Smart Economy

With a bit of electricity, Microbes turn CO2 and water into methane.

Environmentalists & the Green movement have it all wrong. I've long said that we should view carbon dioxide (CO2) as a something positive, an input or a fundimental  building block or feedstock and not as something negative to get rid of, hide  or sequester underground.

Now, according to Penn State engineers, methanogenic microorganisms can take electricity and directly convert carbon dioxide (C02) and water into methane, producing a portable energy source with a potentially neutral carbon footprint.

"We were studying making hydrogen in microbial electrolysis cells and we kept getting all this methane," said Bruce E. Logan, Kappe Professor of Environmental Engineering, Penn State. "We may now understand why."

Methanogenic microorganisms do produce methane in marshes and dumps, but scientists thought that the organisms turned hydrogen or organic materials, such as acetate, into methane. However, the researchers found, while trying to produce hydrogen in microbial electrolysis cells, that their cells produced much more methane than expected.

"All the methane generation going on in nature that we have assumed is going through hydrogen may not be," said Logan. "We actually find very little hydrogen in the gas phase in nature. Perhaps where we assumed hydrogen is being made, it is not."

Microbial electrolysis cells do require an electrical voltage to be added to the voltage that is produced by bacteria using organic materials to produce current that evolves into hydrogen.

The researchers found that the methanogenic microorganisms Archaea, using about the same electrical input, could use the current to convert carbon dioxide and water to methane without any organic material, bacteria or hydrogen usually found in microbial electrolysis cells. They report their findings in this week's issue of Environmental Science and Technology

Walter Derzko

 

Smart living corrosion-inhibiting coatings encapsulate good bacteria spores

A new, environmentally friendly coating that protects metals against corrosion in seawater has been developed by a team of researchers from Sheffield Hallam University in the UK.

At the Society for General Microbiology meeting in Harrogate today, researchers describe how they had encapsulated spores from a bacterium into a sol-gel coating which then protected an aluminium alloy from microbial corrosion.

Microbially-influenced corrosion (MIC) of metals at sea is a big safety and financial problem caused by the production of damaging substances such as hydrogen sulphide by sulphate-reducing micro-organisms within biofilms on the surfaces. Overall it is estimated that corrosion costs the UK around 3-4% of GDP. Existing anti-corrosion treatments are costly, ineffective and often include biocides and inhibitors that are toxic to aquatic life.

The corrosion-preventing bacteria occur naturally in the environment. Incorporating its spores into the coating did not seem to affect their viability – living cells were still found in the coating after more than six weeks in seawater. The coating could also be heat cured at temperatures up to 90°C.

Speaking at the meeting, scientists said: "Our results from laboratory studies and a field trial in the Thames estuary have shown that the bacteria-containing coating is substantially more effective in the prevention of corrosion than the sol-only coating. We are investigating what causes the corrosion protection – we think it might be due to the immobilized bacteria producing antimicrobial agents which inhibit the growth of corrosion-causing microorganisms". Additional trials are now planned or in progress in a variety of marine environments.

Walter Derzko

Self-powered nanobattery-free energy from motion

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta have developed an extremely tiny nanogenerator that can produce electricity from the mechanical energy naturally produced when our bodies move (aka the piezoelectric effect  or mechanical pressure converted to electricity)

 

According to the press release:

 

"With further development, the nanogenerator could allow people to power personal electronic devices, such as cell phones, MP3 players, and maybe even small laptop computers, entirely from the physical exertions of a day at the office. It could also usher in a new era of long-lived microsensors and miniature medical devices that derive their electrical needs from their surroundings instead of from batteries.

 

 

First demonstrated in the 1880s, the ability of some materials to convert mechanical pressure into an electric current--called the piezoelectric effect--has found scattered applications over the years. For example, it powers the flashing LEDs embedded in the soles of children's sneakers, and it produces sparks to ignite propane-fueled candle and fireplace lighters. But so far, no one has been able to channel this essentially free power into very small applications--particularly at the nanoscale, where devices can be thousands of times smaller than the thickness of a human hair. Nanosized piezoelectric devices would be extremely valuable because they could operate indefinitely without the need to be repowered or recharged.

