Tech for Good

2021-07-04 07:00:16 It is Sunday, and we are having our Week in Review. Check out if you've missed any of this week's good stuff:

Blown away to outer space - a hydrogen balloon that can take space adventurers to the stratosphere
Vanillin from plastic bottles - transforming plastic bottles into vanilla flavoring using genetically modified bacteria
GPS in a Shoe - Honda's in-shoe GPS navigation system to help the visually impaired
Old battery going to a dentist - revolutionizing the lithium-ion battery recycling process with high-intensity ultrasonication
Renewable water, please - hydropanels that create drinking water from the air using solar energy

If you like any of those, please share with anyone who could be interested.

And have a nice and safe weekend.

Your Tech for Good

#weeksummary Open / Comment

2021-07-02 07:00:11 ​Renewable water, please

Today let us talk about air to water generation technology. One of the most prominent companies in this sector is Arizona-based Zero Mass Water, founded by Cody Friesen, a professor at Arizona State University, in 2014. Since then, the company has attracted both adoration and criticism about its product.

Zero Mass Water manufactures its Source hydropanels that create drinking water from the air using solar energy. According to Cody Friesen, a Source hydropanel is "a thing that looks like a solar panel, but instead of electricity, it makes fine drinking water with sunlight and air only.”

The panel is powered by solar energy completely off-grid. Fans draw in ambient air and push it through a hygroscopic or water-absorbing material that traps water vapor from the air. The water vapor is extracted and passively condenses into a liquid that is collected in the reservoir. And then minerals are added to make drinking water.

On average, each Hydropanel produces 90-150 liters of drinking water per month. Water produced depends on humidity and the amount of solar energy at the place of installation. As water is created, an onboard, internet-connected sensor ensures that the water is ready to be consumed and safe to drink. Owners can monitor their system from a smartphone app.

The cost of this thing is $2000. That is where Zero Mass Water got the most criticism from seasoned water practitioners. They argue that the off-grid technology would be truly disruptive if it could generate greater volumes of water at a lower price point. The company, however, estimates the water Source produces over its projected 15-year lifespan nets out to 15 cents per liter.

On top of that, there is an argument that the panel gives consumers the ability to get rid of disposable plastic bottles. And protects them from the possibility of waterborne illnesses. These are estimated by the World Health Organization to be responsible for about 1.8 million deaths per year due to the lack of safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene. Especially in regions where safe water is not even available or where it is a constrained resource. Like in much of the Middle East, northern Africa, and the southwestern United States.

Solving that alone would be impressive enough. And the fact that Source hydropanels not only produce water but that they produce verifiably clean, drinkable water is huge.

Articles on CleanTechnica, AquaTech
Source website

#AGW #solar Open / Comment

2021-07-01 07:00:11 ​Old battery going to a dentist

The electric vehicle industry is booming. More and more car manufacturers are going all-in on this market, with new EV models and higher production volumes. That means more supply of the keystone component, lithium-ion batteries. To create a circular economy, sustainable for the planet and profitable for industry, we must focus on the entire life cycle of these batteries - from the mining of critical materials to battery manufacture to recycling. And it looks like we are soon going to revolutionize the recycling part.

Researchers at the University of Leicester have developed a new ground-breaking method to recycle EV batteries. It is called "ultrasonication" and many will have experienced their approach in the dentist's chair.

The project led by Professor Andy Abbott used ultrasonic waves to solve a critical challenge of battery recycling. That is how to separate out valuable materials (such as lithium, nickel, manganese, and cobalt) from electrodes so that the materials can be fully recovered from batteries at the end of their life.

Current methods for lithium-ion battery recycling typically feed end-of-life batteries into a shredder or high-temperature reactor. A complex set of physical and chemical processes are then needed to produce usable materials. These methods are energy-intensive and inefficient.

