Tetraethyl lead, the scandal that never erupted
Modern history is full of stories of new chemicals sold on a large scale and afterwards causing problems. Sometimes, this causes a major upheaval. But by far the largest poisoning in history, that by tetraethyl lead, never ended in a scandal. It just faded away, even though oil and motor car companies neglected well-known dangers,
Can we engineer life? 4.4 Plant gene technology, modern techniques
Modern techniques are in very rapid development. We can now analyse the most complex DNAs down to the level of individual base pairs, knowledge that will enable us to continue to produce enough food in times of climate change. And we get an increasing number of techniques to our disposal that make use of this
Can we engineer life? 4.3 Plant gene technology, history
Ever since mankind developed agriculture, we try to selectively breed plants in order to secure enough and good food. Our capabilities to purposely engineer plant genomes have increased a lot over the past few decades. There are many applications of plant gene technology now, and opportunities abound. And we won’t grow food crops with an
Bioenergy: fine, if from side streams
Why cannot we lift all barriers for the use of bioenergy? Because the energy sector is much larger than the food sector. The 20 billion tons of fossil fuels that mankind uses each year, is equivalent to 40 billion tons of biomass; whereas our yearly harvest for food is 9 billion tons, of which 3
Affordable green homes
Some proponents of affordable housing may be under the impression that sustainable homes are more expensive to construct and maintain than those built using traditional means. However, there are actually a number of sustainable practices that can make green homes more affordable than traditional homes for their inhabitants. There are a number of cost-effective green
3D printed bioplastic: the future of construction?
To date, most 3D printed buildings have been built from concrete. Could 3D printed bioplastic be a more sustainable option? Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, is a major part of the fourth industrial revolution and it will transform the construction sector, according to Zoubeir Lafhaj, an expert in the future of construction, from the graduate
Indirect effects, we often ignore them
‘Again and again, new products fascinate us: the smartphone, the airplane wing that can be glued, new medicines,’ says Ton Schoot Uiterkamp, ‘but we do not think in terms of chains and generally ignore the indirect effects of these inventions. If the first use is wonderful, we ignore the consequences of second, third and fourth
on: 5 November 2018