CSIRO captures carbon not gold in China

With the current focus on the Olympics and clean air it is good to know that Australia is not just sending athletes to the middle kingdom.

Australia’s CSIRO and its Chinese partners have officially launched a post-combustion capture (PCC) pilot plant in Beijing that strips CO2 from power station flue gases in an effort to stem climate change. The PCC project at Huaneng Beijing Co-Generation Power Plant is designed to capture 3,000 tonnes of CO2 annually. PCC uses a liquid to capture CO2 from power station flue gases, potentially cutting emissions from coal-fired power stations by more than 85%.

“In a recent visit to China, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said that China was the largest consumer of coal in the world and Australia was the world’s largest exporter of coal. As such, Australia and China should work together develop low emissions coal technologies,” says Dr David Brockway, chief of CSIRO’s Energy Technology Division. Sourced from www.EnvironmentalManagementNews.net  

Cinema in your pocket

Nick Broughall reports:

While the rest of the world sits back and waits for projectors to make their way into mobile phones, Australian company Mint Wireless has decided to just release the world's smallest pocket projector instead. The end result is: The Mint V10 Projector, made by Taiwanese company Aiptek and measuring in at 125 x 55 x 23mm, it can project an image size of 50 inches from just 1.8 metres away. It can be partnered with pretty much anything, from a DVD player to your PS3, and it literally fits in your jeans pocket.

The LED lamp is supposedly good for 20,000 hours worth of viewing, and unlike traditional projectors, there's no need to warm it up before you start your impromptu Powerpoint presentation on a business flight!

The rechargeable Li-ion battery will give you about an hour’s worth of viewing time, while an SD card slot compliments the 1GB of internal memory, giving you the power of photo slideshows everywhere. Resolution is decent at 640x480 while inbuilt stereo speakers will supply a movie soundtrack.

Inside the box, when the V10 launches in September, will be a 3-in-1 cable for audio and video, plus a tripod for secure viewing. And if you get really excited, you can chuck some MP4, AVI, ASF, MP3 or JPEG on the inbuilt storage for constant entertainment.

Another pocket projector has been created by Nippon Signal - this model used to be the size of a lunch box. But Nippon redesigned it and shrank it to about 1/8th from original size. The new design makes this projector about the size of a cigarette case. They were able to achieve this feat by reducing the size of the optical system, which included the lens and the MEMS scanner. The new design also uses lasers to project the image instead of LEDs or regular lamps. Unfortunately this new model is still in the prototype stages, like all the rest, but Nippon Signal is looking to release this projector as soon as possible.

There’s definitely going to be some sacrifices in quality for video in devices like these. The question is - does the convenience of the small form factor outweigh the quality limitations?
Stories supplied by Glen Moore of Wollongong Science Centre and Planetarium (http://sciencecentre.uow.edu.au )

Plastic into cement blocks – a whole load of garbage!

Mandaluyong city in the Philippines will soon start making cement blocks out of waste to reduce the city's garbage. The environment-friendly cement blocks would be used for beautification projects, according to Mayor Benhur Abalos. The mayor said the city acquired recently a pulverizing machine that could transform non-biodegradable wastes like candy wrappers, plastic bottles, Styrofoam, beverage packs, etc. into raw materials for cement blocks.

Abalos said the city would buy more machines if the first proved to be effective. The mayor said Mandaluyong was hoping to solve two problems with this project - dispose of non-biodegradable waste through recycling and provide jobs to out-of-school youths.

Mandaluyong hopes to reduce its plastic waste by 25-30 percent by using it as binder for cement blocks. Abalos said the city could also minimize its construction costs by 30-40 percent by making its own cement blocks. The mayor added they planned to centralize the collection of plastic waste from the city's 27 barangay that would be forwarded to the material recovery facility for recycling. Sourced from www.resourcesnotwaste.com  

Another load of garbage gets valuable?

Chemical company INEOS (www.ineos.com ) has developed a technology it says will in two years be turning out commercial quantities of bioethanol made from municipal solid waste. The three-stage process superheats the waste to produce gases that are fed to bacteria that efficiently produce ethanol, which is then purified. One tonne of dry waste can be converted into about 400L of ethanol.

I&I comment: If it proves economic this sure beats growing food crops to generate ethanol sources.

Hear about BPM at breakfast

The Business Process Evolution Studies (BPES) Research Node at University of Western Sydney is hosting an Executive Breakfast Briefing on 13th August, 7:30 – 9:30 am at the Parramatta campus of UWS.

The keynote speaker will be Paul Harmon, one of the global thought leaders in Business Process Management (BPM). Paul is Co-Founder and Executive Editor at BPTrends USA, a trusted source of information and analysis on directions and best practices in BPM. His recently released bestselling book, Business Process Change, 2nd edition: A Guide for Business Managers and BPM and Six Sigma Professionals has become a standard text for BPM practitioners and researchers around the world.

Register for the Executive Briefing Breakfast: http://bpes.uws.edu.au/bpmebb/ 

Sutherland Shire’s Annual Business Conference gets into the swim

At the 2008 Sutherland Shire Annual Business Conference, coinciding with Small Business September, be inspired by great motivational speakers, hear some practical business advice, gain insight from business case studies, learn about the Champion Mindset from seven-time women’s world marathon swimming champion, Shelley Taylor-Smith, and take advantage of fantastic networking opportunities. 

It is all happening on Wednesday 3 September 2008, from 7.30am - 1.30pm at Tradies (Sutherland District Trade Union Club), Gymea.  Cost is $50 (including GST) and includes refreshments and lunch.  Make your bookings by calling 9710 0155 or emailing bizconference@ssc.nsw.gov.au More information at www.shirebusiness.com.au

Young BizStar Competition 2008

Will a business support package worth over $6,000 attract you?  If you’ve got a winning business idea then get an entry in to the Young BizStar Competition 2008.  The Competition’s three categories are:

• Light-Bulb – a new business idea
• Start-Up – businesses operating for one year or less
• Regional – regionally based entrants automatically enter this category

To enter, you must be aged 18 to 35 as at 18 September 2008, have a marketable business idea and/or be in the first year of running a business.  You must also be a resident of NSW.  Finalists get to pitch their business idea to a panel of experts on 18 September in Sydney.  For further information and to download an application form visit www.bizstar.business.nsw.gov.au  Applications close at 5.00pm on 22 August 2008.

The Young BizStar Competition 2008 is supported with prizes from the NSW Department of State and Regional Development, the Australian Small Scale Offerings Board, and Australia Post.

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->

We welcome stories and photos.
If you want to promote your product or service via video please contact YOC office on (02) 4254 0200 or click here->