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Assessing the effects of cell phone radiation on brain tissue

Assessing the effects of cell phone radiation on brain tissue
December 17, 2012 by Sunanda Creagh in Medical research

 

Researchers have found a novel, non-invasive technique for measuring brain hot spots caused by electromagnetic radiation from mobile phones, according to a study published today.

However, the scientists noted their model measured a "worst case scenario" level of heat and that in reality, the body's natural self-cooling mechanisms would reduce the amount of heat rise in the
brain caused by a mobile phone. The World Health Organisation's cancer agency,
the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), classed mobile phones
as Group 2B or "possibly carcinogenic" in a report released last
year. That puts them in the same IARC category as coffee, napthalene and
pickled vegetables. To test how much electromagnetic energy from cell phone
radiation was absorbed into a brain, US researchers David H. Gultekin and
Lothar Moeller used nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques on a brain that
had been removed from a cow. The scientists rigged up an antenna system to help
create 3D images of the hot spots without allowing the strong magnetic fields
of the NMR to interfere with the results. The results were checked against heat
measurements taken with fibre optic temperature sensors and showed that the NMR
method delivered accurate findings. The researchers concluded that "NMR
thermometry offers sufficient spatial and temporal resolution to characterise
the hot spots from absorbed cell phone radiation in… biological tissues."
However, the researchers said that a biological process called perfusion—in
which blood is directed to overheated body parts to help cool them down—would
mean that the amount of heat rise caused by a mobile phone in a living brain would
be less in real life than what was studied in this experiment. Ads by Google
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www.SinoBiological.com "This study essentially presents the worst case
scenario in terms of radiation-heated brain tissue. The temperature rise in the
in vivo brain tissue is expected to be smaller because of perfusion," the
study said. The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences. Their technique was an improvement on existing methods to
test for hot spots, which currently involve inserting a probe into a gel
designed to mimic the way a brain would conduct heat. "They are invasive
and they can not measure the thermal fields in ex-vivo or in-vivo tissues. NMR
method is non-invasive and can measure the thermal fields in ex-vivo and
in-vivo including the perfusion effects," said one of the scientists who
conducted the research, Dr David Gultekin from the Memorial Sloan-Kettering
Cancer Centre in New York.
Another author of the paper, Dr Lothar Moeller of Bell Labs, said "our
method has the advantages that it can be applied to measure remotely temperature
enhancement caused by cell phone radiation inside in-vivo brain. No other
existing method can do this." Professor Rodney Croft, Professor of Health
Physiology at the University
of Wollongong and a
researcher of mobile phone radiation said the research was interesting
proof-of-concept study but "I don't think it has much relevance to the
mobile phone debate." "What they are talking about at the moment is a
non-realistic model using biological material without thermoregulation,"
meaning natural mechanisms that help cool down overheated body parts, said Dr
Croft. "We can be exposed to quite a lot of changes in temperature and our
body can deal with it. If we get mobile phone exposure, because it's such a
small amount of heat, the thermoregulation can deal with that without any
difficulty." Dr Croft said there still was no research suggesting major
health problems caused by mobile phone use. "It really doesn't represent
much of a risk. We are talking about a conclusion that it remains a possibility
[that they may cause cancer] but there is no evidence it is a problem."
More information: "NMR imaging of cell phone radiation absorption in brain
tissue," by David H. Gultekin and Lothar Moeller: www.pnas.org/conte…
0/1205598109 Journal reference: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Provided by The Conversation This story is published courtesy of the The
Conversation (under Creative Commons-Attribution/No derivatives)



Read more at: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-effects-cell-brain-tissue.html#jCp

How to get fossil fuels from ice cream and soap

December 17, 2012 Scientists at the University of Manchester
have identified a biocatalyst which could produce chemicals found in ice-cream
and household items such as soap and shampoo – possibly leading to the
long-term replacement of chemicals derived from fossil fuels.

