CLEANTECH BUZZ: Hits and memories

After a bit of a rollercoaster year for the cleantech sector in 2010, things are looking up, with a report published at the start of the month by cleantech analysis and consulting company Kachan & Co, predicting that cleantech will attract high levels of investment and foster innovation in new, "unexpected areas" in 2011.

Among its hit predictions, Kachan tipped that energy efficiency would emerge as "the clear rock star of cleantech," with technologies including smart grid expected to attract continued massive investment and corporate activity. "In 2011, look for efficiency to become the clear dominant investment theme as investors continue to seek less capital intensive efficiency plays," said Dallas Kachan, managing partner of Kachan & Co.

The report also predicts that biofuel investment could reach former highs in 2011, specifically in drop-in biofuels, and that we will hear more about nuclear innovation as the industry begins testing new science after decades of relative inactivity – think thorium fuel initiatives, waste disposal and new micro-reactor designs. Increased nuclear activity is expected in Asia, Europe and Canada, it says, but not in the US – and not in Australia, one could hazard to add – where it's expected to remain stalled.

The report also says that we should expect more investment to flow into recycling and mining technology, with rising commodity prices making the economics of recycling and recovery of trace materials more commercially viable. Companies that recover and reprocess materials, such as scrap metal, used lithium batteries or mining tailings, will be companies to watch in 2011, Kachan predicts.

Can't get over it? Go around it

Speaking of companies to watch, Hitachi is set to unveil new machinery designed to boost recycling of rare earth metals – a move it expects will increase efficiency, improve costs, lessen environmental damage and reduce its dependence on China's (lately restricted) supply of the not-so rare but difficult to extract minerals, used in the production of computers, TVs and mobile phones. According to BusinessGreen, the Japanese electronics and engineering giant has announced that its new mineral harvesting machinery will come online in 2013 and will be able to extract about 100 rare earth magnets per hour from old hard disk drives, thus making its recycling process up to eight times faster than the current manual practice. Hitachi also claims to have developed more efficient cutting and demagnetising equipment, which will make it easier to dismantle compressors and extract rare earth magnets. The company says its new dry extraction method will reduce the cost and environmental impact of extracting rare earth metals from discarded machinery, compared to traditional methods using acids and chemicals. The new recycling technology is expected to yield 10 per cent of Hitachi's rare earth needs.

Eco calling

And in its own effort to negotiate the problem of environmentally unsustainable components, LG has committed to replacing the conventional magnesium used in its mobile phones with a more environmentally friendly alloy known as eco-magnesium, starting 2012. According to a report in CNet News, this would effectively reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 4kg for every LG handset manufactured. The electronics group claims that almost no sulphur hexafluoride, which is used in the casting of magnesium and which LG cites as one of the most potent greenhouse gases, is created during production.

Eco-magnesium alloy was developed by the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology with funding from the Korean government. Korean-based firms HK High-Tech, Keumgang Coen, and Hallacast have signed a MOU with LG to produce the eco-magnesium alloy and, as part of the agreement, the South Korean conglomerate will provide LG with technological support and training in carbon credit trading. LG has already removed lead, cadmium, nickel, halogen substances, and other EU RoHS materials from the production of its mobile phones.

Green gold?

And good news for the Australian biotech sector last week with an announcement from WWCC Limited (World Wide Carbon Credits Limited) that it has successfully lodged final patent applications over new biofuel research that it believes could pave the way for a new generation of biofuels. According to WWCC Limited director Dr Steven Hensen, the research, led by Professor Andy Ball, has isolated the gene that encodes an enzyme capable of producing a class of hydrocarbons known as triterpenoids, which includes the rare Dihydro Squalene.

“The organism used to extract this gene is not at present economically significant. However, the gene itself can form a biotechnological platform for production of fuel from renewable sources,” Dr Hensen said. “By isolating this gene and inserting it into an alternative organism we have paved the way to substantially reduce the cost of producing oil from algae.”

Hensen said future research would focus on producing commercially viable quantities of oil and by-products from the renewable green algae, Botryococcus Braunii.

“By absorbing atmospheric carbon dioxide during photosynthesis, converting algae to oil has the potential to reduce the carbon footprint by a factor of four. It is estimated that to produce 1 metric tonne of oil from algae will not only absorb 5 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide but also release 3.5 tonnes of oxygen,” he said.