 

The device relies on flexible zinc oxide nanowires sprouting like bristles from a metal electrode and sandwiched inside a rigid polymer binding. When pressed, the polymer bends the zinc oxide filaments, which generate an electrical current.  So far, the research team has been able to generate 0.2 volts with an efficiency of only 6.8%--far below the performance of conventional batteries. Still, that's already enough for some practical applications, if many nanogenerators are integrated."

 

Walter Derzko

Smart Electrical Grid not hacker-proof but susceptible to cyber attacks

Next to the Forbes Business and Finance Blog Network web site,  that often features the Smart Economy blog posts, IBM features a banner advertising their smarter planet initiative, which promotes their smart technologies such as the smart grid initiative.

 

Several years ago, when I spoke at the World Future Society annual meeting on smart technologies, I mentioned that the one of the key weaknesses of this technology, was that everything is linked together, therefore vulnerable to hacking and cyber attacks. This includes smart grids, smart cities, and other smart objects linked through the internet of things and  internet of services.

 

This week, researchers reported that they created a computer worm (like the virus that attacks your computer, or cell phone) that could quickly spread among Smart Grid devices such as smart meters through those intelligent networks. PC World reports that:

“Researchers have spent the past year testing Smart Grid devices for security vulnerabilities and have discovered a number of flaws that could allow hackers to access the network and cut power, according to Joshua Pennell, IOActive's CEO. Smart Grid devices are small computers that are connected to the power grid, giving customers and power companies better control over the electricity they use. There are about 2 million of these devices currently deployed [in the USA] , but many more are expected to be added in coming years...[another 17 million of these devices over the next few years.--Walter Derzko ]

The researchers created a computer worm that could quickly spread among Smart Grid devices, many of which use wireless technology to communicate, according to Travis Goodspeed, an independent security consultant who worked with the team. "It spread from one meter to another and then it changed the text in the LCD screen to say 'pwned'," he said. Pwned is hacker-speak meaning "taken over."

In the hands of a malicious hacker, this code could be used to cut power to Smart Grid devices that use a feature called "remote disconnect," which allows power companies to cut a customer's power via the network.

IOActive briefed the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on its findings Monday and is advising the utilities industry to better test the systems before deploying them in the real world.”

[....] 

The robustness of U.S. power networks has been a hot-button issue after a technical glitch in 2003 caused a cascading power failure in the eastern United States and Canadathat affected 55 million people.

Last year the National Journal claimed that Chinese military and government officials may have been behind two blackouts in 2003. It reports a theory that a Chinese hacker who was intending to gather data on power systems had either made a mistake or got carried away and wound up triggering the blackout. Now, even Russiam politicians have admitted being behind the cyberattacks that targeted the Baltic republics recently.

Walter Derzko, 

author of the soon-to-be-released book: Hard Times Golden Opportunites

 

When will the recession / depression end ? Part 25 New Financial sector Business Models or New Creative Workarounds?

I listened to US president Obama last Wednesday on the White House lawn, just before AIG’s CEO Liddy testified before the American congress on AIG’s bonuses. The significant point that Obama made at the end of his speech, was a fundamental change or shift to the status quo. Coincidentally or not, most mainstream newspaper reports missed this key idea and quote.

“People are rightly outrages about these particular [AIG] bonuses. But just as outrageous is the culture that these bonuses are a symptom of., that have existed for far too long. A situation where excess greed, excess compensation, excess risk-taking have all made us vulnerable and left us holding the bank. And  one of the message that I want to send is as we  get out of this crisis, as we work towards getting ourselves out of recession, I hope that Wall Street and the marketplace don't think that we can return to business as usual. The business models that created a lot of paper wealth but not real wealth in this country and have now resulted in crisis can't be the model for economic growth going forward." said Obama.