Writing in PNAS, the researchers have shown that the emerging
field of synthetic biology can be used to manipulate hydrocarbon chemicals,
found in soaps and shampoos, in cells. This development, discovered with
colleagues at the University of Turku in Finland, could mean fuel for cars
or household power supplies could be created from naturally-occurring fatty
acids. The researchers, led by Professor Nick Turner from The University of
Manchester, used synthetic biology to hijack the naturally-existing fatty acids
and direct those fatty molecules towards the production of ready-to-use fuel
and household chemicals. Hydrocarbon chemicals are everywhere in our daily
lives; as fragrance in soap, thickener in shampoo and fuel in the car. Their
number of carbons and whether they are acid, aldehyde, alcohol or alkane are
important parameters that influence how toxic they are to biological organisms,
the potential for fuel and their olfactory perception as aroma compounds. The
breakthrough allows researchers to further explore how to create renewable
energy from sustainable sources, and the advance could lead to more innovative
ways of sourcing fuel from natural resources. Synthetic biology is an area of
biological research and technology that combines science and engineering for
the benefit of society. Significant advances have been made in this field in
recent years. Professor Turner said: "In our laboratories in Manchester we currently
work with many different biocatalysts that catalyse a range of chemical
reactions – the key is to match up the correct biocatalyst with the specific
product you are trying to make. "Biocatalysts recognise molecules in the
way that a lock recognises a key – they have to fit perfectly together to work.
Sometime we redesign the lock so that if can accept a slightly different key
allowing us to make even more interesting products. "In this example we
need to make sure that the fatty acid starting materials would be a perfect
match for the biocatalysts that we discovered and developed in our
laboratories. "As with many leading areas of science today, in order to
make major breakthroughs it is necessary for two or more laboratories around
the world to come together to solve challenging problems." More
information: Carboxylic acid reductase is a versatile enzyme for the conversion
of fatty acids into fuels and chemical commodities, by M. Kalim Akhtar,
Nicholas J. Turner, and Patrik R. Jones, PNAS, 2012. Journal reference:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Provided by University of Manchester 



Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2012-12-fossil-fuels-ice-cream-soap.html#jCp

The dark side of kerosene lamps: High black carbon emissions

The dark side of kerosene lamps: High black carbon
emissions

 

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The small kerosene lamps that light millions of homes in developing countries have a dark side: black carbon – fine particles of soot released into the atmosphere.

Simple kerosene lamps, a common source of light in the developing world, emit
high levels of black carbon – 20 times more than previously thought, according
to a new study. | Photo
by Tami Bond

New measurements show that
kerosene wick lamps release 20 times more black carbon than previously thought,
say researchers at the University of Illinois and the University of
California, Berkeley. The group published its findings in the
journal Environmental Science and Technology.



Black carbon is a hazard for human health and the environment, affecting air
quality both indoors and out. It has a major impact on climate as it absorbs
heat and sunlight, warming the air. Although it only lingers in the atmosphere
for about two weeks, one kilogram of black carbon can cause as much warming in
that short time as 700 kilograms of carbon dioxide circulating in the
atmosphere for 100 years, according to study leader Tami Bond,
a professor of civil and
environmental engineering at the U. of I.



“There’s a lot of interest right now in reducing black carbon as a quick way to
reduce climate warming – a way to reduce warming in the immediate future,
although not a full solution to long-term climate change,” Bond said. “In its
short lifetime of two weeks, it adds a lot of energy to the atmosphere. It’s
immediate warming now, which is why people are talking about reducing it.”



Previously, emissions researchers did not consider kerosene lamps a large
source of black carbon because of the relatively small amount of fuel used in a
lamp verses other particle-emitting sources, such as cookstoves or diesel
engines. However, the new measurements from the field show that 7 to 9 percent
of fuel burned is converted to black carbon – a very high emission factor,
making such lamps a major source of black carbon. In addition, unlike the
cocktail of aerosol particles released by cookstoves and cooking fires, the
dark curls rising from a kerosene lamp are nearly pure black carbon.



The good news is that there are inexpensive, easy alternatives that could curb
black carbon emissions from lamps. For example, LED lamps charged by solar
panels are becoming more popular. But an even easier fix would be to place a
glass shield around the lamp, which reduces – though does not eliminate – the
amount of black carbon particles that escape.



