Environmental Friendly Plastic Made From Shrimp Shell

Plastic has been something we all love and hate. It is so convenience that it helps us to hold our groceries, to "ta pao" (Malaysian word of "take away") foods and drinks, etc. But once it is done and discarded then it becomes an environmental hazard contributing to water contamination and ocean pollution, as well as harming wildlife.

Then the so-called bio-degradable plastics (bio-plastics) came to the market as an alternative. Most of these products require the production or harvesting of virgin biomass, such as trees or biomass crops, both of which have an environmental impact that isn't sustainable at our current rate of plastic consumption.

A new type of bio-plastic is in the work using chitosan. Chitosan is made by treating shrimp and other crustacean shells with the alkali sodium hydroxide. It can be broken down into benign, even helpful, components in the soil in about two weeks.

According to researchers at Harvard's Wyss Institute there is an urgent need in many industries for sustainable materials that can be mass produced. Their scalable manufacturing method shows that chitosan, which is readily available and inexpensive, can serve as a viable bio-plastic.

The chitosan polymer developed initially had a shrinkage problem that kept it from maintaining its shape after the molding process, but the team found that by adding wood 'flour' (a wood processing waste product) to the mix, the new bio-plastic could be molded into a 3D form with "impressive precision."

Source: http://www.treehugger.com/clean-technology/new-bioplastic-made-shrimp-shells-and-wood-flour-promises-be-sustainable-alternative.html

Low-Cost Production Of Methanol From CO2

Scientists from Stanford University, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and the Technical University of Denmark have created a new nickel-gallium catalyst that could potentially used to convert hydrogen and carbon dioxide emissions into methanol at low pressure.

In a typical methanol plant, natural gas and water are converted to synthesis gas (syngas), which consists of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and hydrogen. The syngas is then converted into methanol in a high-pressure process using a catalyst made of copper-zinc-aluminum. Each year, 65 million tons of methanol are produced for use in the manufacture of paints, polymers, glues and biofuels.

The team has identified a new nickel-gallium catalyst to replace conventional copper-zinc-aluminum in the process. The new catalyst can produce methanol at low-pressure, with fewer side-products. Nickel is relatively abundant, and gallium, although more expensive, is widely used in the electronics industry. The new catalyst could eventually be scaled up for industrial use.

The team is now fine-tuning the process to make methanol synthesis a truly carbon-neutral process. This will still require to overcome many additional hurdles.

2 Thin-Film Solar Technologies Broke Efficiency Records Again

On 25th February 2014, First Solar, one of the world’s largest thin-film PV companies, announced that it has set a world record for its cadmium-telluride (CdTe) PV cells. The cell has achieved 20.4% of conversion efficiency. It bests the previous record of 19.6% efficiency set by GE Global Research in 2013.

2 days later, on 27th February, Stion announced that it has achieved a 23.2% of efficiency copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) thin-film cell.

Of course, the efficiencies quoted above are for the cells. When add multiple cells together to form solar panel/module, the efficiency will drop few percent. But, it is still a big breakthrough for thin-film technology which closing the gap between silicon-based solar technology.

New Study Indicates That BPA Isn't So bad After All

On 25th Feb. 2014, I talked about the exposure to BPA during baby time may increase the chance of prostate cancer, and most of the time we heard about BPA is about the "evil effects" it has on our health.

New study carried out by U.S.A. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) shows that BPA is safe as currently use.

BPA has received a lot of attention because the chemical leaches out of many products. FDA has been working with National Institutes of Health to see if there are any effects from the low-level exposure.

In their most recent study, the researchers exposed rats to BPA starting a few days after conception and continuing through sexual maturity. Doses ranged from about 70 times the amount that Americans typically get through their diet to millions of times.

Even when rats got more than 70,000 times what a typical American ingests, there was no change in body weight, reproductive organs or hormone levels. It was only when exposures were millions of times higher then scientists saw changes like those caused by the body's own sex hormones.

To double-check the results, the scientists also looked at how BPA was interacting with estrogen receptors — the part of a cell that usually responds to estrogen. And once again it was only the highest doses that produced interactions.

The results bolster previous studies by government researchers showing that people's exposure to BPA is lower than previously estimated and that the human body is really good at inactivating and eliminating BPA.

My 2-cent opinion: Anything in excessive amount is bad. I guess if one can reduce the exposure to BPA then no harm to do so. But no need to try till the extend of living in an astringent life.

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/02/26/283030949/government-studies-suggest-bpa-exposure-from-food-isn-t-risky