The New Yorker magazine featured this cartoon (on the right) earlier this month (March 9, 2009) , which is a more likely scenario for the financial sector….One business person says to the other….These new regulations will fundamentally change the way we get around them…

 

Walter Derzko;

Author of the soon-to-be-released book: Hard Times Golden Opportunities.. about opportunity recognition in a recession/ depression features 45 opportunity scenarios.

The Opportunity Clinic-28 Tactics for managing your Business in a Recession; Part 15 of 28 Drop problem-solving and adopt opportunity surfing

Why problem-solving, Total Quality Management (TQM), Continuous Improvement (CI), Value Network Analysis (VNA) etc is not good enough in a recession…..you  need to be totally focused on designing and /or finding novel  opportunities. These tools have their place, but it's usually in the upswing part of the business cycle to improve efficiencies of existing operations, but not now.

Many companies are still applying the pre-recession, boom-time mentality to today’s totally changed and novel business environment. Driven by existing business models, mindsets and existing ongoing relationships with  consultants, experts, suppliers and vendors, who are desperately trying to maintain their sales numbers and quotas, companies are continuing to do more of the same…what seemed to worked for them in good  times..lets' work in the same box. What we need is not "out of the box thinking" [I hate that expressionm becuase it shows that you don't understand cognition and how the brain patterns information], but to design brand new "boxes".  

 

The recession is not a problem to be solved, it’s a crisis to be avoided. And you  can only do that in one way. NOW, you need to be totally opportunity-focused and opportunity-receptive and less problem-focused and preoccupied with incremental change. Radical ideas and concepts, (and not accruemental solutions to old problems, unless they lead to novel opportunity spaces) are in order, along with resulting new business models (which we often forget to explore and redesign ), that will help companies thrive and not just survive in a recession.

 

See the cartoon in this week's New Yorker....We're still the same great company we've always been, only we've ceased to exist.  I bet they were great problem-solvers at the tactical, operational level, but poor opportunity surfers at the strategic level.

 

Walter Derzko

Smart Economy,

Toronto;

Author of the soon-to-be-released book: Hard Times Golden Opportunities.. about opportunity recognition in a recession/ depression features 45 opportunity scenarios.

 

When will the recession / depression end? Part 24 Wanted -a new economic driver

This week's Newsweek features a cover story with Uncle Sam urging you to stop saving and to start spending...in other words do what got you into trouble in the first place..spend or go into debt for the sake of the economy. It's not likely to happen soon.

In a recently published book, called "The Difference: How Anyone Can Prosper in Even the Toughest Times." by Jean Chatzky, the results of a 2008 Harris Interactive poll/ survey on income was pubished.

• 3% in the USA are indepently wealthy (usually bigger savers, as a rule)
• 27% in the USA are comfortably wealthy (recently earned money and wealth, and tend to save more then spend)
• 54% in the USA live pay check to pay check (driving most retail spending, the classic consumer)
• 15% going deeper into debt

These are 2008 numbers, so that the stats today are likely much worse.

So if ordinary Americans aren't going to spend their way out of this recession / depression. then who will? Business ? No liquidity yet. It may just take another country, if not another coninent to take over the "consumer" moniker from the USA.

Walter Derzko, Smart Economy, Toronto

Author of the soon-to-be-released book: Hard Times Golden Opportunities.. about opportunity recognition in a recession/ depression features 45 opportunity scenarios.

Smart Bottom-up assembly through molecular nanoweaving

 Traditionally, chemical reactions can be initiated by targeting individual molecules using sophisticated tools such as lasers, atomic force microscopes, and scanning tunneling microscopes. However, such bottom-up molecular reactions are typically limited to lab experiments rather than the creation of a commercially viable macroscopic material.

 

This novel University of Chicago patent offers a commercial "free space method" based on field gradients in order to weave macromolecular films.

