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Advances in technology across industry

The ‘card’ that could save your life

IT looks like a credit card – it slips into a wallet or purse – but it could mean the difference between life and death in a medical emergency.

The MyCare Card stores personal medical data (e.g. information on existing medical conditions, allergies and medication being taken) and plugs into a laptop’s USB port, enabling the data to be accessed in just a few moments.

This working prototype has been developed by City University London and Coventry University, with funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

Although patient-held electronic health record cards have been trialled in some parts of the world, the MyCare Card has a number of unique features: n The software underlying the system is written in a portable way using Python programming language, meaning it can be ported easily between different computers and different computer operating systems. n The software is very modular and easy to extend, which means it is simple to add new features and database record types. n The MyCare system has been developed on an open-source basis, enabling a wide range of people to be involved in reviewing and contributing to the development process. Visit: www.epsrc.ac.uk

Closing the circle in waste management

Advanced Plasma Power (APP), the UK-based waste-to-energy company and Group Machiels, the global waste management firm, have announced a major joint venture in order to undertake the first enhanced landfill mining project in the world – involving an investment of hundreds of millions of euros.

The Closing the Circle concept is being implemented in the project at the landfill site of Remo Milieubeheer NV in Houthalen-Hechteren, Belgium, a subsidiary of Group Machiels. More than 16 million tons of waste is stored at that landfill site. The type, amount and location of the waste stored is well documented, allowing its effective and efficient mining. Around 45 per cent of the stored waste can be recycled as material. The recycling residue can be processed through APP’s patented Gasplasma® technology, Europe’s first truly sustainable waste-toenergy application of this kind.

The joint venture aims to construct an energy plant using up to five Gasplasma® units, with a net electrical power of 75 to 100 MW – this is equivalent to the energy required to power 100,000 homes. The energy produced by the Gasplasma® units will be fed into the national electricity grid in Flanders.

The Gasplasma® process is a gasification and plasma conversion technology that converts the waste stream into a clean hydrogen-rich syngas and a vitrified recyclate product called Plasmarok® that can be used as a building material or replacement aggregate. The Gasplasma® process destroys harmful gases leaving the high quality syngas to be used to generate clean, renewable, local energy. www.advancedplasmapower.com

Developing aviation biofuels

Leading German research institutions, enterprises in the aviation field and bioenergy producers have founded the association Aviation Initiative for Renewable Energy in Germany – aireg.

Because energy sources such as hydrogen or batteries still require decades of development before they can be used in aviation, a promising interim solution lies in ‘drop-in’ capable fuels from renewable raw materials which possess properties equal to or better than Jet A-1 kerosene and are seamlessly deployable in the existing global aircraft fleet and the associated ground infrastructure.

To date, however, these fuels are available only in small quantities, so the sustained industrialisation of production is a key task of industry and research. In this context, it must always be ensured that vegetable-based biofuel production does not compete with food production. Currently, the potential of the jatropha nut and microscopic algae, for example, is being investigated. Energyproviding plants of this kind offer the possibility of avoiding competition with food production for available space.