Cleantech ticker: 11 May 2009

Cleantech news as it happens — check back for regular updates:

• It is a mystery to many people why the world is running out of oil when most of the world’s oilfields have only been half emptied. However some of the oil that has been located is trapped as droplets of oil in small cavities in the surrounding rock or is stuck to the walls of the underground cavity and cannot be accessed by the techniques currently used in the oil industry. Now, new Danish research may have come up with an explanation as to where and how North Sea oil clings to underground rocks. This explanation could turn out to be the first step on the way to developing improved oil production techniques with the intent of increasing oil production from Danish oil fields;
• The University of Nottingham is to share in £6.9 million of research funding to investigate carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies which could drastically cut CO2 emissions from fossil-fuel power stations. The funding from E.ON and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council is to support four university-led projects;
• Despite advances in computer graphics, few people would think virtual characters or objects are real. Yet placed in a virtual reality environment most people will interact with them as if they are really there. European researchers are finding out why;
• Light switches, TV remote controls and even house keys could become a thing of the past thanks to brain-computer interface (BCI) technology being developed in Europe that lets users perform everyday tasks with thoughts alone;
• The RoboCup is the biggest robotics event in the world and combines games, sport and science in a unique way. The Austrian premiere of this ultimate of scientific events is from 29 June to 5 July 2009. The host is Graz University of Technology. Some 3,000 participants from over 40 countries are expected to take part with their round 700 robots in the competitions in various disciplines;
• The Custom-Fit project, an EU funded research program, has resulted in a new manufacturing process that integrates scanning technologies, newly developed CAD systems (Computer Aided Design) and Rapid Manufacturing technologies to make possible once unaffordable one-of-a-kind goods.