Pecologix Political Ecology Blotter

In Minnesota, TetraKO, maker of a cornstarch based fire suppressant, reports that Technology Council of the International Association of Fire Chiefs have published a white paper on their product. Based on two days of testing, the fire knockdown tests demonstrated that TetraKO yielded a significant advantage over water and foam.TetraKO is also the first fire [...]

Researchers at George Washington University have bolted together an ungainly contraption that they say efficiently uses the energy in sunlight to power a novel chemical process to make lime, the key ingredient in cement, without emitting carbon dioxide. The device puts to work about half of the energy in sunlight (solar panels, in comparison, convert [...]

# 2. Monomers Produced by Bacteria for Polymerization * Hydroxyalkanoic Acids * d- and l-Lactic Acid * Succinic Acid * 1,4-Butanediol * 1,3-Propanediol * Bioethylene * Biopropylene * Bioethylene Glycol and Bioaromatic Monomers for Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) and Its Mimics # 3. Technologies for Polymerization of the Bio-Monomers * 3.1. Polymers Produced Completely by Biosynthesis [...]

This is how the idea is introduced: Donald Sadoway is working on a battery miracle — an inexpensive, incredibly efficient, three-layered battery using “liquid metal.” Professor Sadoway explains that his angle has been to design around the oil price point, not around some wild and cool technology that can never compete economically. He goes on [...]

We present a solid-acid catalyzed one-pot method for the selective conversion of solid hemicellulose without its separation from other lignocellulosic components, such as cellulose and lignin. The reactions were carried out in aqueous and biphasic media to yield xylose, arabinose, and furfural. To overcome the drawbacks posed by mineral acid methods in converting hemicelllulose, we [...]

An energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) balance study was performed on the production of the bioplastic polyethylene furandicarboxylate (PEF) starting from corn based fructose…With an annual market size of approximately 15 million metric tonnes (Mt) of PET bottles produced worldwide, the complete bottle substitution of PEF for PET would allow us to save between 440 [...]

This review is an updated and expanded version of the three prior reviews that were published in this journal in 1997, 2003, and 2007. In the case of all approved therapeutic agents, the time frame has been extended to cover the 30 years from January 1, 1981, to December 31, 2010, for all diseases worldwide, [...]