Cleantech ticker: 28 May 2009

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

• Researchers at Spain’s University of Granada are studying the climatic impact of desert dust;
• A futuristic view of air travel will be provided by a University of Leicester [rofessor in an inaugural lecture held at the campus. The Lecture will tackle vital developments within the air travel industry that are likely to revolutionise air travel;
• A $5 million grant awarded to Velocys Inc, a subsidiary of the Oxford Catalysts Group, from the Ohio-based Third Frontier Research Commercialization Program will help to bring the advantages of microchannel reactors to alternative fuel production facilities to make it possible to convert small quantities of FT materials to meet diesel and jet fuel specifications;
• Assembly system operators in sustainable factories of the future will have just the information they need — just when they need it. Operators will always be online thanks to an iPhone attached to their protective clothing;
• Most chemical elements become superconducting at low temperatures or high pressures, but until now, copper, silver, gold, and the semiconductor germanium, for example, have all refused superconductivity. Scientists at the Forschungszentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (FZD) research center were now able to produce superconducting germanium for the first time;
• Today, Oerlikon Systems demonstrates for the first time SOLARIS, an innovative production process that simplifies the manufacturing of crystalline solar cells;
• Cool Energy Inc., a clean energy technology company, been selected and confirmed to participate in the Transatlantic Green Platform 2009 being held in conjunction with the World Investment Conference in La Baule, France, from 3 to 5 June;
• Kyocera solar modules will help power a new wastewater treatment plant being inaugurated today in New Jersey;
• Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg is offerin European Union countries some €140 million to support the development of carbon capture and storage projects, the EUobserver reports;
• A new report from the Joint Research Centre (JRC) says that man-made global greenhouse gas emissions increased by 15 per cent between 2000 and 2005, a sharp increase in the expected rate of growth;
• A group of Canadian, Spanish and US researchers has shed light on what gives plants the boost they need to protect themselves against harsh weather conditions like drought.