GOING GREEN COPENMIND:AS AN aside to the macro-level clean technology debates at the Copenmind conference last month, several specific projects were showcased.
Top billing went to Colorado State University, which won this year's Royal Award for Sustainable Technology Transfer.
Among is prize-winning projects from its start-up, Envirofit International, is a clean cooking stove that reduces pollution and improves efficiency.
Envirofit has also developed a bolt-on, direct injection kit that can be retrofitted to carburettored two-stroke engines. These are major polluters in developing countries. It reduces pollution, while improving fuel economy by more than 35 per cent.
Meanwhile, the University of Manchester showcased a new pipeline inspection tool, Acoustek, which can detect and locate blockages or leaks in pipelines using acoustic techniques. Sound waves are reflected off dents in a pipeline, for example, and the signal can be analysed to determine the location and exact nature of a leak.
Finally, the University of Southampton offered up what is believed to be the first solar-powered refrigerated trailer for an articulated truck. Installed on the roof a Sainsbury's supermarket trailer, photovoltaic solar panels replace the diesel generator that usually powers its chilling equipment.
By improving the trailer's insulation and evaporator design, the team showed that the solar-powered unit used less energy than a standard diesel-driven one, and can keep operating throughout the whole year.
