Search Results - environmental

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Semi-transparent solar panel for Greenhouses

Executive Summary Greenhouses are commonly used to grow fruits and vegetables in controlled indoor environments. One challenge with operating greenhouses is that they can get very hot and potentially damaging to the growing plants. This requires costly temperature controls to maintain optimum growing conditions. Researchers at Michigan State University...
Published: 8/25/2025   |   Inventor(s): Xu Tan, Mahyar Abedi, Andre Benard, James Klausner
Keywords(s): Near Infrared Light, Plants, Vegetables Category(s): Environmental, Materials

Patterned Surface Coating for Water Harvesting

Executive Summary In arid regions worldwide, there is a critical need for supplying water for drinking, agriculture and public use. However, these regions often have limited well capacity or water is available but is brackish, saline or contaminated. One possible solution it to capture the water from moist air. While several technologies exist for...
Published: 8/5/2025   |   Inventor(s): Caroline Szczepanski, Sabrina Curley
Keywords(s): Alt Energy - Wind & Solar, Coating, Drinking Water, Surface Functional Category(s): Advanced Materials, Environmental

Light Scattering Fiber with Enhanced Side Emission for Photobioreactors

Executive Summary Photobioreactors are used to cultivate various photosynthetic microorganisms to produce useful materials such as biofuels, value added chemicals. These systems regulate key factors including light, temperature, carbon dioxide concentration, and nutrients. A key challenge with photobioreactors is getting enough light into the medium...
Published: 4/22/2025   |   Inventor(s): Xinyue Liu, Yijie Cheng
Keywords(s):   Category(s): Environmental, Chemicals, Biotechnology, Photonics

Spectroscopic Bioagent Detection

VALUE PROPOSITION The need for Identifying viruses quickly and accurately has become more apparent than ever. Each cell, virus, nanoparticle vibrates at a natural frequency. This technology is a phonon spectroscopy-based microscope that accurately identifies single nanoparticles and viruses. The device can be used for detecting single viruses or...
Published: 9/24/2024   |   Inventor(s): Elad Harel
Keywords(s):   Category(s): Medical, Analytical Instruments, Biotechnology, Environmental, Photonics

Pipeline Inspection Robot

VALUE PROPOSITION Pipelines represent a major supporting industry for utilities and are used in a variety of applications such as for natural gas, water, and oil, as well as residential distribution. Natural gas pipelines alone travel over 2.5 million miles, delivering 28.3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas to customers in the United States alone....
Published: 3/21/2025   |   Inventor(s): Xiaobo Tan, Preston Fairchild, Claudia Chen, Yiming Deng, Mohand Alzuhiri, Zi Li, Xinda Qi
Keywords(s):   Category(s): Environmental, Test and Measurement

Synthetic Bacterial Microcompartment Shell Proteins Derived by Circular Permutation and/or Genetic Fusion

INTRODUCTION Bacterial microcompartments (BMCs) are organelles used by various bacteria to encapsulate metabolic pathways into a proteinaceous shell. BMCs serve as scaffolds to organize encapsulated enzymes and as physical boundaries to reduce diffusive loss of volatile or toxic intermediates and restrict crosstalk with cytosolic biosynthetic pathways....
Published: 4/22/2025   |   Inventor(s): Cheryl Kerfeld, Bryan Ferlez, Markus Sutter, Andrew Hagen, Nancy Sloan
Keywords(s):   Category(s): Biotechnology, Energy, Chemicals, Environmental, Manufacturing Equipment

A Robust Algal Assemblage for Biomass Production and Carbon Dioxide Capture

­Executive Summary: Stable algal assemblage cultured for biomass production and carbon dioxide capture is robust under different bioreactor configurations, environmental conditions, and CO2 supplements. Background: Carbon dioxide accounts for 82% of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. Sustainable carbon capture is essential for decreasing...
Published: 3/12/2025   |   Inventor(s): Wei Liao, Yan (susie) Liu
Keywords(s):   Category(s): Agricultural, Agriculture, Energy, Environment, Environmental

Method For Removing PFAS in Liquids

VALUE PROPOSITION Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a widely used but toxic and carcinogenic group of man-made chemicals. They are extremely resistant to degradation and will persist in the environment and in the human body. PFAS are highly water soluble, thus contaminated drinking water is the primary source of exposure. The most common...
Published: 5/12/2025   |   Inventor(s): Qi Hua Fan, Keliang Wang
Keywords(s):   Category(s): Environmental, Devices

Method for Separating Oil and Water

VALUE PROPOSITION Removing oil from water is an important process throughout the industrialized world for both water treatment and cleaning up spills. This biochar-based oil filtration system improves on existing biochar filters used for oil and water separation. DESCRIPTION OF TECHNOLOGY This invention is an improvement on the biochar used in...
Published: 4/7/2023   |   Inventor(s): Qi Fan, Keliang Wang
Keywords(s):   Category(s): Devices, Environmental

Engineered Shell Proteins to Enable Electron Transfer Across the Shell of a Bacterial Microcompartment

INTRODUCTION Bacterial microcompartments (BMCs) are organelles used by various bacteria to encapsulate metabolic pathways into a proteinaceous shell. Because of their attributes (self-assembling modules, optimization of the reactions in their lumen.) they have potential as catalytic bioreactors that can be customized to support new metabolic functions....
Published: 9/8/2023   |   Inventor(s): Cheryl Kerfeld, Clement Aussignargues
Keywords(s):   Category(s): Biotechnology, Chemicals, Energy, Environmental, Manufacturing Equipment
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