ISTC News Highlights
Many businesses are closed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, and some building managers have shut off water and air conditioning to conserve resources. Unfortunately, warmth and lack of clean water flow can contribute to the growth of potentially dangerous microbes, including the bacteria that contribute to Legionnaires’ disease. Illinois Sustainable Technology Center chemist and industrial water treatment specialist Jeremy Overmann spoke with News Bureau life sciences editor Diana Yates about the problem and potential solutions.
Even though the COVID-19 pandemic prevents our TAP engineers from conducting in-person site visits, they're still here to help your business or community with:
- Answers to questions related to waste reduction, water and energy efficiency and conservation
- Guidance on institutional water treatment, particularly given recent changes to building use patterns
- Greening your supply chain
- Sustainability visioning, goal setting, planning and communication with stakeholders
- Information on alternative technologies and processes to reduce resource consumption, hazardous material use, and emissions
- General recommendations for process improvement, which can increase your productivity while reducing your negative environmental footprint
A newly developed system in the lab could become a boon for farmers in the field. Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) scientist Wei Zheng and colleagues are creating a designer carbon-based biochar that captures phosphorus from tile drain runoff water and recycles it in soils to improve crop growth.
Kirtika Kohli and BK Sharma have been busy in the lab creating a greener delignification method for biofuels refinery processes. Many see biofuels as a viable alternative to fossil fuels because they are renewable and can reduce carbon emissions through plant growth. However, biomass needs to be processed before it can be converted to biofuels.