“Unlike cooking stoves, which also are very important health hazards but
challenging to replace, people actually like to replace the kerosene lamps,”
Bond said. “When it comes to lamps, nobody says, ‘I really like this tin can
that I filled with kerosene.’ It’s a plausible, inexpensive way to reduce
climate warming immediately, which is something we haven’t really had in the
black carbon field before.”



The study authors hope that, with the new data in hand, agencies working in
developing countries will implement lamp-replacement initiatives to develop and
distribute affordable alternatives.



"Getting rid of kerosene lamps may seem like a small, inconsequential step
to take,” said study lead author Nicholas Lam, a UC Berkeley graduate student,
“but when considering the collective impact of hundreds of millions of
households, it's a simple move that affects the planet."



The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institute of
Environmental Health Sciences, the U.S. Agency for International Development
and the Environmental Protection Agency supported this research.

Editor's
note: To reach Tami Bond, call 217-244-5277; email yark@illinois.edu. The paper, “Household Light
Makes Global Heat: High Black Carbon Emissions From Kerosene Wick Lamps,” is
available online.

 

Flexible silicon solar-cell fabrics may soon become possible

		IMAGE:For the first time, a silicon-based optical fiber with solar-cell capabilities has been developed that is capable of being scaled up to many meters in length. The research, led by...Click here for more information.

For the first time, a silicon-based optical fiber with solar-cell capabilities has been developed that has been shown to be scalable to many meters in length. The research opens the door to the possibility of weaving together solar-cell silicon wires to create flexible, curved, or twisted solar fabrics. The findings by an international team of chemists, physicists, and engineers, led by John Badding, a professor of chemistry at Penn State University, will be posted by the journal Advanced Materials in an early online edition on 6 December 2012 and will be published on a future date in the journal's print edition.

The team's new findings build on earlier work addressing the challenge of merging optical fibers with electronic chips -- silicon-based integrated circuits that serve as the building blocks for most semiconductor electronic devices such as solar cells, computers, and cell phones. Rather than merge a flat chip with a round optical fiber, the team found a way to build a new kind of optical fiber -- which is thinner than the width of a human hair -- with its own integrated electronic component, thereby bypassing the need to integrate fiber-optics with chips. To do this, they used high-pressure chemistry techniques to deposit semiconducting materials directly, layer by layer, into tiny holes in optical fibers.

		IMAGE:For the first time, a silicon-based optical fiber with solar-cell capabilities has been developed that is capable of being scaled up to many meters in length. The research, led by...Click here for more information.

Now, in their new research, the team members have used the same high-pressure chemistry techniques to make a fiber out of crystalline silicon semiconductor materials that can function as a solar cell -- a photovoltaic device that can generate electrical power by converting solar radiation into direct-current electricity. "Our goal is to extend high-performance electronic and solar-cell function to longer lengths and to more flexible forms. We already have made meters-long fibers but, in principle, our team's new method could be used to create bendable silicon solar-cell fibers of over 10 meters in length," Badding said. "Long, fiber-based solar cells give us the potential to do something we couldn't really do before: We can take the silicon fibers and weave them together into a fabric with a wide range of applications such as power generation, battery charging, chemical sensing, and biomedical devices."

Badding explained that one of the major limitations of portable electronics such as smart phones and iPads is short battery life. Solar-boosted batteries could help solve this problem. "A solar cell is usually made from a glass or plastic substrate onto which hydrogenated amorphous silicon has been grown," Badding explained. "Such a solar cell is created using an expensive piece of equipment called a PECVD reactor and the end result is something flat with little flexibility. But woven, fiber-based solar cells would be lightweight, flexible configurations that are portable, foldable, and even wearable." This material could then be connected to electronic devices to power them and charge their batteries. "The military especially is interested in designing wearable power sources for soldiers in the field," Badding added.

The team members believe that another advantage of flexibility in solar-cell materials is the possibility of collecting light energy at various angles. "A typical solar cell has only one flat surface," Badding said. "But a flexible, curved solar-cell fabric would not be as dependent upon where the light is coming from or where the sun is in the horizon and the time of day."

