Important Innovations

  US EPA Setting Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards for Planes                        Source:  Stock Image of Airplane Emissions Planes Among Top Fastest Growing Emissions Sources The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finalizing the world's 1st regulations on aircraft greenhouse gas emissions.  The new emissions standards are now being formalized and will apply to commercial aircraft and large business jets.  The EPA says this will align with international standards including that for the UN global aircraft emissions standards. Big aerospace companies like Airbus SE and Boeing support the standard.  Critics of the new regulations, now being formulated, think that they should be toughened by incoming President Joe Biden. More Details The compliance date on the new EPA regulations for airplanes is January 1, 2028.  If not in compliance by then, aircraft that are not modified will have to go out of service and newly manufactured aircraft have to comply.  A group of 11 states

Nano-sensors to Detect Air Pollution on Every Street Source:  Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden New Tech Innovation from Sweden This new technology was just developed by a researcher at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden.  It's a nano-sensor that can be attached to streetlights to monitor air pollution.  The sensor is tiny, portable, cheap, simple and capable of detecting very low amounts of air pollution such as nitrogen dioxide which causes respiratory damage and heart disease. It's already being deployed in western Sweden.  For more information go to Important Innovations Collection: Air Pollution Monitored on Every Street : New Optical Nano-sensors Source:  Chalmers University Small Enough to Mount on Streetlights This is new innovation developed at Chal...

Environmental Wake-Up Call: New Scientific Discovery in Remote Pyrenees Mountains Source: Stock Image of Pyrenees Mountains Plastic Particles Inhalable in the Air Plastic particles found in the Pyrenees Mountains suggest they are now travelling in the air.  Scientists from the Ecolab in France and the University of Strathclyde in Scotland have found them in the air in a very remote area of the Pyrenees Mountain between France and Spain.  It suggests that plastic is not just polluting the ocean but also the air we breathe. Microplastics Microplastics are very small pieces of plastic waste, produced when plastics breakdown.  Many of the fragments found by the scientists were small enough to be inhaled.  Very few people live in the remote mountainous area that they focused on indicating that the microplastics blew in with the wind from a populated area 60 miles away. Findings and  Conclusion for the Environment Over a five month period, the scientists found 365 pieces o

Air Purifying Textile Source:  Ikea's GUNRID Curtain & Mauricio Affonso Innovation from Ikea Based on Plants Ikea has developed a textile, first being deployed in curtains, that purifies the air from pollutants inside your house.  Inside air pollution in homes is a huge problem.  It causes 4.3 million deaths per year globally.  In some parts of the world, indoor air pollutions is five times higher than outside air pollution. GUNRID The new material and curtains is called GUNRID.  It's been developed by an international team of scientists, engineers, designers and specialists, including from Asian and European Universities  The team is led by Ikea's Mauricio Affonso. New Material GUNRID works with light to filter toxins from the air inside the home such as odors and formaldehyde.  The fabric has been treated with a photocatalyst that can break down common pollutants. It works in a way very similar to how plants filter out toxins. The chemicals in the curtain

Massive Solar Panels on Lakes to Soak Up the Sun A number of nations including China are chasing this idea...placing massive solar panels on bodies of water to maximize absorption of solar energy and allow the solar panels to operate with greater efficiency. Chinese Solar Leadership:  Largest Floating Solar Farm China is leading the way in emerging solar technology.  It opened the world's largest floating solar farm in 2017. It's on top of a lake that formed after an abandoned coal mine collapsed.  The system's 166,000-panel array generates 40 megawatts of power which is enough to power 15,000 homes.  A larger solar farm in the same locale is opening.  That will generate 150 megawatts and power 94,000 homes.  Overall, China installed 2 times more gigawatts of solar capacity than the US last year. It contributes almost half of the world's total solar capacity. Benefits of Floating Solar Farms Floating the solar panels on water protects farmland and wildlife

Wednesday Series:  Innovation Addressing Pressing World Needs like Air Pollution Honeycomb Structures Inspired by Bees Scientists at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology have created a 3D structure inspired by the honeycomb of bees to control air pollution.  It's a flexible, 3D porous material that helps filter air to remove pollutants and viruses. Large Structure, Quick Build The King Abdullah University team developed a simple method that in 5 minutes produces a flexible film with a complex, hierarchical structure that has repeating patterns of interconnected regularly shaped pores. It's a honeycomb structure with a very large surface and the ability to selectively extract material like pollutants. Latticework and Symmetry Both the lattice of a honeycomb and the symmetry of a diatom are complex living structures with patterns and shapes that have long inspired scientists.  The research team says they've developed an important platform to design a