TUGAS REMIDI DAN PERBAIKAN NILAI UAS KIMIA KELAS XI DAN XII 2016-2017

Ajinomoto Adopts Eco-Friendly Recycling Method for Bottled Coffee

Copyright Ajinomoto General Foods, Inc.

Ajinomoto General Foods, Inc. (AGF), a major Japanese manufacturer of food and beverage products, announced on November 21, 2011, that it would introduce polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles recycled from used PET bottles utilizing what it calls a "PET bottle-to-PET bottle" recycling method. AGF started gradual introduction of the plastic bottles nicknamed "Friendly Bottles" for all of the main Blendy bottled coffee products in February 2012.
About 90 percent of used PET bottles were recycled to low-quality materials such as egg boxes and trays for food. However, the new method, the world's only chemical recycling technology, will make it possible to chemically dissolve used PET bottles into PET material, refine the material into PET resin, and produce PET bottles of identical quality to new ones that are from petroleum-derived materials.
With this technology, the use of oil-based PET raw materials will be reduced by about 60 percent annually. Additionally, the energy impact assessed by the *Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) method will decrease by about 20 percent annually compared to conventional PET bottles, thereby positively contributing to recycling-oriented society.
*LCI analysis is a technique to quantitatively compile, evaluate and interpret environmental impacts associated with all the stages of a product's life from manufacture to use and disposal.
Suntory Completes Japanese Industry's First B-to-B Recycling System for PET Bottles (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/pages/031145.html
Coca-Cola Japan to Introduce Sugarcane-based PET Bottles for Its Beverages (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/pages/029801.html
Posted: 2012/04/28 06:00:15 AM

Rise in Awareness of Electricity Conservation, Home Solar Power Systems Seen after Earthquake in Japan

Image by okadots. Some Rights Reserved.


Housing Company, part of the Sekisui Chemical Group, released on August 18, 2011, the results of its post-disaster survey targeting owners of photovoltaic (PV) power generation systems. In the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake in March, having encountered power supply failures and rolling blackouts in many areas, respondents showed that they had greater awareness the capacity of their PV systems to provide a supply of electricity for their own use on fine weather days. (The systems are normally set to provide power directly to the power grid instead of for the owner's own use.)

According to the survey, 80 percent of respondents "knew how to use a PV system in the stand-alone mode," while those who actually switched to this mode accounted for 67 percent in quake-hit areas and 33 percent in areas hits by rolling blackouts. Among those who used the stand-alone mode, the majority (86%) said used the power to charge mobile phones, followed by rice cookers (51%), and televisions (40%). Some also reported that sharing electricity with neighbors contributed to better neighbourly relations.

Meanwhile, the Group's Housing Environment Institute released on August 22, 2011, the results of its survey on awareness and electricity conservation behavior of PV users after the earthquake. The results show that more people were eager to save electricity afterwards compared to the same survey conducted before the quake, in January 2011.

The survey also showed (1) that people tended to more actively try to save electricity after the earthquake; (2) that compared with the general population, PV users reported having lower stress about power-saving efforts and saved most power at peak power consumption times of the day; (3) that interest in PVs has been increasing, especially in eastern Japan; and (4) that interest in storage batteries and learning life skills for power-saving have been boosted.

Sekisui Chemical Achieves Record with Home Photovoltaic Installations (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/pages/026771.html

MENYONGSONG UN 2011/2012

Rabu, 21 Desember 2011

Selamat datang UN 2011/2012. Marilah kita songsong dan kita siapkan sedini mungkin dan seoptimal dan semaksimal mungkin, baik secara materi, fisik, mental maupun strategis.

Ujian Nasional (UN) SMA tahun pelajaran 2011/2012 akan diselenggarakan besok tanggal 16 s.d. 19 Aril 2011.

Untuk menyongsong UN tersebut, BSNP telah menerbitkan dokumen-dokumen penting yang berhubungan dengan UN tersebut. Anda semua dapat men-download dokumen tersebut di bawah ini :

1. Permendikbud  No. 59 Tahun 2011 tentang UN
2. POS UN tahun 2011/2012
3. SK-BSNP tentang Kisi-kisi UN 2011/2012
4. Presentasi Sosialisasi UN 2011/2012
5. Tanya Jawab Seputar UN 2011/2012
Semoga bermanfaat

New Way to Convert CO2 into Methanol

Scientists are continuously working on to find an alternative to fossil fuels. We are familiar with the side effects of fossil fuels and its impact on environment. Right now the fossil fuels seem to be necessary evil we can’t do without. Scientists want alternative fuels that have none of the ill effects of traditional fuels.

For a long time researchers are eying the carbon dioxide as an alternative fuel. Because carbon dioxide emanation is a hotly-debated global issue. This gas is held responsible for greenhouse effect that in turn is causing irreversible climate change. Human beings are responsible for carbon dioxide emissions. This gas is produced when we use fossil fuels. This is not the exact figure but carbon dioxide’s amount is increasing in earth’s atmosphere by more than 30% since the industrial revolution. According to estimates of The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) the world requires to reduce the global carbon dioxide by 60% in order to stabilize it at present-day levels.

