Futurist Foresight - Applied Technotopia
These critters gribbles may just hold the key to affordable biofuels.
Wood-Eating Gribble’s Enzyme Turns Waste into Biofuel
Scientists have discovered a new enzyme that could prove an important step in the quest to turn waste (such as paper, scrap wood and straw) into liquid fuel. To do this they turned to the destructive power of tiny marine wood-borers called “gribble,” which have been known to destroy seaside piers.
Using advanced biochemical analysis and X-ray imaging techniques, researchers from the Univ. of York, Univ. of Portsmouth and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in the U.S. have determined the structure and function of a key enzyme used by gribble to break down wood. The findings, published in PNAS, will help the researchers to reproduce the enzymes effects on an industrial scale in a bid to create sustainable liquid biofuels.
Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/06/wood-eating-gribbles-enzyme-turns-waste-biofuel
![This algae-powered building in Hamburg is truely green!
futurescope:
The World’s First Algae-Powered Building Opens in Hamburg
via inhabitat:
The world’s first algae-powered building just opened in Hamburg! Dubbed the BIQ House, the project features a bio-adaptive algae facade and it will serve as a testing bed for sustainable energy production in urban areas and self-sufficient living buildings. International design firm Arup worked with Germany’s SSC Strategic Science Consultants and Austria-based Splitterwerk Architects to develop the BIQ House, which launched as part of Hamburg’s International Building Exhibition.
[read more] [IBA Hamburg] [BIQ House]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/5d082b20e09401672fa0bdf14e19711d/tumblr_ml38wcZGpv1r08k60o1_500.jpg)
This algae-powered building in Hamburg is truely green!
The World’s First Algae-Powered Building Opens in Hamburg
via inhabitat:
The world’s first algae-powered building just opened in Hamburg! Dubbed the BIQ House, the project features a bio-adaptive algae facade and it will serve as a testing bed for sustainable energy production in urban areas and self-sufficient living buildings. International design firm Arup worked with Germany’s SSC Strategic Science Consultants and Austria-based Splitterwerk Architects to develop the BIQ House, which launched as part of Hamburg’s International Building Exhibition.
[read more] [IBA Hamburg] [BIQ House]
(via futuresagency)
An infographic look at bicycles in the Netherlands - a very sustainable transportation solution.
Infographic from Lonely Planet travel guide to the Netherlands.
Basically the Dutch love bikes.
Stephen Hawking on a sustainable human future - get off of earth!
Stephen Hawking Says That Mankind Has 1,000 Years to Escape Earth
An interesting vision for vertical farming.
Architect Vincent Callebaut’s take on vertical farming is as interesting to look at as it is beneficial.
About the project:
The cities are currently responsible for 75% of the worldwide consumption of energy and they reject 80% of worldwide emissions of CO2. The contemporary urban model is thus ultra-energy consuming and works on the importation of wealth and natural resources on the one hand, and on the exportation of the pollution and waste on the other hand. This loop of energetic flows can be avoided by repatriating the countryside and the farming production modes in the heart of the city by the creation of green lungs, farmscrapers in vertical storeys and by the implantation of wind and solar power stations. The production sites of food and energy resources will be thus reintegrated in the heart of the consumption sites ! The buildings with positive energies must become the norm and reduce the carbon print on the mid term.
(via climate-changing)
An interesting green building.
These vegetated surfaces don’t just look pretty. They have other benefits as well, including cooling city blocks, reducing loud noises, and improving a building’s energy efficiency.What’s more, a recent modeling study shows that green walls can potentially reduce large amounts of air pollution in what’s called a “street canyon,” or the corridor between tall buildings.
For the study, Thomas Pugh, a biogeochemist at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany, and his colleagues created a computer model of a green wall with generic vegetation in a Western European city. Then they recorded chemical reactions based on a variety of factors, such as wind speed and building placement.
The simulation revealed a clear pattern: A green wall in a street canyon trapped or absorbed large amounts of nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter—both pollutants harmful to people, said Pugh. Compared with reducing emissions from cars, little attention has been focused on how to trap or take up more of the pollutants, added Pugh, whose study was published last year in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.