Pier J. A. Sazio of the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom and one of the team's leaders added, "Another intriguing property of these silicon-fiber devices is that as they are so compact, they can have a very fast response to visible laser light. In fact, we fabricated fiber-based photodetectors with a bandwidth of over 1.8 GHz."

###

In addition to Badding and Sazio, other researchers who contributed to this study include lead author Rongrui He, Todd D. Day, Mahesh Krishnamurthi, Justin R. Sparks, and Venkatraman Gopalan from Penn State.

The research was funded by the National Science Foundation, Penn State's Materials Research Institute Nano Fabrication Network, and the United Kingdom's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

[ Katrina Voss ]

CONTACTS

 

John Badding:  814-777-3054 (mobile), jbadding@pearl.chem.psu.edu

Pier J. A. Sazio:  44-23-8059-3144, pjas@orc.soton.ac.uk

Barbara Kennedy (PIO): 814-863-4682, science@psu.edu

IMAGES

 

High-resolution images associated with this research are online at http://www.science.psu.edu/news-and-events/2012-news/Badding12-2012.

CAPTIONS

 

1. A cross-sectional image of the new silicon-based optical fiber with solar-cell capabilities. Shown are the layers -- labeled n+, i, and p+ -- that have been deposited inside the pore of the fiber.

2. A coiled strand of a meter-long solar-cell junction fiber, thinner than the width of a human hair, which has been created by a team of chemists, physicists, and engineers led by John Badding at Penn State University.

CREDIT

 

Badding lab, Penn State University

GRANT NUMBERS

 

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/G028273/1 and EP/I035307/1), National Science Foundation (DMR-0806860 and DMR-1107894), and the Penn State Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (NSF DMR-0820404)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DNA Analysis of Microbes in a Fracking Site Yields Surprises

Poster
H11C-1196, “Microbial Community Shifts due to Hydrofracking: Results from
Field-Scale Observations and Laboratory-Scale Incubations” will be presented
from 8:00 a.m. - 12:20 p.m PT on Monday, Dec. 3, 2012 in Moscone South, Hall
A-C.

DNA Analysis of Microbes in a Fracking Site Yields Surprises

SAN FRANCISCO—Researchers have made a genetic analysis of the microbes living deep inside a deposit of Marcellus Shale at a hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” site, and uncovered some
surprises.

They expected to find many tough microbes suited to extreme environments, such as those that derive from archaea, a domain of single-celled species sometimes found in high-salt environments,
volcanoes, or hot springs. Instead, they found very few genetic biomarkers for archaea, and many more for species that derive from bacteria.

Paula   Mouser

They also found that the populations of microbes changed dramatically over a short
period of time, as some species perished during the fracking operation and
others became more abundant. One—an as-yet-unidentified bacterium—actually
prospered, and eventually made up 90 percent of the microbial population in
fluids taken from the fracked well.

Researchers may never know the exact
species of bacteria in the fluids because of the difficulty in replicating the
subsurface conditions in the laboratory, and the challenges associated with
culturing unknown microbes from such environments, explained Paula Mouser,
assistant professor of civil, environmental and geodetic engineering at Ohio State
University and lead
author of the study.

“There are millions of microbes that we
can detect using biomarkers, but haven’t ever isolated or cultured from these
environments before. Most are grouped into loose associations based on shared
genetic characteristics—something akin to a human extended family,” Mouser
said.

“Probably, the best we’ll be able to do is
identify their microbial ‘cousins.’”

The study tracked the microbe species
found in the water pumped out of a typical fracking site over a period of
months during its normal operation. The rock at the site was a type of shale
known as Marcellus, named for the city in New York where it was first identified.

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“This kind of research is important, because   everything we learn about subsurface microorganisms helps us understand   ecology on Earth’s surface.”

To Mouser, the real value of the study is
the new knowledge it offers on how microbes in fracking fluids compete and
survive when the fluids are injected to the deep subsurface, as certain
microbes could prove detrimental to oil and gas quality, or compromise well
integrity.

