Archive for the ‘environment’ Category

Oil sands upgrader

Friday, September 19th, 2008
Oil sands are naturally occurring mixtures of clay, sand, water and extremely viscous bitumen. Such deposits in Canada alone are thought to contain 173.7 billion barrels of oil, a source of oil second in size only to Saudi Arabia.

The extreme viscosity of oil sands, though, makes them very expensive to mine, and difficult to process when they have been dug up, although the recent dramatic increase in oil prices is making extraction commercially viable.

But Steve Larter, co-director of the Alberta Ingenuity Centre for In Situ Energy at the University of Calgary, and colleagues think the process can be made much simpler.

They propose a way to "upgrade" oil sands while they are still in the ground, starting the refining process early, and making them flow more easily. Their method is to pump hydrogen and particles of a catalyst down into a well while simultaneously heating the oil sands.

That breaks the long chain hydrocarbons in the bitumen into smaller molecules that flow better and are easier to pump and store.

As well as making it easier to pump, Carter and his team say that "down-hole upgrading" reduces the amount and cost of equipment and storage facilities needed on the surface.

Read the full oil sands thinner patent application.

Justin Mullins, New Scientist consultant

Posted in energy, engineering, environment | Comments Off

Sunny bioreactor

Wednesday, February 27th, 2008
One potential source of biofuel is microalgae. The potential yield of oil refined by microalgae is thought to be many times greater than the next best crop – palm oil.

But algae need natural light to grow, and that can be in limited supply inside the chambers that act as bioreactors.

So David Bayless, professor of mechanical engineering at Ohio University in Athens, US, has designed a bioreactor fitted with optical fibres that channel sunlight into the chamber.

A cylinder 10 centimetres wide and 2 metres tall is filled with microalgae, water and nutrients. A solar collector fitted to the outside of a building then channels sunlight though optical fibres into the container. That gives the algae ample light even when the chambers are otherwise hidden from the sun.

Read the full photo bioreactor patent application

Justin Mullins, New Scientist consultant

Posted in energy, environment | Comments Off

The Environment and Mental Health

Monday, October 15th, 2007

Today is Blog Action Day, with over 7,500 bloggers committed to writing about the same topic – the environment. For my contribution I’ve collected some articles that discuss different links between the environment and mental health. These articles are a timely reminder to me that every aspect of my environment impacts my state of mind – with powerful implications. I hope you also find some helpful food for thought.

A Little Therapy from Nature
“It’s not just about creating an aesthetically beautiful, productive, harmonic space…we all must face ourselves in this environment and that is definitely therapeutic. My dream is not only for a sustainable planet … it’s for a happy population.”

How Gardening Could Cure Depression
“Getting dirty might help lift our spirits, according to a new study which reveals that common soil bacteria could act like antidepressant drugs.”

Green Peace of Mind
“The outdoors as a cure has been overlooked…because “psychologists, like everyone else, have been stuck in their offices.”

What on Earth is Ecotherapy?
(Previous Post)
“Mind sees ecotherapy as an important part of the future for mental health. It’s a credible, clinically-valid treatment option and needs to be prescribed by GPs, especially when for many people access to treatments other than antidepressants is extremely limited.”

Creating Healthy Communities, Healthy Homes, Healthy People
“Mounting evidence suggests physical and mental health problems relate to the built environment, including human-modified places such as homes, schools, workplaces, parks, industrial areas, farms, roads and highways…the sparse research on sustainable communities suggests that diligent planning is needed to create an environment that is conducive to the mental and physical well-being of humans as well as the natural environment.”

The Healing Qualities of Nature
“Nature can become a place of refuge for difficult times. When life stresses start closing in, one can escape to the wilderness physically or mentally. Being in nature helps to clear one’s head of life’s demands and disruptive thoughts. This clarity of thought may lead to finding answers to life’s questions and discovering insights to life problems.”

, , ,

Posted in blog action day, environment, Mental Health, Reviews, Reviews | Comments Off