The alternative approach suggests that end-of-life batteries are disassembled rather than shredded, creating a potential to recover more valuable material. The ultrasonic delamination technique blasts the active materials from the electrodes leaving virgin aluminum or copper.

Professor Abbott says, "this novel procedure is 100 times quicker and greener than conventional battery recycling techniques and leads to higher purity of recovered materials. It is likely that the initial use of this technology will feed recycled materials straight back into the battery production line. This is a real step-change moment in battery recycling."

The research team is in initial discussions with several battery manufacturers to demonstrate the technology at an industrial site. They have tested it on the four most commonly used battery types and found that it performs with the same efficiency in each case.

Source: ScienceDaily
Detailed scientific publication in Green Chemistry journal

#recycle #EV Open / Comment

2021-06-30 07:00:07 ​GPS in a Shoe

Honda has created something beneficial, putting technology to great use. It is not a brand new car or jet, but it will assist in transportation nonetheless. A new Honda company called Ashirase has designed an in-shoe GPS navigation system to help the visually impaired.

The "Ashirase" looks like a sandal with a built-in three-dimensional vibration device and a motion sensor. The device slides into your shoes, hiding from external view, with a small, square white box jutting out front. Once you set the travel route on the app on your phone, Ashirase will guide you using vibrations for navigation. For example, it will use sensors to nudge you forward if you are in the right direction. If you have to take a right, the right side of your shoe will vibrate to make you turn right, and so on.

The idea is to help visually impaired people to focus on the noises around them while they are out for a walk, rather than have to listen to a voice from the navigation system. In short, this is Honda's attempt at including the visually impaired in the forever-progressing world of GPS, making sure they can "walk more safely" with a "more relaxed state of mind," as explained by CarScoops.

The navigation system was developed by Wataru Chino after one of his family members suffered an accident. That turned his attention to developing mobility devices for visually impaired people. He applied to Honda's accelerator program IGNITION. It allows Honda associates in Japan to submit ideas and proposals which could be commercialized within the company or through a startup venture.

The Ashirase system is a valuable idea, and Honda noted the number of people with a visual impairment only in Japan is expected to climb to nearly 2 million by 2030. The company expects to launch the device before March 31st, 2023, so it is not just a conceptual experiment.

Source: Hypebeast, CarScoops

#medical #startups Open / Comment

2021-06-29 07:00:09 Vanillin from plastic bottles

Humanity produces more than 380 million tonnes of plastic every year. Over 8 million tons of plastic waste escapes into our oceans. A team of researchers from the University of Edinburg has developed a solution to address this plastic problem. And it smells vanilla.

The scientists were able to transform plastic bottles into vanilla flavoring for the first time using genetically modified bacteria. The bacteria, E. coli, converts terephthalic acid into vanillin. Terephthalic acid is a molecule derived from polyethylene terephthalate (PET). This form of plastic created from non-renewable sources is commonly used to make plastic water bottles. The world generates 50 million tonnes of such waste every year. Current recycling techniques can only break it down into elements that continue to contribute to plastic pollution.

E.coli technique converts terephthalic acid to vanillin at an impressing rate of 79 percent. By adding bacteria to the degraded plastic waste, the scientists transformed an old plastic bottle into vanillin in demonstrations. The reaction is mild and occurs at room temperature. It requires no additional reagents and generates no hazardous waste. The Edinburg team claims the vanillin is fit for human consumption, but they need further tests to say for sure.

The food, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical industries, herbicides, antifoaming agents, cleaning products widely use vanillin. Global demand was over 37 000 tonnes in 2018. Analysts expect it to grow to 59 000 tonnes with a revenue forecast of $734 million by 2025.

The new biotechnological approach for its synthesis can help tackle the plastic waste crisis and enable a circular economy. And as the demand for vanillin far exceeds the supply from vanilla beans (‘natural vanillin’), this solution may also become economically attractive.

Sources: Interesting Engineering, Green Chemistry journal

#recycle #biotech Open / Comment