That’s why the green-wall study is “putting forward an alternative solution that might allow [governments] to improve air quality in these problem hot spots,” he said.Compared with reducing emissions from cars, little attention has been focused on how to trap or take up more of the pollutants, added Pugh, whose study was published last year in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.
That’s why the green-wall study is “putting forward an alternative solution that might allow [governments] to improve air quality in these problem hot spots,” he said.This is what progress looks like.
OH GOD CAN THEY DO THIS IN SAN FRANCISCO PLEASE?
San Jose too, although we don’t have nearly as many street canyons…
Awesome…
This little critter could be fueling your car one day. A look at this potential biofuel.
One Marine Animal Could Be Next Biofuel
Scientists are looking to the ocean for the next big thing in renewable sources of biofuel for your eco-car.
Five researchers at the University of Bergen (UiB) and Uni Research say they found the marine animal tunicatecould be used as a renewable source of biofuel. These marine animals serve as bacteria eaters and as a foodstuff in Korea and Japan right now, but the cellulose, the protein and the Omega-3 fatty acids in tunicate are the cause for its many uses.
“Its mantle consists of cellulose, which is a collection of sugars. When cellulose is cleaved, one can obtain ethanol. And ethanol can be used for biofuel in cars. The animal’s body consists of large amounts of protein and Omega-3. This can be used for fish feed,” says Professor Eric Thompson at UiB’s Department of Biology.
The researchers say they have already acquired a patent for biofuel and have a patent application pending for the cultivation of tunicate as fish feed.
Dr. Sc. Christofer Troedsson of Uni Research’s Molecular Ecology Group and head of the research at UiB’s Marine Development Biology and the tunicate research project said the bioethanol used today is unsustainable, as it comes from foods already used for human consumption.
“That is why there has been a move towards using cellulose from the timber industry to produce bioethanol,” Troedsson said. “However, it is quite complicated to break down the cellulose in trees and convert it into ethanol. This is because the wood contains a substance called lignin, which is hard to separate from the cellulose. Tunicates contain no lignin. Their cellulose is also low in crystals and is more efficiently converted into ethanol.”
He said using tunicate rather than trees is more environmentally friendly because it does not occupy large tracts of land that could be used for other purposes.
(via thescienceofreality)
Another look at vertical farming - one of the keys to a sustainable, urbanized future.
Vertical Farming Is Key to the Smart Cities of the Future | STATETECH
Smart cities could look very different from today’s urban centers. Streetlights could be communicating with bus stops, and subway trains could be solar powered. Population growth will force local government leaders to rethink more than just transportation and housing. As the population increases, the real estate needed to grow the food we eat will become increasingly scarce. Some experts have suggested that a new agricultural approach called vertical farming, also known as urban farming, could solve this problem. In a model that is already being tested in Singapore, crops are grown indoors in tall buildings. The benefits are extensive, the technology is powerful and the results are delicious.
(via invaderxan)
A smart and sustainable building as envisaged by Arup.
The engineering firm, Arup designed a mock-up building aimed at sustainability, regeneration, and efficiency. Arup’s design would utilize vertical space to integrate agriculture, energy systems, and community in a way that is flexible and smart.
(via thisbigcity)
What a future! Synthmeat, 3D printing, Synthbio, sustainability. All it needs is to be served in orbit by a bot and it will be near perfect!
Solve for X: Sustainable, Scalable Meat
Google’s Solve for X is a plattform to encourage and amplify technology-based moonshot thinking and collaboration. In this video, Andras Forgacs - CEO of Modern Meadow (3D printed Meat and leather company) - talks about the problem of water usage, a suggested solution and the potential of 3D printing and tissue engineering.
Problem: 8% of the world’s water supply and one third of the world’s non-ice landmass is used for raising livestock for meat and leather. At least 18% of the greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere are from the livestock industry.
Solution: Fundamentally change the way meat is produced by growing the meat directly instead of raising the entire animal.
Technology: 3D printing and tissue engineering now allow bioprinting: the design and fabrication of three-dimesional tissues. The meat created in this process could be carefully designed to have the same mouth feel, texture and flavor as traditional meat.
Be sure to read his IAmA at reddit.
[via nextbigfuture] [Solve for X] [Modern Meadow]
