October 2021 | 174 comments (174 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: October 2021 (none / 1)

Nobel in chemistry honors "greener" way to build molecules, mostly pharma and pesticide applications, marketing

The chemistry prize focused on the business of making molecules. That requires linking individual atoms together in specific arrangements -- a difficult and slow task. Until ~~the beginning of the millennium~~ the year 2000, chemists had only two methods -- or catalysts -- to speed up the process, using either complicated enzymes or metal catalysts.

periodic table of organic | inorganic elements meets quantum physics

"One way to look at their work is like molecular carpentry," said John Lorsch, director of the NIH's National Institute of General Medical Sciences. "They've found ways to not only speed up the chemical ["]joining["]," he said, "but to make sure it only goes in either the right-handed or left-handed direction."

peter, paul "biologic" blockchain

List said he did not initially know that MacMillan was working on the same subject and figured his hunch might just be a "stupid idea" -- until it worked.

Where's muh patent waiver?
Where's muh alternative fuel?
asymmetric organocatalysis has entered the room.

by Cat on Wed Oct 6th, 2021 at 03:13:09 PM EST
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Re: October 2021 alternative fuel (none / 0)

OpEd | Synthetic fuels can bolster energy security in the Baltic region

The term synthetic fuel refers to liquid fuels obtained from ["]blending["] hydrogen produced by electrolysis with carbon-containing gases. One of the most promising ways of creating this fuel is via the Power-to-Liquid (PtL) process, which involves three main steps.
First, electricity, ideally from renewables such as wind, solar or hydro, is converted into hydrogen via electrolysis. Second, concentrated CO2 is obtained either from factories (cement, steel, etc.) or from direct air CO2 capture machines. Finally, the resulting synthetic gases are purified and fed into a Fischer-Tropsch reactor, which completes the PtL cycle by producing a liquid fuel that meets international standards.

by Cat on Wed Oct 6th, 2021 at 08:08:49 PM EST
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Re: October 2021 (none / 0)

The world's biggest [C]-removal plant just opened. In a year, it'll negate just 3 seconds' worth of global emissions.

The fans are embedded in shipping container-sized boxes, and once the [CO₂] is separated, it gets mixed with [HO₂] then travels through snaking, fat tubes deep underground, where the [C] cools and solidifies.

triple point of C and HO₂

"Think of it like a vacuum cleaner for the atmosphere," Julio Friedmann, an energy policy researcher at Columbia University who attended the plant's ribbon-cutting ceremony, told Insider. "Nothing else can do what this tech does."

by Cat on Thu Oct 7th, 2021 at 02:30:21 AM EST
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Re: October 2021 alternative fuel (none / 0)

Behind a `green façade', Modi expands coal mining on India's tribal lands

The villagers - from India's indigenous, or Adivasi, communities - hail from the Hasdeo area in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, one of the largest contiguous stretches of dense forest on the subcontinent, which is rich in biodiversity and wildlife, including elephant corridors that are critical for forestation. But the Hasdeo Arand forest is also rich in coal - and it's a resource India can't seem get enough of these days.
[...]
Boosting coal production to 1 billion tonnes
Coal still accounts for nearly 70 percent of India's electricity generation. While the world's third-largest greenhouse gas emitter is committed to transitioning to renewable energy, India's quantum[BWAH!], self-reliant growth will be largely powered by the "dirtiest fossil fuel".

coal "apartheid"?

"Nationally, there are 55 new coal mines planned and there are expansion plans for 193 existing mines. Eighty percent of the new expansion is on Adivasi land and they are going to bear the brunt of it," said Jo Woodman, senior researcher at Survival International, a UK-based ["]tribal rights["] group.
Mining companies enter a once-protected zone

Will [India]'s move against coal power improve its image in EU?

by Cat on Sun Oct 10th, 2021 at 04:52:10 PM EST
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wut (none / 0)

Why are some Indian states facing power shortages?

Underinvestment in coal production
Anne Josey of the Pune-based Prayas (Energy Group), a research organization working on energy policy, blames poor planning on the part of the government for the problem.
"The working-capital crunch faced by power-generating companies, especially state-owned firms, which are seldom paid on time by cash-strapped distribution companies, has also contributed to this crisis," Josey told DW.
[...]
M K Venu, a prominent economic analyst, has a similar view of government responsibility.... "Even the private sector delayed coal production as the government also took its eye off the ball and did not give follow-up clearances for exploiting new coal blocks," Venu added. "Thus, the Modi government has created a new mess in the coal sector, and by extension, in the supply of thermal power."

by Cat on Thu Oct 14th, 2021 at 06:01:38 PM EST
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October 2021 | 174 comments (174 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)