 

Claim 1 reads:

1. A method of constructing macroscopic films with tailored assemblies of molecules, comprising:

providing starting molecules; and

applying a force selected from the group of a gravitational force, a centrifugal force, a magnetic field force, and an electric field force to the starting molecules causing them to move in space and then chemically react to form tailored assemblies of molecules in a particular pattern in a nanoscale size macroscopic film for removal and subsequent use.

 

see  Molecular nanoweaver- US Patent 7501483

Walter Derzko

When will the recession / depression end? Part 23 Microsoft counting on Economic Reset Scenario

Key excerpts from a speech given by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer at the Democratic Caucus Retreat in Williamsburg, Virginia, February 6, 2009.

"....In my view, what we now have will be a fundamental economic reset.  The economy is going to have to re-establish itself at a level of spending that reflects the real value of underlying assets before we can all start growing again at a healthy rate. 

This may not be the thing that people really want to hear, but it's certainly what we're planning on, and it's the truth on which we're basing sort of our model, if you will, at Microsoft.

In our opinion, in order to reach the reset point, three things need to happen.  First, the economy must be deleveraged.  Private debt as a percentage of GDP has to be reduced.  Restoring health to the nation's financial system is a fundamental part of this.

Just for historical note, not only during the Depression, but actually in 1837 and in 1873 we had similar style resets in the economy.  We actually have at least three historic periods that we can study in which similar phenomenon occurred.  I think it was 1873 where even the state of  Florida filed for Bankruptcy.  So, we need to be thoughtful about being students I think of the history.

Second, confidence must be restored.  The stimulus package, in my opinion, is vital.  It will provide a cushion as we reach the reset point and it will help restart our economic engine.  (Applause.)  I certainly want to applaud the steps that the House has taken under the speaker's leadership to quickly pass a strong stimulus package and to help shore up our financial institutions. 

Third, America really has to return to growth that's built on innovation and productivity, rather than leverage and private debt.  That must happen.

The good news is that the U.S.economy is still the world leader in innovation.  [Not any more--Walter Derzko] Our universities are the envy of the rest of the world.  The American workforce is the best on the planet, and  U.S.companies continue to drive technological progress in almost every industry. 

But the time has come when we need to renew our innovation capacity. 

We went back and studied what innovation companies did during the time of the Great Depression.  One company that stands out, if you study the Depression, is RCA. 

Now, the fact that RCA is not around today, this has nothing to do with their behavior during the Depression.  There's probably good learnings for a lot of technology companies in that. 

But during the time of the Depression, RCA was probably the most broad-based R&D-centric company in America.  And while it cut costs certainly to survive the Depression, it never retreated from its commitment to core research and development.  And as a result, after the Depression had ended, it really led and the U.S. led TV technology developments for the next 25 years. 

That was good for RCA; it was good for America. 

In my view, American companies aren't going to be able to weather this economic downturn just by cutting costs either.  You may have heard that Microsoft, our company has decided that we need to reduce 5,000 positions.  What you may not know is that at the same time we've decided we'll also create two to three thousand new jobs -- mostly in the US-- as we continue to push into new areas that require investment. 

In addition, despite the tough economy -- I might even say because of the tough economy -- our company will continue to invest more than US$9 billion a year in R&D, because we think it's that R&D spending that will cause us to remain strong.  (Applause.) ..."

Full speech here

Walter Derzko 

Author of the soon-to-be-released book: Hard Times Golden Opportunities.. about opportunity recognition in a recession/ depression features 45 opportunity scenarios.

Buckyballs or fullerenes keep pipes clear and water systems flowing

Two years ago, we featured a story about a team of Ukrainian scientists, who have shown that C60 or buckeyballs, specifically a modified form known as "hydrated fullerenes" (HyFn) can effectively prevent or bust existing blood clots in animal experiments and in early pre-clinical trials along with about a dozen  other numerous possible medical applications.  .....(which include  a possible treatment for  Alzheimer's and exibiting  strong anti-oxidant, anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties (HyFn doesn't kill viruses but prevents the spread from cell to cell.) A buckyball, or C60, is one shape within the family of tiny carbon shapes known as fullerenes. They are named after Richard Buckminster Fuller, the inventor of the geodesic dome, since their shape resembles his famous structure.