Scientific researches are focusing on solutions that reduce global warming. Presently there is one popular term known as “green chemistry” which aims at minimizing or altogether eliminating the use of hazardous substances to prevent environmental pollution. Scientists at the Singapore-based Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) are striving to make the mass production of methanol more cost-effective. This will result in reducing the amount of carbon dioxide released in the earth’s atmosphere. Scientists at the Singapore-based Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) have achieved an unparalleled feat by transforming carbon dioxide into methanol. Methanol is a widely used form of industrial feedstock and clean-burning biofuel.

Their main achievement was using “organocatalysts” and making the whole process non-toxic to produce the more useful chemical compound. Professor Jackie Y. Ying who is IBN executive director of the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology shares his views, “We are innovating effective methods of generating clean energy using green chemistry and nanotechnology. In the face of environmental pollution, global warming and increasing demands on diminishing fossil fuel resources, we hope to provide a viable alternative energy option for industry, and effective sequestration and conversion of carbon dioxide.”

At the IBN, scientists successfully made carbon dioxide react with a stable organocatalyst called N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC). This reaction took place under mild conditions in dry air. Siti Nurhanna Riduan who is the senior lab officer at IBN explained about the experiment, “NHCs have shown tremendous potential for activating and fixing carbon dioxide. Our work can contribute towards transforming excess carbon dioxide in the environment into useful products, such as methanol.”

Further they used a combination of silica and hydrogen known as hydrosilane. Hydrosilane is added to the NHC-activated carbon dioxide, which is converted into methanol through hydrolysis. Dr Yugen Zhang who is the IBN team leader and principal research scientist elaborates about the intricacies of the chemical reaction, “Hydrosilane provides hydrogen, which bonds with carbon dioxide in a reduction reaction. This carbon dioxide reduction is efficiently catalyzed by NHCs even at room temperature. Methanol can be easily obtained from the product of the carbon dioxide reaction.”

A New Leading Process For CO2 to Methanol

Mitsui Chemical Inc. of Japan has decided to begin construction of a pilot plant for continued development of producing methanol from industrial CO2 effluent and photocatalyst produced hydrogen. Due to build starting in October of 2008 with completion next February the plant is expected to go into use in March of 2010, the plant’s annual yield would work out to be the U.S. equivalent of over 33,000 gallons.

The construction will be at the company’s Osaka facilities where some 150 to 160 tons of CO2 can be obtained. The new plant is based on the cooperative work of Mitsui and the Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth in Kyoto Japan. Mitsui has a nearly ten-year investment in the effort during the 1990s from which it is bringing a single unit photoelectrocatalyst hydrogen production technology. This process uses a highly efficient thin film, anatase titania photocatalyst that has a photon to current quantum efficiency of 60%. The yield of 220,000 pounds of methanol would need approximately 22% hydrogen by weight, some 48,400 pounds. Where the solar array will be installed isn’t discussed.


Mitsui Methanol Process Illustration

The CO2 side is from the Mitsui complex’s own process waste stream. The company makes the case that the cause of the research and investment is in mediation of CO2 emissions. It is a fully credible claim, yet the rise in petrochemical prices has to have a role in making the pilot investment worthwhile. The CO2 process is also based in results form the Research Institute’s “Chemical CO2 Immobilization Project.” Here Mitsui participated and took the research further with proprietary ultra high activity catalysts. This base research was in zinc oxide and copper catalysts that are upgraded to yield 44% efficiency for methane and 24% for ethylene from 82% of the carbon dioxide feed. This published rate does not deactivate the catalysts when operating in a pulsed bias.

The dollar investment is published at US$13.7 million or only $62.28 per annual gallon of capital cost. Without an operating expense it isn’t known how viable this venture might be, but the graph above notes that the output will be directed to valued added processes to yield things like olefins and aromatics.

The vague area is in the costs to sequester the CO2 and the use of the excess oxygen. It seems sensible that the unused 18% CO2 from the process would loop back in. The oxygen has value in O2 form and it’s a sure thing it won’t be vented as ozone.

Pilot plants are the first level scale up from the lab bench stage to check the real world practice and costs before trying an industrial sized plant. It’s quite interesting to see a number like less than $63.00 of capital costs even before the running expenses are factored in. What part of the capital costs would be the instrumentation that would not go forward to industrial sized builds isn’t known nor the other special one off costs that come from a first build.

What is illustrated is that in Japan at least, the sense that CO2 can be recycled back into the petrochemical stream is a viable idea that merits engineering and construction investments. It’s also noteworthy that they understand the importance of providing a source of hydrogen to maximize the product yield. The 82% CO2 used number is just outstanding. This is a much better concept than the US effort to somehow sequester and bury CO2. A few months ago the U.S. dropped a coal plant sequestration effort as it was simply too expensive. It is much smarter to make use of the value in the waste CO2 than try to make another kind of “landfill” for CO2. CO2 actually has value, as any green plant can tell you, and when processed up to a value added product it can stop being a topic of such contention.

Cornell Study Shows Shale Gas Has Much Larger Greenhouse Gas Emissions Than Coal and Oil

By Nathanael Baker on April 12, 2011



A forthcoming study [pdf] from Cornell University may dash the growing reputation natural gas has acquired as the "clean" burning fossil fuel.

According to research conducted by Robert Howarth, Renee Santoro, and Anthony Ingraffea, greenhouse gas emissions produced by natural gas derived from unconventional sources, primarily hydraulic fracturing, are significantly higher than that of conventional gas, coal, and oil.


Methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, is a significant component of natural gas. The authors estimate that between 30% and 200% more methane is emitted from shale gas produced from hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, wells. Hydraulic fracturing requires injecting pressurized water into rock formations to crack them open and harvest the gas encased within them. The majority of the methane escapes in the water as it flows back out, and then later, when the rock is further drilled open to extract the gas reserves.

Howarth and his team state the greenhouse gas footprint of shale gas is substantially greater than conventional gas and oil, and coal, especially when viewed over a 20-year time period. "Compared to coal, the footprint of shale gas is at least 20% greater and perhaps more than twice as great on the 20-year horizon and is comparable when compared over 100 years."

With the United States sitting on the largest known reserve of shale gas, the energy source has quickly won a host of powerful supporters. Oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens has called natural gas the only energy source which can reduce emissions while supplying an answer to the country's quest for energy independence.

Pickens has revamped his Pickens' Plan -- a blueprint to transition America from foreign fossil fuels to clean energy sources -- so that it almost exclusively focuses on natural gas development. Currently he is pressing American lawmakers to pass the NAT GAS Act which would provide federal incentives for natural gas, while failing to fund other alternative fuels. Last week the NAT GAS Act was introduced in Congress.

Pickens states the President is supportive of this bill, and he may very well be right. President Obama has insisted it is time for America to eliminate its dependence on foreign oil. Although the President concedes it will take a myriad of energy sources to provide the nation with energy independence, natural gas appears to be the most tantalizing at the moment.

When he recently unveiled his own blueprint for energy independence the President placed particular emphasis on natural gas: "Recent innovations have given us the opportunity to tap large reserves -- perhaps a century's worth -- in the shale under our feet. The potential here is enormous."

The energy potential may be enormous, but likewise so are the environmental liabilities. The Cornell study, which will be published this month in the peer-reviewed journal Climatic Change, asserts that life-cycle emissions produced by hydraulic fracturing have not thoroughly been examined. Even more, Congressmen as well as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) assert other environmental hazards such as dealing with the toxic flow-back water still need to be addressed. Multiple communities have reported drinking water contamination as a result of the toxic waste being injected into nearby water streams.

A recent New York Times investigative report show the politics around regulating hydraulic fracturing have existed since the Reagan administration. The EPA is currently conducting a study of the environmental impacts posed by fracking, but nevertheless, this latest study will likely add more fuel to the controversy surrounding one of the most popular new energy sources in the world.

Image credit: COTO Report

How to Convert Switchgrass to Ethanol

By Joshua Smyth, eHow Contributor
updated: October 18, 2010


This field could fill your gas tank.
field image by Marek Kosmal from Fotolia.com

Biofuels such as ethanol are compounds derived from plants that can be used to fuel internal-combustion engines such as those in cars and small machinery. Creating these fuels from plants can reduce the environmental and political problems caused by a reliance on oil. Although much ethanol production, especially in the United States, comes from corn, switchgrass is a promising alternative. It is a North American native grass that can grow on marginal land without the extensive inputs that corn or sugar cane require, and it produces a much better energy yield. Making ethanol from switchgrass, though, is a challenging process.

Things You'll Need:

• Switchgrass seeds
• Field
• Harvesting machinery
• Refining tanks
• Cellulase enzymes
• Yeast

Plant switchgrass seeds during the spring planting season. Unlike many other crops, switchgrass is a wild grass that doesn't need special care or fertilizer inputs. It can be planted on marginal land that wouldn't support food or staple crops.

Harvest the switchgrass in the autumn after the first frost kill. The switchgrass must be mowed down and then baled. Since producing enough switchgrass to usefully refine involves large fields of the plant, the harvest must be done with farm equipment. This involves using a tractor with a mowing attachment to cut down the switchgrass, and then using a towed or self-propelled baler to gather it into bales.

Process the switchgrass for refining. The bales of harvested grass must be chopped into smaller pieces to accelerate the process of enzymatic hydrolysis (adding water and special enzymes) that will convert the cellulose in the switchgrass to sugars.

Mix the chopped switchgrass with water in a large tank and add cellulosic enzymes that can digest the cellulose into sugars that can be refined to ethanol. The major source of these enzymes is Novozymes, a Danish company that specializes in agricultural biochemistry. The cost of these enzymes is the major stumbling block to economically viable switchgrass ethanol production. To be economically viable, a refining operation needs to be able to handle 5,000 to 10,000 tons of grass each day.

Remove the processed cellulose from the water and add special yeasts, which should be available from the same supplier as the enzymes. The yeast will refine the sugars in the water into ethanol, in a process similar to wine production.

Distill the ethanol from resulting liquid by boiling the water off and collecting the ethanol in a separate tank. To distill pure ethanol, benzene or cyclohexane must be added to the mixture. These chemicals bind to and remove the last small bits of water from the distillate. Some processing operations use special microscopic filters instead. If trying this on your own, always check local regulations on home alcohol distillation, as ethanol is a type of alcohol.

Tips /Warnings

• Producing economically viable ethanol from switchgrass involves large planted areas and large refineries. Doing this at home will likely produce quantities too small to be useful, but can be an interesting experiment.
• Governments and private companies are researching cheaper and better enzymes to refine switchgrass; until a better one is found, commercial production beyond test plants is unlikely.

