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Oleophobic hydrophobic magnetic sponge selectively soaks up oil, sparing water and wildlife

Green Car Congress

A Northwestern Engineering-led team has developed a highly porous smart sponge that selectively soaks up oil in water. Currently used solutions include burning the oil, using chemical dispersants to breakdown oil into very small droplets, skimming oil floating on top of water and/or absorbing it with expensive, unrecyclable sorbents.

Water 243
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TdVib commercializing CMI technology for recycling rare earth elements from electronic waste

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A team of researchers from the Critical Materials Institute (CMI), a US Department of Energy Innovation Hub led by the Ames Laboratory, developed a novel way to extract rare earth elements from the high-powered magnets in electronic waste ( earlier post ). Acid-free dissolution has all the critical features for sustainable recycling.

Waste 199
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Eni and RenOils to boost collection of used cooking oil for biofuel production

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Eni currently makes use of approximately 50% of the used cooking oil available in Italy and, in part thanks to RenOils-member regeneration companies, will extend its capacity to produce high-quality biofuel from this waste in the company’s bio-refinery in Venice, at Porto Marghera, and soon also in Gela.

Oil 247
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New version of Argonne lifecycle model for water footprint of biofuels now includes cellulosic feedstocks

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of the online tool Water Assessment for Transportation Energy Resources ( WATER ) this week. This latest version of WATER allows, for the first time, biofuels manufacturers to analyze water consumption associated with use of cellulosic feedstocks such as residue left from lumber production and other wood-based resources.

Water 150
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Toyota to debut 2 BEVs, 1 PHEV for US this year; says research shows BEVs & PHEVs have similar environmental benefits

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The source code for this tool is publicly available at carghg.org for others to experiment with the various input parameters and see the movement of BEVs and PHEVs on the GHG and cost plot. If you include incentives available this year (2020), the TCO of a long-range BEV is much higher.

PHEV 305
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Blue Ribbon Commission on Lithium Extraction in California submits final report to state legislature; findings and recommendations

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Mining is environmentally harmful—it scars landscapes, adversely affects ecosystems and habitat, is water- and energy-intensive, and can pollute air and water resources. Evaporation ponds are water-intensive, can require thousands of square miles of land, and are environmentally destructive.

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Study finds relying on “local food” a distant dream for most of the world

Green Car Congress

Globalization has revolutionized food production and consumption in recent decades and cultivation has become more efficient, and as a result, many people’s diets have diversified and food availability has increased in various parts of the globe. The share was 22% for tropical cereals, 28% for rice and 27% for pulses.

Universal 307