Australian Human Resource Institute (AHRI) Illawarra Regional Interest Group invites both members and non-members tor an informative breakfast session bringing together lessons learnt from managing high performance sports people and applying it in the workplace.
Topics covered will encompass: selection, training, development, reward & recognition, and team performance versus individual performance. The session will also focus on maintaining motivation and releasing the non performer. Attendees will be able to participate in an open discussion on managing high performers.
Guest Presenter is Gareth McKeen, Chief Executive Officer, WEA Illawarra. He is the former High Performance Manager of Australian Equestrian Sport, and was the Equestrian Team Manager for 3 Olympic Games. Date: Wednesday 26 November, 2008. Continental Breakfast and Presentation: 7.30am – 9am. From 9.00am: Wollongong University Innovation Campus Tour.
Venue: University of Wollongong, Innovation Campus, Level 2, IC Central Building, Squires Way, Fairy Meadow 2519. Prices from $45 for members to $55 for non-members.
For further details and registration by Friday November 21: Contact Trevor Phillis, Convenor AHRI Illawarra Regional Interest Group; email: phillist@bigpond.net.au ; phone 02 4236 1560; mobile 0408 388 287; fax 02 4236 1560
Your Ideas, Innovations or Events?
If you want publicity for an idea, innovation or technically related event, contact the I&I editor, Colin Seaborn on 4254 0200 or 0419 841829 or click here->
We welcome stories and photos.
If you want to promote your product or service via video please contact YOC office on (02) 4254 0200 or click here-> | 