References
Harvest Clean Energy: Creating Cellulosic Ethanol: Spinning Straw into Fuel
Wired Magazine: Cellulosic Ethanol: One Molecule Could Cure Our Addiction to Oil
Iowa Switchgrass: Harvesting
Home Distillation of Alcohol: Theory

Read more: How to Convert Switchgrass to Ethanol | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_7356509_convert-switchgrass-ethanol.html#ixzz14tPAHVqB

How to Make Ethanol Alcohol

By Amanda Kondolojy, eHow Contributor
updated: August 20, 2009




Make Ethanol Alcohol


Agrospace

Ethanol alcohol is a great gasoline additive that will help you increase your car's fuel efficiency. If you own a car that can handle E-85, then ethanol alcohol can be used as 85% of this gas alternative. However, before you attempt to make ethanol alcohol for your own personal use, make sure to consult your local law professional, as it is illegal in many states to produce your own ethanol for automotive use without a special permit.

Things You'll Need:

• Ethanol distiller
• Water boiler
• Alpha amylase
• Glucoamylase
• Yeast
• Grain
• Water
• Plastic barrel

Decide on a commonly available feedstock for the ethanol. This can be any type of grain, including rice, corn or soybeans. Once you have decided on the feedstock, grind it up and then weigh it.

Find out how much water your boiler can handle. Then go to the ethanol materials calculator at The Ethanol Source (see Resources) and plug in the weight of your materials as well as your boiler's capacity to find out how much yeast and sugar you will need.

Add alpha amylase enzyme in the proper proportions to the measured water and feedstock. Boil this mixture for an hour to kill any bacteria. Remove the mixture from heat and then add glucoamylase.

Add yeast to the mixture and store in a covered plastic barrel. Leave it for 3 to 5 days to ferment. Because Ethanol is flammable, it is best to leave this outside is a protected area.

After fermentation is complete, put the mixtrure through a distiller to remove excess water from the mixture. Once the distillation process is complete, store the ethanol in a plastic container in a protected area.

Tips / Warnings

• It is very important to obtain an ethanol-producing license before attempting these steps.
• Make sure you have proper containment facilities before you make the ethanol, as it is very flammable.

Resources
Resource Calculator at The Ethanol Source

Japanese Institute Succeeds in Extracting 'Green Crude Oil' from Blue-Green Algae

Copyright Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry

As a project funded under NEDO's "Grant for Industrial Technology Research Program", NEDO and the Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (CRIEPI) in Japan announced on March 17, 2010, that Hideki Kanda, Chief Scientist of CRIEPI, successfully developed a method to extract a high yield of "green crude oil" from blue-green algae at room temperature using liquefied dimethyl ether (DME).

Green crude oil is a general term for oily substances in the cells of microalgae, and there has been some ongoing trial utilization of the substance as an alternative to petroleum for fuel. Traditional methods to extract green crude oil pose some problems because of their complex steps, such as drying, breaking cell walls, and using and removing toxic solvents, which require considerable energy.

The method was developed to overcome these problems by taking advantage of liquefied DME's unique ability to mix with water and oil. Because it can dewater blue-green algae and extract oils from it concurrently at room temperature, the amount of energy required for dewatering and drying can be reduced drastically when compared to conventional methods. In addition, with no organic solvents required for extraction, the process has the potential to be a low-cost and environment-friendly method of extraction. CRIEPI successfully extracted over 60 times more green crude oil (based on the dry blue-green algae weight) in its experiments than traditional methods.

The practical application of this liquefied DME extraction process needs further basic experiments using various algae and development of the technology that can concentrate green crude oil in DME. CRIEPI plans to conduct further experiments and improve this new method.

Successful Extraction of "Green Crude Oil" from Blue-Green Algae

http://criepi.denken.or.jp/en/activities/pressrelease/
2010/03_17.html
http://criepi.denken.or.jp/en/activities/pressrelease/
2010/03_17.pdf

Hemicellulose-Degrading Bacterium Isolated from Livestock Feces

Copyright NILGS

Japan's National Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science (NILGS), National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, announced on August 4, 2010, that it had successfully isolated an extremely thermophilic anaerobic xylan-degrading bacterium from sheep feces through joint research with the University of Georgia in the United States. This bacterium can even grow at temperatures above 70 degrees Celsius and degrade xylan, a component of hemicelluloses included in straw and other agricultural waste. This is the world's first isolation of thermophilic anaerobic bacterium whose growth rate is highest at or above 65 degrees Celsius, from livestock feces.

The research group inoculated sheep feces into a culture medium containing xylan, cultured it at 74 degrees Celsius in anaerobic conditions, and then isolated the new xylan-degrading bacterium. Growing on xylan as a source of carbon and energy, the bacterium can degrade various kinds of xylan such as xylans from beech or oak trees to xylose which can be used in making biofuel. Its growth ranges are 44 to 77 degree Celsius (70 degrees Celsius is the optimal temperature) and pH 5.9 to 8.6 (optimum 7.2) in anaerobic conditions.

The bacterium was named Caldicoprobacter oshimai and certified as a new family. A family is positioned above a genus, which is above a species. The bacterium strain was sent to the ATCC and DSMA, located in the USA and Germany, respectively. The strain can be used for nonprofit purposes.

