the positive side of the world

Limonene is an oil in orange peel and can be used to make polymers US scientists have discovered a way to make plastics from orange peel, using the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.
Cornell University researchers created a novel polymer using CO2, an oil present in orange peel and a catalyst that speeds the reaction along. The team hopes CO2 could one day be collected for making plastics instead of being pumped into the atmosphere.
Details of the research appear in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. What's exciting about this work is that from completely renewable resources, we were able to make a plastic with very nice qualities Professor Geoffrey Coates, Cornell University Plastics are polymers, long-chained carbon-based (organic) molecules. Limonene is a carbon-based compound that makes up about 95% of the oil in orange peel and is used to give household cleaners their citrus smell. Geoffrey Coates, a professor of chemistry at Cornell, in Ithaca, and colleagues used a derivative of this oil called limonene oxide as one of the building blocks for their polymer. The researchers used a helper molecule, or catalyst, to get the limonene oxide to react with CO2 and form a new polymer called polylimonene carbonate. Renewable resource This polymer has many of the characteristics of polystyrene, which is used in numerous disposable plastic products. "Almost every plastic out there, from the polyester in clothing to the plastics used for food packaging and electronics, goes back to the use of petroleum as a building block," said Professor Coates. "If you can get away from using oil and instead use readily abundant, renewable and cheap resources, then that's something we need to investigate. "What's exciting about this work is that from completely renewable resources, we were able to make a plastic with very nice qualities." Coates' team is interested in using carbon dioxide as an alternative building block for polymers in industry. The gas could be isolated and used to produce plastics such as polylimonene oxide. CO2 is the principal greenhouse gas caused by human activities, and is emitted by fossil fuel burning and deforestation.

The best way to help developing nations is to recognise that development is "of the people, by the people and for the people", says a Bangladeshi entrepreneur. Iqbal Quadir, Grameen Phone founder in Bangladesh, told experts gathered for TED Global in Oxford that aid strategies for the last 60 years had failed. Technologies such as mobiles empowered people because they connected them. This, he said, fuelled productivity much more than the top-down aid approach. Mr Quadir had the idea for Grameen Phone, a way to get mobile telephony into Bangladeshi villages and rural areas, 12 years ago. Since then,..............Since then, the company has grown to more than 3.5 million subscribers, with more than 115,000 phones in villages across the country. Talking at the TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) Global conference, a top US event being held in Europe for the first time, he criticised aid for developing countries that benefited authorities over the people themselves. "The only way we can depend on each other is if we connect with each other. Connectivity leads to dependability which leads to specialisation and then productivity," he said.
What was key about a technology as simple as the mobile in a rural village was that people's voices, not just those in authority, were heard. The next step, he hoped, would be to get wireless internet via mobile devices into villages. But he warned of jumping on the technology bandwagon. "If everyone can talk, it is more egalitarian," he told the BBC News website. "But we should not jump ahead too much and say just because the First World has internet, then the Third World should, too. There is a fundamental beauty in just a phone," he said. The Grameen Phone scheme has had a big impact is on the lives of women. Known as Grameen phone ladies, these women provide villagers with a vital link to services such as hospitals and to relatives both at home and abroad, in a country with the lowest number of phones in South Asia. "A woman with a mobile becomes important in a village," he said. "This changes the power distribution." Energising growth He said the success of Grameen Phone had had a huge impact on people's lives in areas where there is poor infrastructure, but that there were bigger problems to address, such as the lack of other credit checks, bank branches, customer contact points, but also energy production. His current project with Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway scooter, is about developing village-based micro-power plants, fuelled by cow manure. Two are currently running in villages providing power for 20 businesses. The project combines access to micro-credit with low-cost energy generation technology to see if rural entrepreneurs can manage mini power plants in villages. "Some breakthrough in energy would be fantastic," he said. "Just imagine if solar panels suddenly become much cheaper. It would reduce the authorities' hold on electricity. "If you bring electricity to villages, you can bring jobs. Electricity is half the problem," he said.

THE NEWS IS FROM BBC