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A tree-living fungus that produces a substance similar to diesel fuel has been discovered in South America.

Experts believe Gliocladium roseum could potentially be a completely new source of green energy.

The fungus, which lives inside the Ulmo tree in the Patagonian rainforest, naturally produces hydrocarbon fuel similar to the diesel used to power cars and lorries.

Scientists were amazed to find that it was able to convert plant cellulose directly into the biofuel, dubbed “myco-diesel”.

Crops normally have to be converted to sugar and fermented before they can be turned into useful fuel.

Professor Gary Strobel, from Montana State University in the US, said: “G. roseum can make myco-diesel directly from cellulose, the main compound found in plants and paper. This means if the fungus was used to make fuel, a step in the production process could be skipped.”

Prof Strobel led an investigation into novel fungi in the rainforests of northern Patagonia, which cross the borders of Argentina and Chile.

He found that when the diesel fuel fungus was exposed to potentially toxic antibiotics, it reacted defensively by generating volatile gases.

“Then when we examined the gas composition of G. roseum, we were totally surprised to learn that it was making a plethora of hydrocarbons and hydrocarbon derivatives,” he said.

“The results were totally unexpected and very exciting and almost every hair on my arms stood on end.”

Cellulose provides the fibrous supporting structure of plants. During biofuel production, cellulose from plant waste is first treated with enzymes that turn it into sugar. Microbes then ferment the sugar into inflammable ethanol.

Nearly 430 million tonnes of plant waste is produced from farmland each year around the world.

Prof Strobel said: “We were very excited to discover that G. roseum can digest cellulose. Although the fungus makes less myco-diesel when it feeds on cellulose compared to sugars, new developments in fermentation technology and genetic manipulation could help improve the yield.

“In fact, the genes of the fungus are just as useful as the fungus itself in the development of new biofuels.”

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With the high cost of gasoline and diesel fuel impacting costs for automobiles, trucks, buses and the overall economy, a Temple University physics professor has developed a simple device which could dramatically improve fuel efficiency as much as 20 percent. According to Rongjia Tao, chair of Temple’s Physics Department, the small device consists of an electrically charged tube that can be attached to the fuel line of a car’s engine near the fuel injector. With the use of a power supply from the vehicle’s battery, the device creates an electric field that thins fuel, or reduces its viscosity, so that smaller droplets are injected into the engine. That leads to more efficient and cleaner combustion than a standard fuel injector, he says. Six months of road testing in a diesel-powered Mercedes-Benz automobile showed that the device increased highway fuel from 32 miles per gallon to 38 mpg, a 20 percent boost, and a 12-15 percent gain in city driving. The results of the laboratory and road tests verifying that this simple device can boost gas mileage was published in Energy & Fuels, a bi-monthly journal published by the American Chemical Society.

Photo by Joseph V. Labolito/Temple University Rongjia Tao

“We expect the device will have wide applications on all types of internal combustion engines, present ones and future ones,” Tao wrote in the published study, “Electrorheology Leads to Efficient Combustion.” Further improvements in the device could lead to even better mileage, he suggests, and cited engines powered by gasoline, biodiesel and kerosene as having potential use of the device. Temple has applied for a patent on this technology, which has been licensed to California-based Save The World Air Inc., an environmentally conscientious enterprise focused on the design, development, and commercialization of revolutionary technologies targeted at reducing emissions from internal combustion engines. According to Joe Dell, vice president of marketing for STWA, the company is currently working with a trucking company near Reading, Pa., to test the device on diesel-powered trucks, where he estimates it could increase fuel efficiency as much as 6-12 percent. Dell predicts this type of increased fuel efficiency could save tens of billions of dollars in the trucking industry and have a major impact on the economy through the lowering of costs to deliver goods and services. “Temple University is very excited about the translation of this new important technology from the research laboratory to the marketplace,” said Larry F. Lemanski, senior vice president for research and strategic initiatives at Temple. “This discovery promises to significantly improve fuel efficiency in all types of internal combustion engine powered vehicles and at the same time will have far-reaching effects in reducing pollution of our environment.” NOTE: Copies of this study are available to working journalists and may be obtained by contacting Preston M. Moretz in Temple University’s Office of News Communications at 215-204-4380 or pmoretz@temple.edu. A prototype of the original device is available for photos in Tao’s lab at Temple, while the current device being tested on the diesel trucks can be viewed by contacting STWA.

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If you need a portable solar charger for charging laptop, camcorder and other electronic devices and you want something more rugged and durable than flexible or foldable solar cells, our solar binders are a good choice.

22 Watt Folding Solar Binder

Our portable solar binder IP22B consists of a lightweight fiberglass reinforced plastic (FRP) solar module build into a high quality ballistic nylon notebook sized binder complete with shoulder strap and cigarette lighter receptacle with 10 foot cord which stores in an outside pocket.

You can charge cell phones, PDAs, camcorder or digital camera batteries, laptop computer batteries and more.  When used together with our Power Plant Notebook Battery, which fits inside the binder for carrying and storage, you have 5 amp hours of 12 volt DC power ready to go to work recharging or running your devices.  (See the special offer bottom of this page.)

Unzip the binder, lay it flat in full sun, plug in the car adapter cord and you can use the solar binder to charge your car or truck battery.

Specifications:

• Maximum Power (Pmax): 22.7 watts

• Voltage at Pmax (Vmp): 17.3 volts

• Short circuit current (Isc): 2.20 amps

• Open circuit voltage (Voc): 19.8 volts

• Current Max (IPmax): 1.80 amps

• Cell Type: Multicrystal

• Cell Substrate: Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic (FRP)

• Dimensions Closed: 16 x 13 x 3 inches

• Dimensions Opened: 34 x 16 x 1/4 inches

• Weight: 7 pounds

• Power Output Connector: Female Cigarette Lighter Receptacle

15 Watt Folding Solar Binder

The 15 watt portable binder IP15B is a slightly smaller cousin to the 22 watt unit.  The features are identical.

Specifications:

• Maximum Power (Pmax): 15.4 watts

• Voltage at Pmax (Vmp): 17.3 volts

• Short circuit current (Isc): 1.28 amps

• Open circuit voltage (Voc): 19.8 volts

• Current Max (IPmax): 1.17 amps

• Cell Type: Multicrystal

• Cell Substrate: Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic (FRP)

• Dimensions Closed: 13-1/2 x 12 x 2 inches

• Dimensions Opened: 24-1/2 x 13-1/2 x 3/4 inches

• Weight: 2.9 pounds

• Power Output Connector: Female Cigarette Lighter Receptacle

Operating Instructions

To power a device or recharge the battery of a device using the 22 or 15 watt Solar Binder, open the outside pocket flap and uncoil the 10 foot cord with female cigarette lighter receptacle.  Pull out as much cord as needed to attach to your device, making sure that the solar binder is in full sun as much as possible.

Unzip the binder and lay the solar modules as flat as possible.  Plug the male adapter from your device into the Solar Binder receptacle, then plug the other end of the charging cord into your device.

Depending on the time of day, time of year and the amount of full sun available, the solar module will begin to recharge the battery on your device.  The amount of charge varies with the available sunlight.  It will take from several hours to a full day of sun to recharge the batteries in most devices, and, in some cases, it could take more than one day.

You can generally run your device (i.e cell phone) while plugged into the Solar Binder, recharging the battery and using the device at the same time.  Depending on the load of the device you may be putting in less energy to the battery than you are using, so be alert to the battery status of your device.

Please contact us today for more information or assistance with your applications.

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