She presented her team’s initial findings
at the American Geophysical Union meeting this week.

“This kind of research is important,
because everything we learn about subsurface microorganisms helps us understand
ecology on Earth’s surface,” she said. “When water samples like this are
shared, there is the potential for great discovery—this knowledge could open
doors to new technology for improving gas extraction efficiency or for treating
flowback fluids from these sites.”

Because of the large cost for drilling and
fracking one well—usually, millions of dollars—individual researchers must team
together with industry for access to samples.

In fact, companies do not normally share
the contents of their “flowback” fluids—the mix of water, oil, and gas that
emerges from an active well—because they could reveal the proprietary mix of
chemicals that the company is using to aid extraction.

The Ohio
State study was able to take place
only through a collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy National Energy
Technology Laboratory (NETL) in Pittsburgh.
NETL is working with industry to study fracking technologies and provided
Mouser’s team with water samples donated by an unnamed shale gas operation.

When it comes to energy extraction, tiny
microbes play a huge role, Mouser said.

As it happens, the chemicals that
companies pump into the ground along with water to help fracture shale and
release petroleum contain carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorous—in chemical
formulations that microbes like to eat. So, left unchecked, the microbes in a
fracking well can grow and reproduce out of control—so much so, that they may
clog the fractures and block extraction, or foul the gas and oil with their
waste, which contains sulfur.

This is no news to oil companies, Mouser
added. They’ve long known about the microbes, and add biocides to the water to
control the population. What isn’t known: exactly what kinds of microbes live
there, and what altering their populations does to the environment.

“Our goal is really to understand the
physiology of the microbes and their biogeochemical role in the environment, to
examine how industry practices influence subsurface microbial life and water
quality,” Mouser said.

Maryam Ansari, a master’s student in
environmental sciences at Ohio
State, sequenced the
microbes’ DNA, and separated them into taxa, or taxonomic units—groups that
could be thought of as microbial “cousins.”

Of the 40 taxa the researchers identified
from water samples taken at the start of the fracking operation, only six
survived the first few weeks. Almost all of the bacteria at the site were
classified as “halo-tolerant,” similar to bacteria that live in deep saltwater
environments.

The study is just beginning, and Mouser
hopes that as they learn more, the researchers will be able to pin down how the
microbes metabolize fracking fluids.

Ultimately, they hope to meld those discoveries
with a computer model that can predict fluid movement from shale formations to
groundwater aquifers. The model would provide tools for commercial companies to
assess the safety of possible fracking sites.

In the meantime, Mouser is very interested
in teaming with other industry partners to also look at microbial dynamics in a
different kind of rock: Ohio’s
Utica Shale.

Ohio State’s Subsurface
Energy Resource
Center funded the genomic
analyses, which were done at the university’s Plant Microbe Genetics Facility.
These early findings have earned Mouser a new grant from the National Science
Foundation so that she can pursue the work further.

#

Contact: Paula Mouser, (614) 247-4429; Mouser.19@osu.edu

Written by Pam Frost Gorder, (614)
292-9475; Gorder.1@osu.edu

Editor’s note: to reach Mouser during the
American Geophysical Union meeting, contact Pam Frost Gorder.

 

Dirty Electricity > Disturbance of the immune system by electromagnetic fields which could lead to disease and impairment

Disturbance of the immune system by electromagnetic fields—A potentially underlying cause for cellular damage and tissue repair reduction which could lead to disease and impairment

Olle Johansson ∗

The Experimental Dermatology Unit,
Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden

Received 23
August 2008; accepted 30 January 2009

 

http://www.emrnetwork.org/pdfs/PATPHY_621.pdf

Diabetes and electrification-- Diabetes on Islands and Dirty Electricity (Letter to The Lancet rejected)

Diabetes on Islands and Dirty Electricity (Letter to The Lancet rejected)

http://www.sammilham.com/Islands_Lancet.pdf

 

In the listings of fasting  plasma glucose (FPG)and diabetes prevalence  in 199 countries and territories by Goodarz et al1, islands are over- represented in places with high blood glucose and diabetes prevalence.  Nine of ten of the  places with highest FBG in males are small islands, while none of the ten places with the lowest FPG are. I believe that this is due to exposure to high frequency voltage transients ( dirty electricity) on electric utility wiring coming from generator brush arcing, bad wiring connections  and from cell phone switching power supplies.