NILGS expects that the new bacterium will promote the use of previously unused biomass such as straw as biofuel, and also be used as a new genetic resource.

National Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science official website
http://nilgs.naro.affrc.go.jp/index-e.html

SOLAR HYDROGEN POWER FOR HOMES

 by Bruce Mulliken, Green Energy News

Utility companies need not lose any sleep: It will be a long time before significant numbers of homeowners in the industrial world will be able to disconnect from the grid. While the cost of generating power from intermittent renewables, such as solar and small wind, may be dropping (with generous government incentives to help), the cost of storing power is still prohibitively high. If intermittent renewable energy can’t be stored then the power cable between home and grid can’t be disconnected.

(Lucky the developing world, though. Where there is no power grid, the norm of the future may be to install independent home generating stations rather than build a formal power grid infrastructure. If so, the developing world will have the green state-of-the-art power system while the industrial world will keep its outdated, inefficient, dirty, centralized power distribution system.)

Batteries, for the time being, are currently in the forefront of energy storage for homes. But, Sun Catalytix of Cambridge, Massachusetts thinks a better solution would be to use electricity from solar photovoltaic panels to split water into hydrogen and oxygen and store both gases in tanks to be fed into a fuel cell to generate power (and perhaps heat) when the Sun drops below the horizon. Solar energy plus energy storage in the form of hydrogen and oxygen would equal an off-grid, personalized energy system.

Daniel Nocera, Ph.D. in discussing his work on solar hydrogen systems at Sun Catalytix, and his day job at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said at the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, "Our goal is to make each home its own power station. We're working toward development of 'personalized' energy units that can be manufactured, distributed and installed inexpensively. There certainly are major obstacles to be overcome — existing fuel cells and solar cells must be improved, for instance. Nevertheless, one can envision villages in India and Africa not long from now purchasing an affordable basic system."

A new catalyst could help speed development of inexpensive home-brewed solar energy systems for powering homes and plug-in cars during the day (left) and for producing electricity from a fuel cell at night (right).
Credit: Patrick Gillooly/MIT

With stored pure oxygen in tanks being used to feed the fuel cell, the power plant is bound to be more efficient than a typical hydrogen fuel cell which would use oxygen from the surrounding air to combine with hydrogen to generate electricity. Air, after all, is only about 21 percent oxygen. With 100 percent oxygen a fuel cell should work very well. Nocera’s work is to improve the oxygen generation capabilities of electrolyzers which split water. His low-cost catalysts wouldn’t require expensive platinum and would be able to boost oxygen production by 200 times. That’s a lot of oxygen.

Still, as much as solar-hydrogen-oxygen power systems seem appealing they would have to be made safe. Storing oxygen is dangerous business. Pure oxygen in itself doesn’t burn, and is not considered a flammable gas. Oxygen, however, does support – with great gusto – the burning of other substances. It’s the oxygen component in air that makes things combust or oxidize. Oxygen stored in tanks must always be treated with caution. Pure oxygen and hydrogen are fuels of rocket engines, by the way.

If the Nocera/Sun Catalytix catalyst works well and gas storage can be made safe, then this energy storage could be a competitor to batteries, provided hydrogen fuel cells, too, come down in cost. Using pure oxygen instead of air should allow the fuel cell stack – the core of a fuel cell – to be smaller thus decrease its cost.

Links

Sun Catalytix
http://www.suncatalytix.com

American Chemical Society
http://www.acs.org

PLASTOLEUM ( Plastic to oil)

MUTHUKUMARAN VENKATACHALAPATHY
VILLUPURAM, TAMIL NADU INDIA

Sustainable Technologies
Jun 7, 2010


Petroleum and plastic cannot be explained discretely, as plastic is nothing but one of the many useful products derived by processing petroleum. Plastic is obtained when crude petroleum is processed and treated with a few other additives. This would basically make plastic a polymer of hydrocarbon with few other elements.

If plastic can be made from hydrocarbons they can also be reverted back into oil. This has already been proven by experiments and trials have also come out fruitful.We intend to propose a processing unit to use this waste and get some fuel. The pros in this are two fold. First being reducing environmental pollution to a great extent and second, to get more of the black gold, both of which are the dire needs of the hour.

Degradation of polymer in plastic occurs when the long chain of monomers breaks at certain points. Plastic waste can be converted into liquid hydrocarbons by random de-polymerisation. The process is carried out in a specially designed reactor in the absence of oxygen and with Zadgaonkar’s catalytic additive and Solar furnaces.
Maximum reaction temperature is 350deg C and there is total conversion of waste plastic into value-added fuel products.

The intended technology shall use a process called catalytic pyrolysis and infrared source with different range of frequencies (backup), which can act on hydrocarbon materials to efficiently convert plastics to crude oil. Forced air, heated by solar furnaces/burner, shall be used to indirectly heat the feedstock inside the process vessel. The energy transferred to the plastic feedstock from the burner shall be used to depolymerise, or crack, the plastic into synthetic crude oil.

Oil shall be chromatographically removed from the waste plastic and aggregated from several vessels for on-site micro-refinement.A single module is expected to produce up to >750 litres of crude oil for every ton of typical plastic waste processed. System capacity can range from 200 tons to 400 tons of plastic wastes processed per month.

