Category: Sustainability Seminars

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ISGS Seminar: Sustainable Business Serves the ‘Triple’ Bottom Line

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Kevin O’Brien

ISTC Director Kevin O’Brien will deliver the Illinois State Geological Survey Seminar at 11 a.m. Monday, Feb. 23 on “Using Sustainability to Drive Economic Growth.” The seminar will be held in Rm. 101, Natural Resources Building at the U of I at Urbana-Champaign.

 

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The Triple Bottom Line

The Illinois Sustainable Technology Center  has a long history of helping businesses save money, water, energy, and helping them anticipate and meet regulatory requirements.

 

That is a model of sustainable action that accounts for future generations’ needs while optimizing the goals of today. O’Brien, Ph.D., brings two decades of business experience from early-stage venture organizations to Fortune 500 corporations. He will discuss the utility and performance of a sustainability framework that embraces three fundamentals — People, Planet, and Profits.

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Sustainability Series Explores Recent Trends in Reuse and Recycling

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ISTC’s Spring Sustainability Series, commemorating the Center’s 30th anniversary year, deals with new developments in the original green practice, practiced for thousands of years, recycling.

 

The series opens at noon, Thursday, Feb. 12 and continues for four more Thursday noon hours through the semester. The live presentations will take place at 1 E. Hazelwood Dr. in Champaign, IL. Each will also be available by webcast at the listed websites.

 

Feb. 12, “How Sustainable is Information Technology? Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities,” Eric Masanet, Morris E. Fine Junior Professor in Materials and Manufacturing and Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Chemical and Biological Engineering, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, Northwestern University. https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7017258394988082434

 

March 12, “Building a Local Circular Economy in Chicago,” John Mulrow – Interim Executive Director, Plant Chicago. https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3276792405148335106

 

April 2, “Bioprocessing of Microbial Biomass: Enabling Sustainable Zero-Discharge Seafood Production,” David E. Brune, Professor of Bioprocess and Bioenergy Engineering, Division of Food Sciences and Bioengineering, University of Missouri at Columbia. https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/502302355428424705

 

April 9, “Rubbery Shrubbery: Should We Use Rubber Mulch in Our Landscapes?” Linda Chalker-Scott, Extension Horticulturist, Puyallup Research and Extension Center, Washington State University. https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3502265956143542273

 

April 30, “Zero Waste Illinois,” Shantanu Pai, Waste Research Specialist, Illinois Sustainable Technology Center. https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7792068845789351938

 

Following each event, the recorded presentation will be available at http://www.istc.illinois.edu/about/sustainability_seminars.cfm. For more information about the individual seminars, visit http://www.istc.illinois.edu/calendar/.

 

 

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Noon Extension Seminars Explore Planning for Climate Change

GAMEBOARDThe U of I Extension Webinar series begins tomorrow, Tuesday, Jan. 13, on the theme of “Planning for Climate Change.”

 
Don Fullerton, Gutgsell Professor of Finance and Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the U of I, will lead off the series with a discussion of how the “U.S. Clean Power Plan Provides Opportunity for Significant Cuts in Budget Deficits.”

 
The fall ISTC seminar series is now also viewable on-line at http://www.istc.illinois.edu/about/ sustainability_seminars.cfm dealing with Sustainability Planning and Climate Change.

 
Together they promise a valuable resource for groups and organizations of all sizes to engineer society’s pivot toward a carbon-limited future.

 
Register for tomorrow’s Extension webinar at: http://web.extension.illinois.edu/lgien/.
More highlights:
Tuesday, Feb. 17, Edith Makra, The Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, “The Greenest Region Compact.”
Tuesday, March 10, Andy Robinson and Todd Rusk, Smart Energy Design Assistance Center, “Case Studies in Municipal Energy Conservation.”
Tuesday, April 14, Eliana Brown and Lisa Merrifield, IL-IN SeaGrant, “Green Infrastructure and Stormwater Management.”

ISTC will announce its Spring Semester Sustainability Series shortly.

Previous ISTC sustainability planning webinars are available on-line:

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Three Spring Sustainability Seminars Announced

“Perspectives on Sustainability in Illinois,” ISTC’s spring seminar series announced its next three events.

 

Noon- 1 p.m. Friday, Feb. 21 –  “Beyond RFS and MPG: Promoting Cleaner Trucking Services” presented by Warren Lavey – Adjunct Professor in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences as well as the School of Earth, Society, and Environment at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Senior Fellow at the Environmental Law and Policy Center, and Senior Regulatory Counsel at the American Clean Skies Foundation. At ISTC, 1 E. Hazelwood Dr., Champaign.

 

Technologies to cut truck emissions are available and cost-effective, and should be encouraged by a range of government and private actions. In 2013, Chicago approved the expansion of a railroad terminal contingent on retrofitting dozens of trucks with clean diesel filters. Illinois agencies are reforming freight and package delivery purchasing programs to implement the Transportation Sustainability Procurement Program Act of 2013. Similarly, the U.S. General Services Administration is applying new environmental preferences in selecting transportation vendors and tracking their performance.

