Manipulating sunlight to save electricity

Solartran is a small, Brisbane-based research and development company with a range of products that manipulate sunlight to conserve energy and lower the amount of electricity consumed by buildings. It uses daylight reflection technology to maximise savings in power used for lighting, heating and cooling in commercial buildings, homes and offices.

Examples of products include Lighting Channel Panels that reflect sunlight deeper into rooms at adjustable angles, reducing the lighting needs for indoor spaces. Angular Selective Skylights serve a similar purpose for larger buildings, while Light Guiding Shades lower heat loadings while maintaining illumination and indirectly reducing air conditioning needs.

Photo: Solartrans lighting channel panel on a window

The company claims is Lighting Channel Panel operates at “100% efficiency”. The panel is formed from two 6mm sheets of acrylic plastic, and an array of angled laser cuts is made in each sheet to form reflecting surfaces within the acrylic. The sheets are laminated together into a single panel 12mm thick containing channels that redirect light.

A channel panel is usually installed in the upper part of a window, above head height of a standing occupant, with the lower part of the window usually shaded by a blind or external shade to control sunlight penetration. The company says angled beams of sunlight, “[provide] good shading of the room and deep natural lighting”.

Further information and contact details available at www.solartran.com.au  More on this story sourced from www.EnvironmentalManagementNews.net at http://www.environmentalmanagementnews.net/StoryView.asp?StoryID=1002785

Going bananas: scientists create fuel from crop waste

Bananas are a staple crop of Rwanda. The fruit is eaten raw, fried and baked - it even produces banana beer and wine. Around 2 million tons are grown each year but the fruit is only a small percentage of what the plant produces. The rest - skins, leaves and stems - is left to rot as waste.

Science Daily reports that now scientists at The University of Nottingham are looking at ways to use that waste to produce fuel, developing simple methods of producing banana briquettes that could be burnt for cooking and heating.

To read the full article visit Science Daily at: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090406132819.htm
This information was sourced from the Resource Recovery Forum at  www.resourcesnotwaste.org

Weeds for fuel

Many non-food sources have cropped up as potential sources of biodiesel in recent years, including aquatic species such as algae. Researchers from the North Carolina State University in the US say a notorious weed species known as duckweed should go into the mix – it can produce up to six times more starch than corn, making it a cheaper, faster-grown source for bioethanol.

Dr Anne-Marie Stomp and Dr Jay Cheng said the weed can double up as a tool to clean up animal waste at industrial pig farms and wastewater lagoons, from livestock farms and municipal ponds.

“We can kill two birds – biofuel production and wastewater treatment – with one stone, duckweed," Cheng says. Starch from duckweed can be readily converted into ethanol using the same facilities currently used for corn, he added.

Corn is currently the primary crop used for ethanol production in the US but the practice is increasingly contentious because of concerns about the amount of energy used to grow corn and commodity price disruptions due to competition between ethanol manufacturers and the food and feed industries.

Photo: Duckweed

Using duckweed exploits existing corn-based ethanol production processes for faster scale-up and turns pollutants into a fuel production system, Stomp and Cheng said.

“The duckweed system consists of shallow ponds that can be built on land unsuitable for conventional crops, and is so efficient it generates water clean enough for reuse,” the university said. “The technology can utilise any nutrient-rich wastewater, from livestock production to municipal wastewater.”

For more on this story go to: http://www.environmentalmanagementnews.net/StoryView.asp?StoryID=1002813

UOW and its robots look for linear track

Professor John Norrish recently made a presentation to Illawarra Innovative Industry Network (www.i3net.com.au) members and guests on defence work the University of Wollongong is undertaking. He is looking for suppliers of a linear track related to a robot project.

An animation of this project can be found by clicking on http://www.uow.edu.au/~johnn/i3/MRL%20Technology%20Demonstrator.wmv

For further details contact Professor Norrish (john@uow.edu.au)

Mould found to decompose biodegradable plastics

Japan's National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences that it had discovered a mould living on the leaf surface of a gramineous plant that can effectively decompose biodegradable plastics.

Japan for Sustainability  reports that this mould, isolated from barley leaves, excretes a highly concentrated splitting enzyme into its culture fluid. The institute observed that 91.2 percent of multi-purpose agricultural film made of biodegradable plastic (by weight) was decomposed within six days after the produced enzyme liquid was sprayed on the film.

To read the full article go to: http://www.japanfs.org/en/pages/028852.html
This information sourced from resource recovery forum
www.resourcesnotwaste.org

Previously advertised Events:

A Savvy Business Persons’ Guide to Tough Economic Times 06 May 2009, 8.30am  – 10.30am: organised by NSW Department of State and Regional Development at North Parramatta.

Viktoria Darabi of Savvy and Successful lists strategies to make sure a business is in the best shape to manage customers and markets in these uncertain times.  This seminar is suitable for businesses whose traditional markets are eroding or have disappeared completely.  For more details and to register: http://events.smallbiz.nsw.gov.au/Events.aspx?eventid=130

Tips, Tools and Tactics to increase profit by using Internet: 29 April 2009, 8.30am – 10.30am: Presented by Michael Pulo Director of Logged On, this seminar includes, growing a business through increased sales and profit, reducing marketing and sales costs and measuring marketing and returns on investment. 

The seminar also offers a strategy comprising business goals and internet marketing, and explains keywords such as SWOT, web analysis and design, and actions such as critical tasks, resources, internet education, processes and systems and results from web analytics and performance gaps. A free report is provided to all participants.

To register online go to: http://events.smallbiz.nsw.gov.au/Events.aspx?eventid=61
Both events hosted by NSW Department of State and Regional Development at 470 Church St, North Parramatta.

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