Tag: water

Wave Energy for Desalination

CETO Wave Energy has designed a system that uses tidal power to both pump water and desalinate it! Desalination is a growing necessity in areas lacking fresh water that have access to sea water; however, it is energy and cost intensive. By using a renewable resource, it makes desalination a viable option.

Unlike other wave energy systems currently under development around the world, the CETO wave power converter is the first unit to be fully-submerged and to produce high pressure seawater from the power of waves.
By delivering high pressure seawater ashore, the technology allows either zero-emission electricity to be produced (similar to hydroelectricity) or zero-emission freshwater (utilising standard reverse osmosis desalination technology). It also means that there is no need for undersea grids or high voltage transmission nor costly marine qualified plants.

Gray Water Getting More Interest

Gray water is such a simple idea, but it is expensive to implement the infrastructure on a mass scale – particularly in the suburbs. There is however, more interest in the idea thanks to an increased knowledge about how important water is. Californians are now looking more at gray water – and in the USA California tends to set trends for the rest of the states.

The systems — which use water from sinks, tubs and washing machines to irrigate home landscaping — are touted as a way to keep lawns green and flowers blooming without abusing a scarce resource or inflating water bills.
Greywater Guerrillas launched its first jerry-rigged experiments with gray water in 1999, when the original guerrillas were trying to reduce the water bill for their house of six roommates. The systems and devices have become much more sophisticated since then, said Laura Allen, an educator with Greywater Guerrillas.
Gray water systems channel the used household water (though not from toilets) to irrigation ducts 9 inches below the surface of a home’s lawn or garden.
Advocates say it’s a practical use of water that otherwise would go into the sewer system, and therefore an expedient means of conservation. And conservation is important as water becomes an increasingly valued resource, proponents say.
“Our water bill is going to be like our oil bill in the future,” said John Russell, a landscape designer who heads WaterSprout, an Oakland company that specializes in residential and commercial irrigation, including gray water systems.

Beer That You Can Drink Guilt Free

Beer is delicious, but sadly brewing delicious suds takes a lot of water and thus has a sizable footprint on the local environment. Some breweries are taking note of their environmental impact and are doing something about it. Here’s a list of 5 ‘green’ beers. One of my favourite brews made the cut 🙂

On average, six gallons of water are required to brew one gallon of beer – a ratio that must be drastically reduced in dry areas. Wastewater, carbon emissions and huge energy generators also contribute to the environmental sins of the industry.

But more breweries are taking notice of the eating public’s environmental awakening. While the biggest multinational breweries are beginning to make structural changes that promote sustainability, most of the greenest beers are (unsurprisingly) local and regional ones. Microbreweries are great agents of change because they interact with the communities that surround them. Their smaller size and community feeling make them more amenable to change, so it is easier to petition them and request more sustainable practices. Below are the top five eco-minded, North American mid-sized breweries:

Free Flowing Hydro Power

TreeHugger has a post up that serves as a good reminder of all the tidal power generators that are being built in North America right now. Including Ontario’s announced tidal wave power feasibility study.

The Cornwall Ontario River Energy Project – 15 Megawatts
The province of Ontario is investing C$2.2 million into a project to demonstrate the feasibility and commercial viability of using free flow turbines to harness some of the St. Lawrence River’s kinetic energy and turn it into electricity.

This project is for 15 megawatts, enough to power 11,000 average-sized homes, but Verdant estimates that “there is enough potential power in the water currents of Canada’s tides, rivers and manmade channels to generate 15,000 MW of electricity using its technology”. That would be about the equivalent of 15 big coal power plants.

But we have to wonder… Did they pick Cornwall just because they could make a really cool acronym? The Cornwall Ontario River Energy (CORE) Project.

Whisky Cleans Water

In what seems like some bizarre twist a byproduct from the production of whisky is being used to clean rivers. I wonder if the byproduct is some form of algae.

Scientists at Aberdeen University have created DRAM – Device for the Remediation and Attenuation of Multiple pollutants – which they claim could revolutionise the cleaning up of old and contaminated industrial sites.

They claim the secret process can remove different types of pollutants including chlorines, heavy metals and pesticides at the same time and is far quicker and more cost effective than current clean up techniques.