The natural gas and sludge left over after oil extraction from plastic waste shall be used to run the (backup) far infrared ray heating system that breaks down the plastic fed into the generator. This technology is extremely safe. And because the system does not incinerate the plastic, there is little cleanup involved and there are virtually no emissions.The technology shall be capable of breaking down any plastic waste into oil, though some plastics may produce more oil than others.

A reactor shall convert waste plastic feedstock into oil through low temperature thermal cracking (Using Solar furnaces) in a vacuum, extracting the hydrocarbons embedded in petroleum-based plastic waste with the use of a catalyst. Some of the by-products of the conversion process may be made use to power the unit. Vent gas may be recycled to provide electricity and excess oil residue is transformed into emulsified heavy oil.This is carbon negative as an oil producer and the CO2 released by the reactor shall be minimal.All types of plastics can be transformed into oil using this technology.

Ethanol for Alternative Fuel

Ethanol can generate energy when used in internal combustion engines similar to gasoline. Ethanol fuel is the same type of alcohol that people drink. A renewable biofuel alternative for internal combustion engines it is one of the most adopted biofuels in existance. The United States and Brazil produced 89% of the world’s ethanol in recent years. Ethanol can be produced large scale using fermented sugar or hydrating ethlene. It can even be made from petroleum. It is extremely simply to manufacture ethanol from common crops. There is an additional source of ethanol being developed that will produce it from algae.

The most common production fuel is crops that could otherwise be used as food such as sugar cane and corn. This has led to concerns over using ethanol as a fuel because of the impact it has the global markets for certain crops. Cellulosic ethanol is a new experimental form of ethanol that aims to alleviate this concern.
Cellulosic ethanol can be made using any plant material. This means an expansion in the types of crops and waste of agriculture that can be used to produce ethanol. When this new form of ethanol production is perfeted ethanol could become very widely adopted as the primary concerns over the fuel source will be eliminated.
As additional bonus to using any biofuel like ethanol is that the carbon emissions during combustion are negated or nearly canceled out by the carbon uptake during the crop growth. Future biofuels such as fourth generation biofuels might even be carbon negative taking in more carbon during production than is expended with use.
There is no doubt that ethanol is a viable alternative and renewable energy fuel. However, there are some things to keep in mind. Let’s recap the advantages and disadvantages of ethanol fuel.
Pros of Ethanol Fuel
* Using crops as an energy source makes ethanol a renewable energy.
* Vehicles have been sucessfully converted to ethanol.
* Cellulosic ethanol will solve the food market problems ethanol has.
Cons of Ethanol Fuel
* Not very resistant to water contamination and can be corrosive.
* Cellulosic ethanol hasn’t been completed yet so the food crop problems still exist.

Plastic to Energy

Plastic can be used for energy in a few different ways. The most obvious way and one you’re probably quite familiar with is recycling. This saves tons of energy in the form of materials and labor used to harvest them. However, what I’m more concerned about for this article is converting plastic into oil and using synthetic oils to create plastic. Both of these are relatively new concepts that have only been tested in laboratory settings. Commercial scale operations are still quite a ways off. With the abundance of plastic that ends up in landfills and the ocean though this could be a great new alternative energy source. Especially if oil created from waste plastic could be refined to produce gasoline and other useful hydrocarbons.

First let’s talk about converting plastic into oil.
There are a handful of facilities that produce oil from waste plastics and they all use different techniques. One company is using catalytic pyrolysis to convert plastics. A single “module” or building unit can produce over 700 litres of oil out of every ton of plastic waste that is processed. The entire system can process between 200 and 400 tons in a month so there is a considerable amount of oil that can be obtained. If more plastic needs to be converted then additional buildings can be built. The system is designed to be self contained so additional units can be built for expansion.
Here is a video fly through of a waste plastics to bio oil facility located in Korea. Skip ahead to one minute where the actual facility part starts. Although it’s lacking descriptions it is pretty clear what the process is.

Creating plastic with synthetic oil or artificial oils.
This is a very new technique that is only just starting to be used for commercial development of oil and plastics. The idea behind it is actually quite simple. Biomass with specific bacteria added will break down into gasoline or diesel fuel. Overall the goal is to eventually be able to produce a variety of hydrocarbons which plastics could be made from. Right now the company that is bringing this into production plans to have products on the market by the second quarter of 2009.
In addition to creating plastic from synthetic oil there have been a variety of attempts to replace plastic with other materials. For example, a company is using wood sawdust chemically altered to produce a plastic like material. Cullulose has been used to create plastic bottles and bags that are also biodegradable. All of these technologies will have a place in replacing and updating our ideas of what plastic should be used for.