Islands without fuel supplies are likely to import  Diesel oil  to fuel generators with arcing brushes.   Dirty electricity DE  is a term coined by the utilities to describe high frequency voltage transients riding along on the 50 and 60 Hz transmission frequencies. DE is generated by arcing, sparking and any device that interrupts current flow, like compact fluorescent lights, computers,  all transmitters, including cell towers, and inverters used in wind mills and photovoltaic solar arrays.

 

These data are also consistent with a dirty electricity etiology in that places without Electricity like sub-Saharan Africa and south east Asia have low FPG and diabetes prevalence. Unfortunately , the epidemic of the so called diseases of civilization, including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancer and suicide began with electrification and Thomas Edison in New York City in the early 1800s.  Historical  US
mortality data and US census electrification data, demonstrate this connection2,3,4.

 

1. Goodarz D,  Finucane MM, Lu Yet al. National, regional, and global trends in fasting plasma glucose and diabetes prevalence since 1980: systematic analysis of health examination surveys and epidemiologic studies with 370 countries and 2.7 million participants. Lancet 2011;378: 31-40.

2. Milham S. Historical evidence that electrification caused the 20th century epidemic of disease of civilization. Medical Hypotheses 74, (2010): 337–345.

3. Milham S. Dirty Electricity, Bloomington Indiana USA, iUniverse. 2010.

4. www.sammilham.com.

 

Samuel Milham MD, MPH

 2318 Gravelly Beach Loop NW

Olympia WA 98502 USA

smilham@dc.rr.com

http://www.sammilham.com/links.shtm

Lifestyle diseases caused by electrification-Historical evidence that electrification caused the 20th century epidemic of ‘‘diseases of civilization”

Historical evidence that electrification caused the 20th century epidemic of ‘‘diseases of civilization”  Medical Hypotheses 74 (2010) 337–345

Samuel Milham;   Washington State Department of Health, Olympia, WA, USA

summary

The slow spread of residential electrification in the US in the first half of the 20th century from urban to rural areas resulted by 1940 in two large populations; urban populations, with nearly complete electrification and rural populations exposed to varying levels of electrification depending on the progress of electrification in their state. It took until 1956 for US farms to reach urban and rural non-farm electrification levels. Both populations were covered by the US vital registration system. US vital statistics tabulations and census records for 1920–1960, and historical US vitalstatistics documents were examined.

Residential electrification data was available in the US census of population for 1930, 1940 and 1950. Crude urban and rural death rates were calculated, and death rates by state were correlated with electrification rates by state for urban and rural areas for 1940 white resident deaths. Urban death rates were much higher than rural rates for cardiovascular diseases, malignant diseases, diabetes and suicide in 1940. Rural death rates were significantly correlated with level of residential electric service by state for most causes examined. I hypothesize that the 20th century epidemic of the so called diseases of civilization including cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes and suicide was caused by electrificatio not by lifestyle. A large proportion of these diseases may therefore be preventable

 

http://www.sammilham.com/historical%20evidence.pdf

Smart Bio Plastics from CO2 Flue Gas

Oakbio Makes Bioplastic at Cement Plant using

CO2 from Flue Gas and Electricity 

Milestone for cement industry
and renewable products

 

SUNNYVALE, CA (July 10,  2012) - Today Oakbio Inc.

announced the successful production of bioplastic

polymers in their bioreactor systems. Oakbio's

system creates bioplastic using inputs of cement

plant flue gas and electricity. The technology
uses bioreactors driven by non-toxic microbes

to capture CO2 and convert it to a variety of

sustainable products directly from the plant's

gas emissions.

