Preventing Pollution

The Next Generation of Rechargeable Batteries

Hank Green

You might have noticed that whenever we at EcoGeek talk about a product that is battery powered we mention, nay recommend, nay demand rechargeables. There are few reasons not to use rechargeables. Each one holds within in the power to be used hundreds of times and, thus, the power to replace hundreds of alkalines that would have normally been purchased and then thrown away. Batteries contain nasty stuff, so we need to use as few as possible.

But rechargeables do have one or two disadvantages. First, they don't hold quite as much charge as an Alkaline. Or, if they do, they don't after a while of using them. Second, when purchased, they must be charged before use. Which, I admit, can be annoying.

Well, that simply isn't the case anymore. Hybrio batteries are a new kind of NiMH battery that has an extremely low self discharge rate and can hold more charge than a regular alkaline battery. The come and AA and AAA and, amazingly, aren't really that expensive. You can buy them in the UK now for about $13 for four, and they'll be available in the US soon. Best of all, you don't have to get a new charger, your old NiMH charger will work just fine. You do have an NiMH charger...don't you?

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99.99% Mercury Recovery from Fluorescent Bulbs

Philip Proefrock

Here's something even less sexy than low-emissions cows.

Fluorescent lights are wonderful things, especially compared to their 5-times-more-heat-than-light-generating, power-sucking brethern. But they have their disadvantages as well. Particularly, they contain small amounts of mercury, which is 1. Toxic, and 2. Requires mining.

Some manufacturers are producing low-mercury fluorescent lamps and we applaud them. But we've been hoping that someone was going to see all this wasted mercury as the opportunity it is.

Mercury Waste Solutions provides prepaid shipping containers (FedEx and UPS) for the safe collection and shipping of fluorescent tubes, batteries, and other mercury containing objects for recycling. They claim to be able to recover 99.99% of the mercury with their processing of the waste.

Unfortunately, this is currently corporate-, and institutional-level stuff. The shipping containers are for large numbers of lamps (dozens or more) and are not exactly inexpensive. On your own, you wouldn't fill one up for a very long time. But your neighborhood might be able to, and certainly city-wide recycling programs could be created. We just love to see how quickly solutions can be created after a problem is recognized.

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Closer to Complete Burn: Georgia Tech. Radically Reducing Emissions

Hank Green

When we say Complete Burn, we mean that all of the fuel is being turned into carbon dioxide. While no one is ready to get excited about CO2 anymore, it is the desired product of combustion and it is not deadly like carbon monoxide and the various nitrous oxides that spew forth from tail pipes and power plants as a result of improper combustion. We breathe carbon dioxide every day, it's pleasant. Carbon monoxide, on the other hand, we only breathe right before we die of carbon monoxide poisoning.

A new type of combustion chamber created by researchers at Georgia Tech. has reduced the amount of CO and NOX gasses created by combustion to below anything seen in tradtional combustion (> 10ppm and > 1ppm respectively.) The new chamber might almost be called emissionless, if it weren't for all that pesky CO2 that it's still emitting.

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This ultra-low emission combustion chamber alters one simple precept of combustion. Instead of mixing the fuel and the air before injecting them into the chamber, it injects the fuel and the air separately. The flow of air and fuel into the chamber can be directed and altered in order to ensure a more complete and proper burn of the fuel. The design is much more simple than other high-tech emissions reducing chambers and it could be cost effective for anything from power plants to household water heaters.

We can also go ahead and add this to innovations that will be making flight more environmentally friendly as putting one of these in an single airplane engine could prevent literally tons of nitrogen oxides from being released into the environment.

Via Georgia Tech. Spotted at Hugg

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Electricity from your flush

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In case you just looked down at your to-do list and tapped your pencil thoughtfully on the entry "What have scientists in Belgium been up to?," we here at Ecogeek are happy to supply the answer.

They've been turning toilet water into electricity. No kidding.

Researchers at Ghent University have been working with microbial fuel cells, which are an emerging technology that helps capture the energy that is emitted when bacteria break down waste.

The project is still in a trial phase, but prototypes have produced small amounts of electricity.

Link via Ecofriend , news via ABC .

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Chicago's mulch helps make it one of the greenest cities

It's almost ironic that Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley was born on Arbor Day. He's pledged to try to restore the Windy City to the "urban forest" he remembered as a kid, and he's succeeded in making Chi-town one of the greenest cities in the U.S. -- all thanks to a little mulch.

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There is mulch around the 30,000 trees planted annually. There's mulch along the 70 miles of green medians. There's mulch in the open space that's required to accompany new homes and offices. And there is mulch on top of the energy-saving green roofs of 200 buildings.

Daley's report card is coming up pretty green as a result -- he's put in 500,000 trees, is putting in the most energy efficient and environmentally sensitive municipal buildings in the country, helps fast-track building permits if they're for green buildings, and promises that 20% of the energy used by the city will be from clean and renewable sources.

Read more about Daley's green efforts in this NYT article .

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The Next Generation of Rechargeable Batteries

99.99% Mercury Recovery from Fluorescent Bulbs

Closer to Complete Burn: Georgia Tech. Radically Reducing Emissions

Electricity from your flush

Chicago's mulch helps make it one of the greenest cities

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