Don’t waste it! From mining hole to an electricity generator
A 1MW generator is in operation at Veolia Environmental Service’s Woodlawn Bioreactor landfill near Goulburn in NSW, with Energy Australia agreeing to pay the company $80-90/MW for supplying energy to the grid. By 2034, 24 generators with a 25MW capacity will be in operation at Woodlawn, producing enough energy to supply 20,000 homes and businesses.
Built on a disused, open cut mine site, the bioreactor landfill has been in operation since September 2004. During this time it has accepted about 1.1 million tonnes of mixed solid waste from councils and commercial contractors in the Sydney metropolitan area.
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The level of waste now on site has provided enough methane production for energy generation. The methane gas is captured by three horizontal gas blankets and 17 gas wells, with intricate leachate collection and circulation infrastructure – including a 70-metre wide sump, treatment pond and storage tanks – allowing Veolia to promote faster break down of the waste.
Veolia also received approval from the NSW Government for the construction of a wind farm on the site in October 2005, which will produce enough electricity to power more than 17,000 homes and save about 120,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases every year.
Combining the bioreactor and wind farm, the site will generate sufficient green electricity to supply over 37,000 households with power. The date for the completion of the wind farm project is unknown at this stage, with Veolia saying it is expected to be in operation sometime within the next two years.
In November, the NSW Government gave the green light for a $15.4 million recycling facility at Woodlawn. The Woodlawn Alternative Sorting and Processing (WASP) facility will be able to annually receive up to 240,000 tonnes of mixed waste and 40,000 tonnes of garden waste from the Sydney metropolitan area.
www.EnvironmentalManagementNews.net "Nanoimpeller" system offers a new platform for precise cancer treatment
Researchers from University of California’s NanoSystems Institute have developed a novel type of nanomachine that can capture and store anticancer drugs inside tiny pores and release them into cancer cells in response to light. Known as a “nanoimpeller,” the device is the first light-powered nanomachine that operates inside a living cell, a development that has strong implications for cancer treatment, according to its developers.
Nanomechanical systems designed to trap and release molecules from pores in response to a stimulus have been the subject of intensive investigation, in large part for their potential applications in precise drug delivery. Nanomaterials suitable for this type of operation must consist of both an appropriate container and a photo-activated moving component. To achieve this, the UCLA researchers used mesoporous silica nanoparticles and coated the interiors of the pores with azobenzene, a chemical that can oscillate between two different conformations upon light exposure.
Operation of the nanoimpeller was demonstrated using a variety of human cancer cells, including colon and pancreatic cancer cells. The researchers reported their findings in the online edition of the nanoscience journal Small.
Co-author Jeffrey Zink, professor of chemistry and biochemistry, says the nanoimpeller system may open a new avenue for drug delivery under external control at specific times and locations for phototherapy. The therapy “might be the next generation novel platform for the treatment of cancers such as colon and stomach cancer,” Zink said. “The fact that one can operate the mechanism by remote control means that one can administer repeated small-dosage releases to achieve greater control of the drug’s effect.”
For more information go to: Medical, Health News and ArticlesStory provided by Glen Moore Director, Wollongong Science Centre and Planetarium Sink carbon and improve soils – Biochar them!
In their contributions to the Garnaut Climate Change Review, which closed general submissions recently, WSN Environmental Solutions and Willoughby City Council in northern Sydney backed development of slow pyrolysis technology and recognition of “biochar” as a carbon sink.
BEST Technologies, which has built a slow pyrolysis demonstration plant on the NSW Central Coast and is in discussions with parties interested in building the units, in January submitted its report, Best Pyrolysis – Renewable Energy and Agrichar.
“There is opportunity for agricultural soils to sequester huge amounts of carbon as biochar, which is a permanent, low-risk sink. Carbon in biochar is not only very stable but also easily measurable, and therefore auditable and tradeable,” it says.
“Unlike other carbon sequestration pathways, biochar adds value down the line, by increasing the productivity of agricultural systems.”
The technology processes waste biomass such as manure and other green waste to produce renewable energy and a stable form of carbon – known as agrichar – which can be sequestered over the long-term in soils.
Organic material is heated in a kiln with no oxygen, undergoing a thermochemical decomposition process that produces a gas, which is continuously removed from the kiln and used to produce renewable energy. The biomass is converted into a high-carbon char material in the process.
Also in support of the technology is Willoughby Council GM Nick Tobin, who said in its submission that the council has been investigating soil carbon sequestration via char processes as part of its efforts to reduce greenhouse emissions.
In support of the technology, Willoughby Council GM Nick Tobin said, “This technology has tremendous potential to reduce the carbon burden being added to the atmosphere. Council would like to see barriers removed which are slowing down the implementation of soil carbon sequestration. The approval of char technology as an approved carbon offset would enable this technology to be rapidly introduced.”
BEST Energies said barriers to the large scale commercial roll-out of the technology include uncertainty about carbon offsets, especially how abatements will be calculated. There is also no framework for carbon sequestration in biochar, which is currently not recognised as an abatement activity.
Story sourced from www.EnvironmentalManagementNews.net Go to Olympic Park for winners in Manufacturing
Western Sydney Manufacturing Week 2008 at Olympic Park from 12 – 16 May has events and site visits suited to every manufacturer big or small. Specialist events cater to exporters, young manufacturers, women in manufacturing, the defence industry, the food industry, and much more. All events are FREE.
To register, or for more information, visit www.smallbiz.nsw.gov.au/westernsydney
The premier event of Western Sydney Manufacturing Week 2008 is the Innovation Technology Showcase. The Showcase emphasises the collaboration and partnering of numerous significant manufacturers delivering technical, process and business model innovations in Western Sydney.
More info / Register: http://wsyd.smallbiz.nsw.gov.au/Events.aspx?eventid=1
Monday, 12 May 2008 2:00pm
Location: The Novotel Sydney Olympic Park What’s common to racing, climate change, the ABC and music?
The answer is being provided at the Futureworld Eco- Technology Centre Gala Fundraising Dinner on Thursday 22 May at 6pm at the Kembla Grange Racecourse.
The speaker will be John Connor, who is the CEO at the Climate Institute of Australia, and who will speak on Bali and Beyond - Risks and Opportunities for Australian Business. There will be music and dancing and it will be compered by the ABC’s Nick Rheinberger.
For the first time an Eco-Business Award, sponsored by Community Sector Banking, will be presented and all businesses who have instituted innovative environmentally friendly measures are encouraged to apply. There will be a $1000 prize plus trophy.
Further information can be found on the Futureworld website www.futureworld.org.au or by ringing Futureworld on 4226 9247 or email ftrworld@bigpond.et.au Your Ideas, Innovations or Events?
If you want publicity for an idea, innovation or technically related event, contact the I&I editor, Colin Seaborn on 4254 0200 or 0419 841829 or click here->
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