 

This is the latest  development from an on-site

research collaboration at Lehigh Southwest Cement
Company's Permanente cement manufacturing

plant in Cupertino. Lehigh Southwest is part of

Lehigh Hanson, Inc., the North American operations

of the  Heidelberg Cement Group, a world leader

in construction materials with  approximately

52,000 employees in more than 40 countries.

 

Chief Scientist Brian
Sefton stated, "Our carbon conversion process

yields over 50% bioplastics in  microbe biomass

by dry weight from inputs of raw flue gas and

electricity. The type of plastic we make is not

only renewable, but biodegradable as
well.

 

"The effective conversion of captured CO2 into

a valuable bioplastic product represents an

important technical achievement for potential

large-scale bioplastics production. This result

also points the way to a new method for

greenhouse gas capture, making emissions

gas CO2 a feedstock for mass scale manufacturing."

 

CEO Russell Howard added:
"At Oakbio we see industrial CO2 as a carbon

resource. By converting virtually unlimited amounts

of low cost CO2 available from various industries

worldwide into sustainable products like biodegradable

plastics, Oakbio's technology can answer multiple

needs: full scale chemicals production without the

use of petroleum oil or agricultural feedstock;

replacement of petroleum oil-derived plastics

with bio-degradable renewable products; and

the capture of CO2 to prevent greenhouse gas

accumulation. The ability of our microbes to

perform their magic in cement flue gas is an

important step toward achieving this vision".

 

 

About Oakbio, Inc.

Oakbio is a private
technology-based company in Sunnyvale dedicated to sustainable production of
specialty chemicals using novel microbial production processes that combine GHG
reduction with manufacture of sustainable specialty chemicals (see www.oakbio.com).

Media
Contact:

Russell Howard, CEO,
Oakbio, (408) 930-7004; rhoward@oakbio.com

Smart Bio Plastics from CO2 Flue Gas

Oakbio Makes Bioplastic at
Cement Plant using CO2 from Flue Gas and Electricity 

Milestone for cement industry
and renewable products

 

SUNNYVALE, CA (July 10,  2012) - Today Oakbio Inc. announced the successful production of
bioplastic polymers in their bioreactor systems. Oakbio's system creates
bioplastic using inputs of cement plant flue gas and electricity. The technology
uses bioreactors driven by non-toxic microbes to capture CO2 and convert it to a
variety of sustainable products directly from the plant's gas
emissions.

 

This is the latest
development from an on-site research collaboration at Lehigh Southwest Cement
Company's Permanente cement manufacturing plant in Cupertino. Lehigh Southwest
is part of Lehigh Hanson, Inc., the North American operations of the
HeidelbergCement Group, a world leader in construction materials with
approximately 52,000 employees in more than 40 countries.

 

Chief Scientist Brian
Sefton stated, "Our carbon conversion process yields over 50% bioplastics in
microbe biomass by dry weight from inputs of raw flue gas and electricity. The
type of plastic we make is not only renewable, but biodegradable as
well.

 

"The effective conversion
of captured CO2 into a valuable bioplastic product represents an important
technical achievement for potential large-scale bioplastics production. This
result also points the way to a new method for greenhouse gas capture, making
emissions gas CO2 a feedstock for mass scale manufacturing."

 

CEO Russell Howard added:
"At Oakbio we see industrial CO2 as a carbon resource. By converting virtually
unlimited amounts of low cost CO2 available from various industries worldwide
into sustainable products like biodegradable plastics, Oakbio's technology can
answer multiple needs: full scale chemicals production without the use of
petroleum oil or agricultural feedstock; replacement of petroleum oil-derived
plastics with bio-degradable renewable products; and the capture of CO2 to
prevent greenhouse gas accumulation. The ability of our microbes to perform
their magic in cement flue gas is an important step toward achieving this
vision".

 

 

About Oakbio, Inc.

Oakbio is a private
technology-based company in Sunnyvale dedicated to sustainable production of
specialty chemicals using novel microbial production processes that combine GHG
reduction with manufacture of sustainable specialty chemicals (see www.oakbio.com).

Media
Contact:

Russell Howard, CEO,
Oakbio, (408) 930-7004; rhoward@oakbio.com