Top Ten Emerging Environmental Technologies

#10 Paperless Paper: A German electronics firm, Siemens, projects a lowered production cost for paper thin displays that can replace newspapers and magazines. Imagine using one sheet of electronic paper to read your daily news, favorite celebrity rag or current novel? The possibilities are endless. The "paper" would contain tiny microcapsules filled with particles that carry electric charges all bonded to a steel foil. The display would have the capabilities of a TV screen or computer monitor. The technology was a feature throughout the film Minority Report, a postmodern flick with a big brother type advertising subplot. It was also touted in Neal Stephenson's novel The Diamond Age and Arthur C. Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey. Along with Siemens, several other companies are working to make this sci-fi environmentally sound technology a reality.

#9 Carbon Dioxide Sequesters: The most prominent and criticized greenhouse gas attributed to global warming, carbon dioxide is the focus of urgent environmental legislation and action. Predictions against the human capacity to decrease production of carbon dioxide leads to some suggesting we bury the problem, literally. The idea isn't new. Thousands of years ago, Brazilian peoples living in the Amazon buried burned waste underground creating carbon holds of rich, fertile soil. As with many sustainable practices, sequestering CO2 underground might only apply to small scale operations. Although injecting CO2 into the ground before it becomes loose in the atmosphere may be a quick fix to slow global warming, scientists can't predict the long term results. But the Amazonian precedent peaks the interest of many. At present, the cost of separating CO2 from other gases is too high to make this clean air method feasible.

#8 Bioremediation: Currently in use by the US Environmental Protection Agency, bioremediation uses microbes and plants to decontaminate soils from nitrates to arsenic. The principal is also used in common wastewater applications in delicate ecosystems. NAPO Wildlife Center in Ecuador's Amazon Forest, is a community owned ecotourism lodge that has a bioremediation septic system. Hardy, low maintainence, native plants can be used eliminating the need for pesticides or chemicals. At current, scientists are working to genetically modify certain plants for contaminant clean up. This technology would modify plants to suck up poison in their roots and disperse it into their leaves which can be disposed in a controlled manner. One species in research is Arabidopsis, a mustard. The technology is of special interest for Arsenic cleanup, a leftover from heavy agricultural chemical use. The majority of sites contaminated wit arsenic are not cleaned up because the current remediation is too costly.

#7 Green Roofs: Prairie homes across early America had them and over 100 million square feet of roof tops in Europe have them. Green roofs, that is. Green roofs are gardens that grow on top of structures. They can absorb heat, reduce CO2 in the atmosphere, decrease storm water runoff and increase energy savings. They are key components in reducing urban "heat islands" where temperatures run above average due to solar radiation off of man made structures. Concrete jungles average 2.3 degrees Celsius warmer than rural areas and the warm urban climate extends beyond the city line. As green roofs grow in coverage, the urban ecological footprint will decrease.

#6 Wave Power: 70% of the Earth is covered in oceans that are in constant motion and contain limitless energy. Like harnessing wind energy, the mechanical power of waves could be turned into electrical power through turbines. While the technology is still being refined, buoy systems could capture the energy from ocean waves and rivers. In New York City the East River has become a test site for tide-powered turbines and another buoy project in Portugal expects to produce power for 1,500 homes.

#5 Ocean Thermal Energy: The Earth's oceans are the largest surface exposed to solar radiation, a giant solar collector. Each day, the thermal energy absorbed by the oceans equal that in 250 billion barrels of oil. Technologies are emerging aimed at converting the stored energy into electricity by using turbines turned by currents of hot and cold water. Although still relatively inefficient, several fairly simple methods hold potential.

#4 Intense Solar: Solar collectors have been around for decades and have proven results for providing renewable energy. Researchers are beginning to develop ways to more efficiently convert solar energy through the use of mirrors and parabolic dishes, intensifying the amount of radiation that can be captured per collector. The goal is to reduce the amount of coverage needed to capture solar energy. This aim is to alleviate aesthetic restrictions that are placed on some communities.

#3 Hydrogen Fuel Cells: Pollution free renewable energy source that comes from water? Hydrogen fuel cells work by combining hydrogen and oxygen and this generates electricity. The downside at current is obtaining the hydrogen. The process of extracting hydrogen can require other energy defeating the idea of renewable energy. At current, small devices including laptops can be powered by fuel cells and the promise of cars that emit only water looms on the horizon.

#2 Desalination: Clean drinking water is one of the most important elements needed for life on the planet. However, the resource is scarce and threatened by pollution. The United Nations predicts that a shortage of water will affect billions of people by mid century. One suggested solution is to desalinate seawater which is in abundance. Currently it is an expensive undertaking which requires a lot of energy. Researchers are working to develop ways to desalinate seawater efficiently in order to provide this essential resource worldwide.

#1 Thermo-depolymerization: Any carbon-based waste can become oil through this process which expedites the natural process by millions of years. Under sufficient heat and pressure, anything from Thanksgiving scraps to tires can become petroleum. The process uses the Earth's own recipe for creating fossil fuels but amps up the heat to 500 degrees Fahrenheit (260 degrees Celsius) and pressurizes the waste at 600 pound per square inch. Cooked for about an hours, the organic slurry's molecular structure breaks apart. The pressure is then dropped, more heat added and then distillation. The process creates byproducts including natural gas, crude oil, minerals and water. Changing World Technologies (CWT) is an environmental company on the edge of this technology to turn organic waste into crude oil. CWT's facility is designed to turn 200 tons of turkey parts into 500 barrels of oil, per day. The US produces 4 billion tons of agricultural waste per year. CWT could convert this waste into the same amount of oil that America imports from the Middle East.