Yule Heibel's Library tagged treehugger →  View Popular, Search in Google

From PAM to GLAM (spray-on glass)? This sounds so odd you could write a sci-fi story about it: how the Age of Silicon is taking over! On the other hand, if it works and is safe, then the applications are intriguing indeed:
QUOTE
The flexible and breathable glass coating is approximately 100 nanometres thick (500 times thinner than a human hair), and so it is completely undetectable. It is food safe, environmentally friendly (winner of the Green Apple Award) and it can be applied to almost any surface within seconds . When coated, all surfaces become easy to clean and anti- microbially protected (Winner of the NHS Smart Solutions Award ). Houses, cars, ovens, wedding dress or any other protected surface become stain resistant and can be easily cleaned with water ; no cleaning chemicals are required. Amazingly a 30 second DIY application to a sink unit will last for a year or years, depending on how often it is used. But it does not stop there - the coatings are now also recognised as being suitable for agricultural and in-vivo application. Vines coated with SiO2 don't suffer from mildew, and coated seeds grow more rapidly without the need for anti-fungal chemicals. This will result in farmers in enjoying massively increased yields . Trials for in-vivo applications are subject to a degree of secrecy, but Neil McClelland, the UK Project Manager for Nanopool GmbH, describes the results as "stunning". "Items such as stents can be coated, and this will create anti sticking features - catheters , and sutures which are a source of infection, will also cease to be problematic."
UNQUOTE

sprayon sprayon_glass treehugger

Great news for solar power. What I found quite funny, although it was surely unintentionally so, was the use of the word "graduate" in Treehugger's article: "It's a rare treat when a promising one graduates to the commercial level." Why? The process (Konarka's advanced photovoltaic technology) started with Dr. Alan Heeger and the late Dr. Sukant Tripathy, "an internationally known polymer materials scientist, provost at UMASS Lowell and founder of the Plastic Innovation Center."

One word: plastics. The Graduate.

solar_power thin_film polaroid konarka treehugger photovoltaics

Worth keeping an eye on: will this project go forward, and will it provide what it promises? "...a new report commissioned by the Carnegie Corporation indicates that one-third of Australia's power needs could be met through wave power installation. " One problem right off the bat is that the Carnegie Corp. also manufactures wave power technology, so there might well be a conflict of interest, or absent impartiality, there.

Nonetheless, interesting potential, and it would be great if it could deliver.

treehugger wave_power australia