 

This webinar will be broadcast live and also archived on our website www.istc.illinois.edu for later viewing. If you cannot attend the event at ISTC, you may view the webinar live by registering at: https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/917343279.

 

Noon- 12:50 p.m. Monday, March 3 – “Under Pressure and in Hot Water: Algae Conversion to Fuels and Chemicals” presented by Phil Savage, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. At 3310 Newmark Civil Engineering Lab: a joint seminar between the Energy-Water-Environment Sustainability (EWES) Program seminar series in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the ISTC Sustainability Seminar Series.

 

Noon- 1 p.m. Friday, March  7 – “The Realities of Energy in Illinois and Beyond” presented by Tom Wolf, Executive Director, Energy Council, Illinois Chamber of Commerce. At ISTC, 1 E. Hazelwood Dr., Champaign.

 

Energy is used by everyone in the state of Illinois — we all rely on some form of energy or another as we live, work and play in a 21st century society. However, where does this energy come from? What are the challenges and opportunities associated with energy development and transportation? Are renewable energies really the answer? What’s next? Tom Wolf, the executive director of the Chamber’s Energy Council will give a high-level overview of energy issues in Illinois in an effort to ensure policy decisions are based on realty and not fantasy.

 

What do Illinois businesses think about hydraulic fracturing, energy conservation, climate change or exporting oil? This presentation will provide some insights as to the priorities for Illinois businesses when it comes to energy and where it might lead us in the coming years. Plus, it includes references to Princess Leia, Whack-a-Mole, and the 80’s rock icon, Meatloaf (Google him) — so it can’t be all bad, right?

 

This webinar will be broadcast live and also archived on our website www.istc.illinois.edu for later viewing. If you cannot attend the event at ISTC, you may view the webinar live by registering at: https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/715828607.

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Paper Work Aimed At Preserving Forests, Climate

Craft beers are all the rage. Craft papers not so much. Fresh Press, an agri-fiber laboratory on the University of Illinois campus is pointing the way to turn agricultural waste, not into fuel, but into paper. Their formulations sound like up-scale beer brands: Northwinds Switchgrass Blonde, Double Cooked Soy Brown, Unleashed Mutt.

 

This clever fun has a serious message. We have an abundance of wild grasses, corn stover and other agricultural by-products, some of which end up in landfills. Paper from trees reduces an environmental resource.

 

At noon, Thursday, Oct. 3, Eric Benson, Associate Professor and Chair of Graphic Design at the U of I will discuss how Fresh Press brings together farmers, artists, designers, and academics to demonstrate a more sustainable paper industry. He will present “Fields of Gold, Deckles, and Moulds: Fresh Press and Agri-Fiber Papers” at Room 218 Mechanical Engineering Building.

 

The presentation will also be viewable as a webinar by registering at https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/440998327. Benson’s appearance is part of the fall sustainability seminar series of the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center.

 

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Engineer Introduces Thermally-Reversible Polymer to Desalination

According to water.org, 780 million people lack access to clean water. The need to provide access to clean water is one of the National Academy of Engineering’s Grand Challenges for Engineering.

 

At noon this Thursday, Sept 12, Dr. Xinying Wang will present “Polymer Assisted Forward Osmosis for Desalination and Water Reuse,” at U of I’s Mechanical Engineering Building, Rm. 218 (1206 W Green St. in Urbana, IL).

 

This webinar, as part of the ISTC’s Sustainable Technology Seminar Series “Sustainability in Action,” will be broadcast live and also archived on our website www.istc.illinois.edu for later viewing. If you cannot attend the event at Rm. 218 MEB, you may view the webinar live by registering at: https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/864226367. It will also be viewable live at the ISTC Conference Room at 1 Hazelwood Dr., Champaign, IL.

 

Dr. Wang is a Chemical Engineer at the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center, Prairie Research Institute. The following is his abstract for the seminar:

 

“Forward osmosis (FO) for dewatering/desalination applications has received increasing interest due to its potential use of low grade thermal energy, ability to operate at low pressure, and  reduced tendency to foul. Developments in FO are primarily focused on two areas: (a) expanding the availability of draw solutions that generate high osmotic pressure; are easily separated from water using physical and/or chemical means; are non-corrosive, nontoxic, and chemically stable; exhibit near neutral pH; and are inexpensive and (b) developing membranes that exhibit high flux and suitable salt rejection under FO conditions. In this presentation we focus on the challenges of draw solution utilization and regeneration.

 

In this presentation, we will talk about a forward osmosis desalination process that employs a temperature-reversible polymer to recycle the draw solute. In our work, a high concentration MgSO4 solution is used as draw solution. After forward osmosis, the diluted draw solution is mixed with a thermally-reversible polymer, poly (propyleneoxide) –co-poly (ethyleneoxide). This polymer extracts water from the diluted draw solution and the whole solution forms two phases, a polymer-water phase and a concentrated MgSO4 solution phase (bottom). The bottom MgSO4 solution phase is recycled back to the forward osmosis module, while the polymer-water phase is heated above the polymer’s cloudy point (60⁰C) to recycle the polymer and to produce clean water.  Experimental details on the process will be presented.”

