Browsing environmental news sources so you don't have to. Contact Laura Barnes (lbarnes@istc.illinois.edu) with questions, comments, and suggestions.
Follow ENB on TwitterRead the full story in the New York Times.
The Interior Department announced a rule that has largely freed federal agencies from consulting independent biologists before projects that might harm federally protected wildlife.
Read the full story in the New York Times.
Carol M. Browner’s new position as White House coordinator of energy and climate policy may be undefined, but her thinking on those issues is clearly in line with the president-elect’s.
Read the full story in Technology Review.
When a car’s underbody or a ship’s hull begins to corrode, it usually ends up junked. New protective coatings developed at the University of Illinois heal over their own scratches with no external intervention, protecting the underlying metal. The self-healing elements, enclosed in microcapsules that rip open when the coating is scratched, are compatible with a wide range of paints and protective coatings. The coatings, being marketed by Autonomic Materials of Champaign, IL, may be on the market in as soon as four months.
The materials, described online this week in the journal Advanced Materials, were developed by Paul Braun and Scott White, both professors in the Beckman Institute at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The self-healing system consists of two kinds of microcapsules: one filled with polymer building blocks, the other with a catalyst. Because the capsules, made of polyurethane, keep the reactive chemicals inside isolated, they can be mixed into a wide range of coatings. When the coatings are scratched, the microcapsules are torn open and their contents flow into the crack and form siloxane, a polymer that Braun likens to bathroom caulk. Unlike other self-healing systems, the Illinois coatings don’t require elevated temperatures or moisture to mend.
Read the full story in Technology Review.
Pulp and paper plants could soon double as biorefineries if financing for a Swedish gasification project is any indication. As gas prices have slumped this fall, threatening to run some biofuels innovators out of business, Swedish company Chemrec has pulled in a stream of grants and investments backing a process for turning the black liquor left over from pulp and paper bleaching into a clean-burning synthetic biofuel.
Read the full story in Environmental Protection.
A new way of pinpointing where zinc pollution in the atmosphere comes from could improve pollution monitoring and regulation, says research in the journal Analytical Chemistry.
Imperial College London researchers say their work is a major breakthrough as current methods for analyzing zinc pollution only measure pollution in the atmosphere; they do not trace it back to its source.
Read the full story from Plenty Magazine.
Lucky for you, Plenty’s staff has compiled ideas for every important person in your life, from the woman who birthed you to the boss you’d really rather not have to buy a present for, thankyouverymuch. The emphasis this year is on things you can make yourself, things that are inexpensive (with one outlandish — but totally worth it — exception), and, of course, things that are low-impact or actually help the earth and its inhabitants. So start wishing for a green Christmas. (For the print magazine’s own 100 percent unique gift guide, you can find the December issue on newsstands now.)
Via Docuticker.
EPA’s Risk Assessment Process Bogged Down by Unprecedented Challenges; Expansion of Current Model Could Help Meet Needs
Source: National Research CouncilThe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s process of generating risk assessments — which estimate the potential adverse effects posed by harmful chemicals found in the environment in order to protect public health — is bogged down by unprecedented challenges, and as a decision-making tool it is often hindered by a disconnect between available scientific data and the information needs of officials, says a new report from the National Research Council. EPA’s risk assessment process should be streamlined to ensure the appropriate use of available science, technical accuracy, and tailoring to the specific needs of the problem.
The risk assessment process entails four steps — hazard identification, exposure assessment, dose-response assessment, and risk characterization – which were described in a 1983 National Research Council report known as the Red Book. After a risk assessment is complete, officials and regulators use it to decide how to protect the public from exposure to toxic substances. However, the challenges of risk assessment have become increasingly complex. As knowledge of environmental contaminants and potential health impacts advances, EPA must address issues of multiple exposure, multiple risks, and susceptibility of different populations. Recognizing this, the agency asked the Research Council to identify improvements it could make to enhance risk assessment. In turn, the committee that wrote the report presented recommendations and a proposed framework for risk-based decision making to provide a template for risk assessment in EPA and strengthen the scientific basis, credibility, and effectiveness of future risk management decisions.
The committee found that EPA is struggling to keep up with demands for hazard and dose-response information and is challenged by a lack of resources. For example, the risk assessment for trichloroethylene, a chemical that is linked to cancer, has been under development since the 1980s and is not expected until 2010. However, state and federal officials often must continue to make risk management decisions in the absence of completed risk assessments. If this practice continues, the value and credibility of risk assessment will erode, the committee stressed. Perfection in scientific knowledge is unattainable; therefore, risk assessment should incorporate the best available scientific information and reasonably capture uncertainties in information so it is still useful for officials.
+ Report in Brief (PDF; 322 KB)
+ Full Report (Read for free online via National Academies Press.)
The December 2008 ITP Bulletin from DOE’s Industrial Technologies Program is now available.
The latest issue of Renewable Energy Weekly is now available. Highlights include:
Read the full story in Technology Review.
Startup Qteros, based in Hadley, MA, and formerly known as SunEthanol, thinks that it holds the key to finally making cellulosic ethanol cost-effective. It’s a bacterium called the Q microbe, or, more properly, Clostridium phytofermentans, and the company claims that it can eliminate the costly enzymes normally used to turn cellulose into ethanol.