Now American scientists have transfered that capability  into an inoganic application--these same microscopic nanoparticles of carbon will in the future be able to keep the nation's water pipes (and possibly oil pipelines) clear in the same way conventional  clot-busting drugs prevent arteries from clogging up.

[The first picture on the left  show a membrane without fullerene treatmenmt. The second picture below shows the effects with fullerene treatment.]

Engineers at Duke University have found that buckyballs hinder the ability of bacteria and other microorganisms to accumulate on the membranes used to filter water in treatment plants. This attribute leads the researchers to believe that coating pipes and membranes with these nanoparticles may prove to be an effective strategy for

addressing one of the major problems and costs of treating water.

"Just as plaque can build up inside arteries and reduce the flow of blood, bacteria and other microorganisms can over time attach and accumulate on water treatment membranes and along water pipes," said So-Ryong Chae, post-doctoral fellow in Duke's environmental and civil engineering department. The results of his experiments were published March 5, 2009 in the Journal of Membrane Sciences

"As the bacteria build up on these surfaces, they attract other organic matter, creating a biofilm that slowly builds up over time," Chae continued, "The results of our experiments in the laboratory indicate that buckyballs may be able to prevent this clogging, known as biofouling. The only other options to address biofouling are digging up the pipes and replacing the membranes, which can be expensive and inconvenient."

"Biofouling is viewed as one of the biggest costs associated with membrane-based water treatment systems," said Claudia Gunsch, assistant professor of civil engineering at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering and senior member of the research team. "These membranes have very small pores, so they can get stopped up quickly. If we could increase the time between membrane replacements by 50 percent, for example, that would be a huge cost savings."

 

According to Chae, the addition of buckyballs to treatment membranes had a two-fold effect. First, treated membranes showed less bacterial attachment than non-treated membranes. After three days, the membranes treated with buckyballs had on average 20 colony forming units, the method by which bacterial colonies are counted.

"In contrast, the number of bacterial colonies on the untreated membrane was too numerous to count," Chae said.

Chae also found that the presence of the buckyballs inhibited respiration, or the ability of the bacteria to use oxygen to fuel its activities.

"As the concentration of buckyballs increased, so did the inhibition of respiration," Chae said. "This respiratory inhibition and anti-attachment suggests that this nanoparticle may be useful as an anti-fouling agent to prevent the biofouling of membranes or other surfaces."

 

Gunsch said the mechanisms involved are not well-understood.

 

What's the Opportunity Space here? I can envision several.

 

 

Here is one  for  Ukraine,  whose GDP largely depends on steel exports.Ukraine's economic faith could now be saved by its own scientists. The oligarchs who control the steel and pipe production industry and whose fortunes are going down the tubes (pun fully intended) due to low steel demand and falling commodity prices, should team up with their own Ukrainian scientists, who have been largely ingnored by Ukrainian industry. These scientists from Kharkiv, who developed hydrated fullerenes should partner  up with surface science specialists and coatings specialists (which Ukraine has no shortage of) say, at the Patton Institute in Kyiv and approach these oligarchs to fund and fast-track research into developing biofilm-resistent pipes for water and  especially oil, which they could sell all over the world. 

Being realistic, this technology won't be supported or taken up any time soon by the incumbant steel industry and pipe manufacturers, like the Mittels and Victor Pinchuk's of the world, who depend on pipes aging and rusting away so that they can replace them with new ones.This a disruptive thechnology will likely be pushed quietly  by some "outsider" in a new market niche, under the radar screen of the big market players.

UPDATE: Oct 11, 2009.

I've just returned from Ukraine and a Fullerene Water Solution will be available on the Ukrainian Market as a food supplement within weeks. Contact me if you wish more information