Behold, the Power of the Onion!
Onion processor, Steven Gill, of Oxnard, California, has been thinking about what to do with onion waste for the past ten years. His operation produces sliced, diced, slivered and pureed onions — and about 300,000 pounds of waste per day from the tops. tails and skins that aren’t used.
Enter Gill’s Advanced Energy Recovery System, which converts onion waste into electricity and cattle feed. At $9.5 million to implement, system wasn’t inexpensive, but he expects to save $700,000 annually in electricity costs and another $400,000 in disposal costs.
Walmart’s Sustainability Index: The Hype and the Reality
Joel Makower examines Walmart’s Sustainability Index. If this is a first step, it’s going to be a long journey.
Once Ailing Auto Parts Supplier Adds Employees after Retooling to Build Wind Turbines
A Michigan factory that manufactured auto parts for Chrysler and other companies before the recent auto industry downturn has retooled to build wind turbines. MasTech Manufacturing had downsized from 30 employees to five, but thanks to the transformation, now employs 40 and has plans to grow to 120.
India Rebukes US on Emissions Reduction
The major industrial nations, and particularly the US, have little credibility when it comes to convincing other nations to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. BusinessGreen.com:
The Indian government has insisted that it is under no obligation to set an emission reduction target, despite “pressure” to do so from US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during a visit to the subcontinent over the weekend.
Indian environment minister Jairam Ramesh told Clinton that “there is simply no case for the pressure that we, who have among the lowest emissions per capita, face to actually reduce emissions.”
The US has been stepping up efforts to get developing nations to agree on measures to combat global warming prior to the UN climate change talks in Copenhagen in December.
More Efficient Geothermal Energy Extraction Using Nanomaterials
Scientists at the US Dept. of Energy are investigating a new method for capturing heat from untapped, low-temperature geothermal sources. From ScienceDaily:
PNNL’s conversion system will take advantage of the rapid expansion and contraction capabilities of a new liquid developed by PNNL researchers called biphasic fluid. When exposed to heat brought to the surface from water circulating in moderately hot, underground rock, the thermal-cycling of the biphasic fluid will power a turbine to generate electricity.
To aid in efficiency, scientists have added nanostructured metal-organic heat carriers, or MOHCs, which boost the power generation capacity to near that of a conventional steam cycle.
PetroAlgae Promises Fuel and Food from a Single, Renewable Source
If this Florida-based company has it’s way, often-maligned green slime will be getting an image makeover. PetroAlgae, Inc., has developed technology in which “algae and other microorganisms produce fuel to feed cars, animals, and even humans… and say they can do it cheaper than anyone else.”
An End to the Personal Water Bottle Dilemma?
So, you’ve stopped buying water in plastic bottles and stopped using the polycarbonate reusables that once seemed so promising. What now? The Alternative Consumer thinks these stainless steel bottles are worth a try.
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