 

 

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Engineer to Share Latest Research for Recycling LCD Screens

Old TVs and monitors are becoming old TVs and monitors at record rates as screen size and new capabilities grow and prices shrink. Most of their toxins build up in landfills where they can leach into the environment. If it works sell it or donate it. If it doesn’t,  check with a local repair shop to see if they will refurbish it. See if you can return it to the store where you purchased it, or watch for a recycling day from your local waste management service. Commercial electronics recyclers may charge you to drop off your old TV.

 

As researchers are constantly improving television technology they are also advancing technology for recycling their complex remains at the end of their lives. At noon this Thursday, Sept. 5, Dr. Fu Zhao, Associate Professor, School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University-West Lafayette will present “Recycling of Liquid Crystal Displays for Maximum Resource Recovery” as part of the ISTC’s Sustainable Technology Seminar Series “Sustainability in Action.”

 

Dr. Zhao will be speaking at ISTC with a live webinar of the presentation broadcast in Room 218 MEB).  You can also register at: https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/428568375 to watch the broadcast live.

 

Here is Dr. Zhao’s abstract: “Hundreds of millions of liquid crystal displays (LCDs) will reach their end of life in the next few years, and most of them have cold cathode fluorescent lamps as the backlights. These mercury containing backlights bring challenges to the end of life treatment of LCDs. Communications with electronic waste recyclers indicate that recycling LCDs using available equipment and tools is not profitable in U.S. due to high equipment/labor cost. With the support of an EPA P3 Phase I grant, our team at Purdue University developed a four-step procedure for LCD disassembling. Appropriate tools for these steps have been designed and fabricated and the team was able to limit the total disassembling time to less than five minutes, the breakeven time suggested by e-waste recyclers. All the tools can be readily built using low-cost tools available on the market. The disassembling time can be shortened further after optimization. Toward the end of the talk, lessons learned from the project and challenges associated with developing sustainable electronic products will be discussed.”

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Webinar: Sustainable Secondary Aluminum Production and Recycling

Join us for a webinar today, Tuesday, December 11, 2012, 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM CDT. This seminar will be hosted at the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) in Champaign, IL, and simultaneously broadcast online. The presentation will be archived on the ISTC web site (see http://www.istc.illinois.edu/about/sustainability_seminars.cfm for more information and additional webinar archives).

 

Navid Jafari, M.S., NSF Fellow and Doctoral Candidate in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, will present “Sustainable Secondary Aluminum Production and Recycling.” Register online for this webinar at https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/228794439.

 

Abstract: Aluminum is a widely used nonferrous metal in the world, being present in markets such as transportation, packaging, food, construction, electricity, and medicine. Recycling aluminum scrap is important because the energy required for aluminum recycling is only about 5% of that required by primary aluminum production yet it yields the same quality of aluminum as primary smelting. However, the wastes produced from secondary aluminum production can be problematic when they contain aluminum fines. Metallic aluminum fines can rapidly oxidize to produce heat and hydrogen gas. This presentation will describe sustainable practices to capture aluminum energy from waste reactions.

 

Watch the ISTC calendar for upcoming seminar dates. You may contact Nancy Holm, Assistant Director for Sponsored Research, Public Engagement, and Communications (SRPEC), to be added to the mailing list to receive email notifications of upcoming seminars.

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Webinar: Electronics Recycling in Will County 2012

Join us for a webinar on Wednesday, November 28, 2012, 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM CDT. This seminar will be hosted at the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) in Champaign, IL, and simultaneously broadcast online. The presentation will be archived on the ISTC web site (see http://www.istc.illinois.edu/about/sustainability_seminars.cfm for more information and additional webinar archives).

 

Marta Keane, Recycling Program Specialist & Green Business Relations Coordinator for the Will County (IL) Land Use Department Resource Recovery & Energy Division, will present “Electronics Recycling in Will County 2012.” Register online for this webinar at https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/792822047.

 

Abstract: Effective January 1, 2012, Illinois banned disposal of electronics in landfills. This presentation will describe Will County’s collection efforts before the mandatory ban, the county’s Front Door Electronic Service Program (a 3-year pilot program started April 2011), and steps taken to prepare for the ban. Results of these efforts thus far will be discussed as well as some remaining issues yet to be resolved. Examples of additional sustainability programs being conducted by Will County will also be described, including: efforts that resulted in receiving the Illinois Governor’s Sustainability Award in 2012; household hazardous waste service; tire collection events; book reuse & recycling events; shoe collection/textile collection; medication collection; green building improvements; and the Landfill Gas-to-Energy project.

 

SEI, the Great Lakes Regional Pollution Prevention Roundtable (GLRPPR), and ISTC are hosting a series of seminars this fall focused on sustainable electronics research and issues. Watch the SEI calendar for upcoming seminar dates. You may contact Nancy Holm, SEI Research Coordinator, to be added to the mailing list to receive email notifications of upcoming seminars.