Important Innovations Collection

Partnering with EnBW to Power Grids with Used EV Batteries Source:  NASA Green on Green Power An environmentally friendly, innovative undertaking by German automaker Audi and utility EnBW to recycle and reuse old EV batteries has just been announced.  They'll use the old batteries to help power the grid.  By the end of this year, they will have completed a new electric car battery operation at EmBW's Heilbrom plant to build scalable energy storage facilities.  E-battery recycling and reuse are the holy grail for car and battery manufacturers.  And the storage of energy is another big priority for industry. Kindle Unlimited Membership Plans Energy Recycling, Reuse, Storage For renewable energy companies, storing excess, unused surplus energy of solar and wind power generation is an urgent need.  So, Audi wants to develop what they're calling  a "plug and play" battery storage system for the energy industry.  Audi says this system will...

Metro Travel Tickets for Plastic Bottle Recycling Source:  Rome Metro Expanding Environmental Initiative to Reduce Plastic Dumping in the Eternal City Rome is setting a new, global environmental standard that's very practical and doable.  It's offering free Metro tickets to travelers who recycle plastic bottles by using machines set-up in three Rome Metro train stations.  The system is scalable, expandable and is working. 350,000 Recycled Bottles and Counting The program is so popular that 350,000 bottles have been recycled since July 2019.  Rome's public transit company ATAC is now extending the program across the entire Metro network and letting it run through July 2020. Works by Simplicity To participate commuters need to download an app into their mobile phone.  The app counts the number of bottles the person has put into the recycling machines and then registers the number of Metro tickets they've earned.  As an example, 30...

New Technology & Chemical Process Developed at Purdue Converts Plastics to Fuel Source:  NOAA - Albatross Amid Waste Plastic 2050 Forecast:  Global Oceans with More Plastics than Fish The world is awash in discarded plastic.  In the past 65 years, 8.3 billion tons of plastic have been produced.  Only 9% have been recycled and 12% incinerated.  The rest is in the ocean and landfills.  The World Economic Forum forecasts that by 2050, world oceans will hold more plastic than fish.  A team of engineers at Purdue University have invented a technology to turn those numbers around and convert plastics into clean fuel. Purdue Chemical Engineering Prof. Linda Wang Converting Plastic to Clean Fuel New Clean Fuel from Waste Plastics The technology uses hydrothermal liquefaction.  It works by converting the plastic materials to oil by heating them at moderate temperatures under pressure. The Purdue team used common plastic waste such as poly...