Welcome to our Innovation Page
There have been a number of interesting eco-friendly innovations that have taken place in the last couple of months, here are a couple of them.
New Theory to Cool the Planet
Australian scientists in Tasmania are developing a chemistry model to recycle greenhouse gases which could help tackle climate change.
Rather than finding a way of reducing carbon emissions the Tasmanian scientists are trying to convert the polluting chemicals into environmentally friendly ones.
The head of the University's school of Chemistry Brian Yates says the experiments attempt to break the strong molecular bonds of pollutants such as carbon dioxide to produce less toxic compounds.
"It's not looking at limiting the carbon emissions which of course we're very aware of, but taking what's there in the atmosphere already and being able to deal with those carbon dioxide streams," Prof. Yates said.
"At the moment it's turning it into an ester, ester's are natural compounds that occur as flavourings and fragrances."
Researcher Nigel Brookes says the experiment will use the metal iridium as the catalyst.
"The carbon dioxide comes in, the catalyst attaches itself to it, rearranges, breaks apart, leaving a chemical that's less toxic than carbon dioxide," he said.
The research team is collaborating with chemists from California USA who will test the models.
Professor Yates says any practical application is still at least five years away.
'Ocean glider' to collect climate change data
A miniature submarine will be launched this week off the coast of Portland, in south-west Victoria, Australia to monitor climate change from the ocean floor.
The 'ocean glider' is less than two metres long and will spend the next five months collecting data between Victoria's south-west coast and Kangaroo Island in South Australia.
John Middleton from the South Australian Research and Development Institute says it is hoped the glider can be launched today.
"They don't actually have an engine - it glides down through the water, they see the bottom, then automatically come back up to the surface.
"As they do this they're collecting data on temperature and salinity and oxygen concentrations and other things related to biological activity, and we can look at the data almost in real time."
If you hear of any great innovations or if you want to tell us about something you invented that will have a positive environmental effect, let us know so we can share it with all our readers.