Fourth Generation Biofuels

Fourth generation biofuels is a term that I’ve seen presented as various different technologies so it’s hard to really define exactly what these fuels are. One definition of a fourth generation biofuel is crops that are genetically engineered to consume more CO2 from the atmosphere than they’ll produce during combustion later as a fuel. Another definition is genetically engineered crops similar to the ones just mentioned but combined with synthesized microbes that will convert the biofuels produced into even more efficient fuel. For example a plant could be grown then converted into a fuel which is then exposed to a microbe that changes it directly into gasoline. Yet another definition is genetically modified or synthesized microbes that convert CO2 in the atmosphere directly into usable fuels.
With all these different definitions of what a fourth generation biofuel is its no wonder that it can be so hard to find a solid explaination. The answer is that no one really knows what a fourth generation biofuel is yet except everyone seems to agree it involves genetic modifications.
However, even though it involves genetic modifications that can’t be the sole definition. Let me recap the different biofuel generations for you. First generation biofuels are the fuels currently in use such as biodiesel. Second generation biofuels are similar fuels but produced from non-food crops. Third generation biofuels are genetically modified crops that capture more CO2 from the atmosphere resulting in a carbon neutral fuel. This third generation is why fourth generation has to be more than simply genetically modified crops. So, what is a fourth generation biofuel then? I would define a fourth generation biofuel as biofuels that result in a negative carbon impact when combusted.
Since third generation biofuels result in a carbon neutral impact and many examples of a fourth generation biofuel mention more carbon being consumed than is released during use this seems like a suitable definition.
The idea of a carbon negative biofuel is an extremely good one if you’re concerned about the effects of global warming due to CO2 levels in our atmosphere. Not only would it allow us to have a renewable non-food crop based biofuel for various uses but also cut down on global warming so it’s a sort of double whammy. I’m personally not convinced global warming is due to increased CO2 levels but it’s good to know there are viable solutions already reaching laboratory enviornments and not just stuck in theory.

Solar Electrical Power

Solar electrical power works by the conversion of light into other forms of energy. When you think of solar power the first thing that comes to mind is probably solar panels being used to generate electricity. This is known as photovoltaics. However, solar power is used for a lot more than just generating electricity.
Solar power has been used throughout human history for a variety of things:
* Heat engines: Concentrating light to generate heat to drive an engine.
* Space heating: Converting light to heat and trapping it inside buildings.
* Water distillation: Purification of water using evaporation.
* Water heating: Converting light to heat for warming water.
* Photovoltaics: Conversion of light to electricity for a variety of uses.

We’ll be focusing on how photvoltaics work here as I imagine that’s what you’re most interested in. More specifically our focus will be photovoltatic panels. There are in fact multiple types of photovoltaic energy sources though. So, what is a photovoltaic solar cell (PV cell) and how does it convert light to electricity? Quite simply they rely on the photoelectric effect. This is a quantum electronic phenomenon where electrons are emitted from matter after electromagnetic radiation is absorbed. Light is a form of electromagnetic radiation.

Light hits the solar panel and is absorbed by a semiconducting material like silicon. Some of the light is reflected back and lost but a special layer designed to reflect light back at the cell recovers some. Electrons (negative charged) come loose from their atoms (photoelectric effect) allowing them to flow through the material.
Solar panels have a special composition that only allows these electrons to move in a single direction. Now that this negatively charged electron has come loose in its place is a positive charged “electron hole” which flows in the opposite direction. The electron and “electron hole” move in their respective directions until reaching metal plates which are connected. This action creates direct current electricity.
The amount of knowledge that goes into understanding all the details of how solar power works could fill a book and many books exist that cover them more extensively. Check out the environmental impact of solar power as well. However, the above information covers all the basics of know about how photovolatic panels work. If you want to learn more about how solar panels work wikipedia has an excellent detailed explaination that goes very far into the science of each individual part.
I hope you’ve found my explaination helpful and have learned something here today. If you’re interested in other forms of photovoltaic energy you should look up concentrating photovoltaics (CPV) or fresnel lens sterling engines.

Bio Butanol Fuel

Bio butanol fuel can generate energy when used in internal combustion engines similar to gasoline. However, for a variety of reasons it may actually be better than gas. First, let’s talk about compatibility with existing vehicles though. The air to fuel mixture ratio is 11.2 compared to gasoline which is 14.7. The energy content of Butanol is 105,000 Btu per gallon compared to gasoline’s 114,000 Btu per gallon. This similarity between air to fuel miuxture and energy content means conversion of existing vehicles would be very simple.

You can mix Butanol with gasoline in small ratios and use it in most unmodified vehicles meaning even without a direct Butanol conversion you can use it as a fuel source. This would be a great way to use an alternative fuel in your car without needing to purchase anything but the fuel.

Production of biobutanol can be achieved using biomass as well as from fossil fuels. There is no chemical difference between biobutanol or petrobutanol. It is even possible to create biobutanol using solar energy with the help of algae or diatoms.

Butanol tolerates water contamination and is less corrosive than other gasoline alternatives. Additionally, because of its low vapor pressure point and a high flash point Butanol is safe to handle, transport, and use at high temperatures.

There are some problems with the use of butanol as a energy source. Let’s recap both the positives and negatives of butanol as a fuel.

Pros of Butanol

* Can be produced using a few renewable energy sources.
* Simply conversion to adapt gasoline vehicles.
* Safer and easier to implement than other gasoline alternatives.

Negatives of Butanol

* Requires a fuel flow increase in order to make up for the roughly 10% decrease in energy content compared to gasoline.
* Some fuel systems won’t run butanol without some modification except at low ratios to gasoline.
* Gas gauge will probably read wrong either positive or negative.
* Exhaust from combustion of butanol is more toxic than normal.

The current energy landscape means that butanol will probably be reserved as a fuel source except if we were to run out of oil/gasoline supplies. However, it is an interesting alternative fuel and a renewable one at that.

