New technologies that expand sustainability from sea to sky
GE started the series, “Sustainability from sea to sky: Unexpected Inventions That Can Save The Planet,” to explore what innovators and inventors are creating to address modern issues, like: the lack of accessibility to clean water, finding ways to create power and clean energy and seeking alternative methods to how we deal with garbage. The article highlights the ways these issues are being addressed through technological breakthroughs in the science world.
As a college student, it’s important to know about the scientific breakthroughs that are happening. In this case, ignorance is not bliss. As these ecological issues build up, sustainability solutions are imperative. Universities all across the nation are collaborating and competing to address modern issues. Here are a few of the latest sustainable breakthroughs:
“Squeezing water from the sun”
Antonio Naviglio and his Italian team have found a way to utilize the sun to convert saltwater to freshwater. By using sunlight and a high-tech distilling processes, it can desalinate, or remove salt from the water. Their goal is to take impractical sea water and make it usable for hydrating people, livestock and crops. Recently, the Italian research team won a contest sponsored by Aramco Entrepreneurship and GE for their contribution to creating a new technology that will take the vast, salty ocean water and will hopefully be able to address the water crisis.
The best part about the sunlight and desalination process? The cost. The team estimates that it will take 50 cents to desalt 264 gallons of ocean water, a price that is feasible for all.
“Transforming Trash Into Clean Energy”
To produce electricity, projects around the world are collecting the flammable gas that comes naturally from decomposing garbage. Landfills are full of methane, a chemical that biogas generators are capturing and burning. The upshot? It reduces greenhouse gases, especially for islands that are being threatened by rising sea levels.
In the Philippines, they are already taking advantage of the free, smelly resource. There, landfill gas is powering turbines, like the GE Jenbacher, which creates clean and free energy for nearby citizens.
“A doctor’s tool becomes a pipeline savior”
Mimicking the same technology that X-rays use when checking for broken bones beneath the skin and muscle, scientists and engineering are applying it to underground and undersea pipelines. These pipelines operate under lots of pressure, cold temperatures and deep beneath the sea; therefore, it’s hard to detect any cracks or malfunctions, which can quickly turn into major catastrophes.
GE engineers used technology from their health division, modified it to withstand water conditions and designed the machine to be mobile.The machine will latch onto a pipeline and crawl its length, taking X Rays of the walls to as it goes to identify weakness or areas of corrosion.
