New concept for biofuel cells:

Tree fungus lets current flow

Sabine

Sané,

doctoral

candidate

at

the

Department of Microsystems Engineering (IMTEK)

of the University of Freiburg, has found a way to

make a species of tree fungus useful for the

production of electricity. The fungus versicolor

releases the fungal enzyme laccase into a solution

surrounding the cathode -- the positive pole of the

cell

--

where it enables the electrochemical

conversion of oxygen.

More:

http://bit.ly/18uU59E

Now, urine to charge mobile

phones

In a world first, UK scientists claim to have

developed a novel method to charge mobile

phones - using human urine. Scientists working at

the Bristol Robotics Laboratory have described the

"breakthrough" finding of charging cell phones

using urine as the power source to generate

electricity. The scientists have been able to charge

a mobile phone by putting urine through a cascade

of microbial fuel cells.

More:

http://bit.ly/1dGMw0b

New thermocell could harvest

'waste heat' from power

stations and

even vehicle exhaust pipes

A small team of Monash University researchers

working under the Australian Research Council

(ARC) Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials

Science (ACES) has developed an ionic liquid-based

thermocell. Thermocells are based on harnessing

the thermal energy from the difference in

temperature between two surfaces and converting

that

energy

into

electrical

energy.

More:

http://bit.ly/131ixia

British

company

develops

technology to

recycle disposable coffee

cups into paper products

The British company has developed the world's

first technology to recycle disposable coffee cups

into high quality paper products. Kendal-based

James Cropper, a specialist paper and advanced

materials group, will open a £5m reclaimed fibre

plant using the ground-breaking new technology at

its Cumbria production mill.

More:

http://bit.ly/14cRphA

World's

first

water

treatment

techniques

using

apple

and

tomato peels

In a bid to make clean water available at low cost,

Mr Ramakrishna Mallampati, a PhD candidate at

the

National University of Singapore

(NUS),

experimented with water treatment techniques

using materials that are easily available, and came

up with novel ways to purify water using the peels

of apples and tomatoes.

More:

http://bit.ly/18AZSKZ

Desalination

with

small

electrical fields

—

Simple new method

may revolutionize seawater desalination

Seawater desalination with nothing more than a

small electrical field? A simple new method of

creating freshwater from seawater

—

that uses far

less energy than conventional methods do

—

has

just been developed by researchers at the

University of Texas at Austin and the University of

Marburg in Germany.

More:

http://bit.ly/16IQjbb