Nuclear Waste: Solved

By Nick Hodge |

Comment on this Article

Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010

Glass has been on the minds of many lately.

For a while yesterday, “Gorilla Glass” was the most popular search trend on Google, after Corning (NYSE: GLW) began touting the shelved 1962 invention.

Until now, there's been no market for the super-strong glass that's hard to break, dent, or scratch, and that's three times stronger than chemically strengthened soda-lime glass when half as thick.

Analysts say the product is about to undergo a multi-billion dollar bonanza as electronics companies buy tons of it to make frameless TVs thinner than a dime.

And that's not even the most exciting glass story hitting the wire...

Advertisement

The $54 Billion Cleantech Surprise... No News Outlet Covered

You won't see the full story reported on CNBC, MSNBC, or even FoxNews.

But tucked away in the southwestern corner of Idaho, a $35 million power company prepares to announce the greatest advancement in the history of nuclear power... and with it, instantly receive billions of dollars in federal funding.

By the time their news hits the press, however, early investors could easily pocket as much $32,000.

Click here for the full story.

---

Secretive startup turns nuclear waste into glass

Bill Gates has said we need “energy miracles.” And he's poured millions into developing a nuclear reactor that can run on depleted uranium for up to 100 years without fueling.

As Gates works on the reactor side, another company is taking on the waste.

Kurion, widely described as a secretive startup, has developed a way to store nuclear waste in glass or ceramics through a process called vitrification.

The technology could bring the United States into the 21^st century regarding nuclear waste. (We've been doing it the same way — with the same worries — for over half a century.)

And the company has street cred: CEO John Raymont spent 25 years at a nuclear waste management company that was acquired by EnergySolutions (NYSE: ES) in 2007, and VP of technology is Gaetan Bonhomme, formerly of glass behemoth Saint-Gobain.

The advisory board counts both Patrick Moore — founder of Greenpeace — and former Governor Christine Todd Whitman as members.

In a very real and profitable way, nuclear energy is entering a new era. If Obama's $58 billion in loan guarantees to build new plants didn't give it away, the presence of names like Gates, Whitman, and Moore should.

And while you can't get a piece of Gates' venture, TerraPower, or Kurion just yet, I've found an equally exciting opportunity that everyone can get a piece of — but that's being suppressed by major news outlets.

Nuclear's next big name

Only a few companies are unequivocally associated with nuclear power: Areva and Westinghouse, to name two.

The next company that'll reach this status trades for just $0.65, and only a handful of well-informed investors are paying attention to it.

But the three things I'm about to tell you will soon give it a very high profile; a Bloom-Energy-on-60-Minutes type profile.

First, it's signed on with a well-known nuclear company to manufacture and distribute portable nuclear reactors. They can be taken almost anywhere on a flatbed truck to create large amounts of power in remote or grid isolated locations.

Second, it's signed an exclusive deal with a Chinese nuclear corporation to sell nuclear desalination reactors on a global scale, and has already received interest from dozens of countries.

Third, the company will soon be listed on a major U.S. exchange, like the NASDAQ or NYSE.

But the biggest catalyst of all — the one that could send this stock from penny oblivion to a household name — is the one that no news source is fully reporting.

And that's why I've penned a full investor briefing on the company.

I want you to learn about changes coming to the nuclear industry. I want you to learn about what the media isn't telling the public.

But most importantly, I want you to learn more about this company before the story is blown wide open.

Call it like you see it,

Nick

Salt Bridge, Baterai Organik dari Kentang Rebus

Seandainya wilayah pegunungan Dieng belum terlistriki, mungkin masyarakat di sana bisa menerapkan terobosan yang dibuat oleh ilmuwan-ilmuwan di Yissum Research Development Company Ltd., sebuah perusahaan yang berfungsi untuk mengkomersialisasikan teknologi hasil riset Hebrew University di Jerusalem.

Perusahaan tersebut memperkenalkan baterai organik hasil riset para peneliti di Hebrew University yang dibuat dari kentang dan telah mendapatkan perlakuan khusus guna meningkatkan kemampuannya dalam menghubungkan oksidasi dan reduksi dalam sel galvanik atau biasa disebut salt bridge.

Profesor Haim D. Rabinowitch dari Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, mahasiswa riset Alex Golberg dari School of Computer Science and Engineering, keduanya dari Hebrew University, bersama dengan Profesor Boris Rubinsky dari University of California di Berkeley, pada dasarnya bermaksud mempelajari proses elektrolitik yang terjadi pada organisme hidup untuk diterapkan pada berbagai aplikasi.

Dalam risetnya mereka mendapati bahwa menggunakan seng dan tembaga yang dipasang pada kentang yang direbus menghasilkan listrik hingga 10 kali lipat dibanding kentang yang tidak direbus. Dari hasil analisa biaya, baterai kentang bisa lima hingga lima puluh kali lebih murah dari baterai komersial 1,5 Volt.

Jika Anda tertarik untuk mencobanya, silakan Anda melakukan sedikit eksperimen dengan berbagai jenis umbi-umbian atau buah-buahan, karena menurut para peneliti tersebut semuanya bisa menghasilkan listrik dengan syarat perlu diberikan perlakuan khusus terlebih dulu agar bisa menghasilkan listrik yang cukup besar.

Sumber : Planet Hijau