With many Filipinos still dependent on agriculture, the government faces the challenge of reviving the sector that has posted sluggish growth over the past several years. Agriculture is also suffering from a degraded environment partly caused by chemical use in farming. At the first National Conference on Philippine Biochar on April 17, agriculture experts and … Read more…
A scientist has been given a €1million grant by the government to build the country’s first plant for converting sewage in to energy. Dr Dominik Peus has developed a process called Hydrothermal Carbonisation (HTC) which converts sewage, agricultural waste, food waste and slurry into carbon and water. The end product, dubbed biocoal, does not contain … Read more…
In 1981, an independent Texas natural gas producer named George Mitchell realized that his shallow gas wells in the Barnett gas fields of Texas were running dry. He had sunk millions into his operation and was looking for a way to generate more return. Mitchell was then a relatively small player in an industry that … Read more…
Inside the offices of MIT’s Energy Initiative, a campus-wide program with the ambitious goal of helping to “transform the global energy system,” Howard J. Herzog, a senior research engineer, pulled out a fresh yellow legal pad and began sketching a line graph. He was responding to a straightforward question: In a world so addicted to … Read more…
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is finalizing rules that would limit the rate of CO2 emissions from power plants to 1,100 lbs per MWh (~454 g/KWh). That rule mirrors similar emissions standards in place in California and other western states and included in the UK’s Electricity Market Reforms. Unfortunately, a new paper from MIT researchers … Read more…
Although market information and long-term impacts remain unknown, a biofuel byproduct can store carbon and enhance soil quality – and its market is growing despite higher costs Napa Valley grower Eckhard Kaesekamp is very pleased with a certain group of around 20,000 grapevines he has been nurturing. Their yield has been 5% better than what … Read more…
Plants may help to reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere when dead as well as alive, say scientists from Spain. Carbon capture – the removal of CO2 from waste gases (such as from power plants) – is an important method for reducing CO2 emissions. One such strategy is the use of porous solids, such as … Read more…
At the end of October 2012, AVA-CO2 set yet another milestone in industrial use with the commencement of trial operations at the first industrial plant for the hydrothermal carbonization of biomass worldwide. On October 30, there was a celebration to mark the grand opening of the TZO in Relzow, Germany, attended by political and economic … Read more…
An ancient, highly porous form of charcoal is being touted as a godsend for soil health and fertility – transforming farms, home gardens, and urban and suburban landscapes. It might even combat climate change. Any wonder they’re calling biochar a “miracle product”? “It’s important not to promise too much, but this is mind-popping stuff,” says … Read more…
Hydrogen is a potential renewable fuel because it can easily be generated from water using electrolysis. It also burns cleanly to produce water vapor. The hope is that it could also be distributed using the same global network of liquid fuel transport that moves petrol around the planet. But there numerous problems with this dream … Read more…