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Here are a couple of stories that we really liked, mainly because they show how science can make a difference in the real world. Interestingly, in the light of the current hoo-ha in Europe about the safety of chemicals, both come from German companies.
The first comes from Bayer, the inventor of miracle drug aspirin. This time the firm has taken aim at malaria, which currently kills about a million people a year, many of them in the poorer parts of the world.
Other research has shown that simply using mosquito nets can cut the death rates by a fifth. So, using some of the $50 million set aside by the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation to fight malaria, a Thai firm, Tana Netting, is working with
Bayer's CropScience division and USAID's NetMark, to develop a process that impregnates the fibres with a mosquito repellent so that nets come ready to use.
Around 120 million treated nets are wanted next year, but only 45-60 million will be available. So Bayer is also working on a way for net owners to "retrofit" the nets with anti-mossie chemicals on a DIY basis. Following treatment, nets can be washed more than 20 times without losing their insecticidal action, says the firm.
It has also developed a programme to kill malaria-carrying mosquitoes using DDT, bendiocarb and pyrethroids in rotation. This is to stop the mossies from developing resistance to the chemicals. Pilot schemes in southern Africa and Latin America have proved successful, and the programme should reduce the residual levels of DDT in soil and water.
The other story comes from BASF, which is tackling carbon dioxide emissions from power stations, which generate 40% of the greenhouse gas in OECD countries. From next year it will run a pilot scheme at Esbjerg in Denmark to test the efficacy of a new solvent and gas scrubbing system. The system, the fruit of an EU-funded joint research project set up in the wake of the Kyoto Protocol, should cut the energy required to scrub and store the CO2, making it much cheaper to meet emissions targets (and setting up arbitrage opportunities for gas traders).
The solvents bind the CO2 in power plant emissions, then, when they are reconditioned, they release this CO2 before they are fed back to the process. To prevent the CO2 from escaping to the atmosphere, it is condensed and stored in water-bearing strata of rock (aquifers), in mines or old oil and gas wells.
Conventional solvents degenerate easily using oxygen in the power-plant waste gas, and the process uses lots of energy to absorb, release and store the CO2. Laboratory tests show the novel amine-based solvent from BASF to be much more stable than conventional solvents, which means it is lasts longer and uses less energy.
The new system builds on BASF's experience in removing CO2 from waste natural and synthesis gases using amines. But usually these are under higher temperatures and pressures than those from incineration, which meant a search for a novel solvent.
BTW, the picture shows BooKoo's new energy drinks in new Heat-Tek PET bottles from Ball Corporation. These enhanced waters are filled at temperatures between 180 and 182 degrees Fahrenheit. The 20-oz. bottles have a 43-millimeter opening and feature the company's patented Vac-u-Flex(TM) vacuum panel technology.
Until next time.
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Ian Grant
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