Farming Fuels: Manufacturing jet fuel from agricultural crops
As governments around the world look to reduce emissions and a reliance on fossil fuels, could crops such as sugar and canola provide a renewable fuel source?
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
a day ago
- ABC News
Farming Fuels: Manufacturing jet fuel from agricultural crops
As governments around the world look to reduce emissions and a reliance on fossil fuels, could crops such as sugar and canola provide a renewable fuel source?
ABC News
a day ago
- ABC News
Billions of masks have been dumped since the pandemic. Researchers believe they could be a valuable tech tool
Disposable face masks could be broken down and turned into components for your smart phone or LED lights, in a new technique developed by researchers. The process, developed by the University of Southern Queensland and academics in China, turns single-use masks into a film capable of cooling electronic devices. It is hoped the recycled product could be a cost-effective and sustainable alternative to other materials commonly used to keep devices from overheating, such as polymers, metals or graphite. More than 950 billion masks — equivalent to about 3.8 million tonnes — have been discarded since the COVID-19 pandemic, Professor Pingan Song from the University of Southern Queensland said. Most face masks end up incinerated or in landfill, where they can take hundreds of years to decompose. "That eventually causes pollution to waters, soil and agriculture production," Professor Song said. "But if you incinerate it, the face masks can generate toxic gases that cause air pollution." Professor Song said the new technique could recycle almost all components of a disposable face mask to create materials for smartphones, LEDs and other electronic devices. The masks are washed and dried, applied with a graphene solution, and pressed on a hot plate. The study, published in Nano-Micro Letters, found the resulting regenerated nanocomposite film had metal-like electromagnetic shielding and thermal conductivity properties. Researchers propose the film could be used to effectively isolate electromagnetic radiation and reduce signal interference in electronics. Professor Song said the technique was affordable and could be replicated in larger quantities with the right equipment. "It can generate significant profit margins," he said. "As long as recycling companies are interested, I think we should be able to commercialise this technology in one or two years." Peter Halley, a professor of chemical engineering at the University of Queensland, said upcycling projects are both economically worthwhile and a step towards reducing landfill. "You're taking a waste product and turning it into something with a higher value." He said reducing plastic waste would require "a whole lot of different types of solutions, like this one". Julie McLellan, CEO of Queensland's natural resources management body Healthy Land and Water, said any effort to keep waste out of landfill by recycling was a positive. "It not only reduces pollution and protects our beautiful landscapes and communities, but there are a whole host of reasons that make putting more focus on recycling a win-win," Ms McLellan said. "It reduces landfill as well as conserves resources to make new items, saves energy, cuts greenhouse gasses and supports the circular economy." Under current waste management, polypropylene masks are not accepted by most recycling plants and go into general waste. Professor Song is advocating for governments to implement the technology to reduce the number of face masks in dumps. "At the moment we don't have a proper management solution," Professor Song said. "The government has a role to play because most of the public isn't aware of the issues. "We use [face masks] everyday, particularly in hospitals, laboratories and some other healthcare settings, but after each use we just throw them away. "It would be great if the government can engage with this upcycling." Queensland's Environment and Science Minister Andrew Powell said the government was "working with industry and local government to reduce the amount of rubbish going to landfill".
ABC News
3 days ago
- ABC News
Farm plastic waste recycling options a 'leap forward for sustainability'
Tonnes of plastic farm waste is being turned into new products with the development of recycling techniques by the agricultural industry and engineering researchers. Each year, Australian farms go through an estimated 110,000 tonnes of plastic waste, but recycling options for soft plastics and twine in particular are limited. Key players in Australia's grain industry unveiled a plan earlier this year to stop 45,000 tonnes of agricultural bags from going to landfill or being illegally incinerated. Researchers at a regional Victorian university have also helped to develop a machine to melt down synthetic hay binding twine and repurpose it into building products and furniture. An industry-led, not-for-profit program to collect and recycle plastic agricultural bags is underway in Victoria with plans to expand it in the coming years. The bagMUSTER scheme is similar to the program used for chemical drums, allowing farmers to return their used soft plastic bags to stores for recycling. CropLife Australia chief executive Matthew Cossey helped develop the program and said the bags used for fertilisers, seeds, grain, stock feed, and pet food are turned into new agricultural products. "It's a huge leap forward for farm recycling," he said. "When a farmer buys a product in the bagMUSTER program, they'll be able to return it to the retailer, and then it will be collected and fully recycled. It's as simple as that. Plastic cords used to bind hay, straw and other crops are often seen piling up in farmers' sheds, contaminated with soil, animal waste and other residues. Most of the twine ends up in landfill or is burnt on farms. La Trobe University researchers in Bendigo have helped develop a machine to melt and re-form the twine into useful, durable products. Engineering Associate Professor Ing Kong said the twine could be turned into garden planters, outdoor furniture, and construction materials such as decking or fence posts. "There has been no incentive to recycle bale twine because it is a single-use, bulky and contaminated product with dirt, small rocks and such," Dr Kong said. "But this particular machine, invented by Rtech, can actually take a significant amount of contaminate and still process it." Dr Kong said the melting machine was much more cost-effective than comparable machines and was designed so it could be used on-farm. "It can be owned and installed easily by anyone, it's economical, and takes up a small space," she said. "If a farmer has a constant amount of plastic waste, they can recycle it on site into 1-metre cubes, and have the waste ready to be manufactured either locally or exported." Australian Seed Federation chief executive Katherine Delbridge said the disposal of plastic waste had long been a pain for farmers. Ms Delbridge said the cost of disposing seed bags into landfill was prohibitive for many farmers. "Because there hasn't been a supply chain for this plastic before the frank matter is people have been burying and burning this plastic on-farm." Agsafe general manager Alicia Garden welcomed the advancements in recycling but said there was still a long way to go. "About 15,000 tonnes of soft plastic recycling is available across all industries per year — consumer, mining, agriculture. It's a really constrained bottleneck," she said. "Regulatory change about 18 months ago means that we can't use recycling facilities overseas; we have to recycle here in Australia. Ms Garden said developers were now looking at ways to recycle other plastic waste on farms, such as silage wrap. "There is a dedicated facility [for that] being built in Albury, which we expect will be online late this year or early next year," she said.
