"Water is necessary for many applications apart from sustaining life. Because it may not be available in sufficient quantity or at the quality required, some form of treatment may be necessary to meet the needs of an application. More stringent water quality specifications normally require more elaborate treatment methods. Challenges of availing clean water suitable for specific applications have led to innovations in water production to meet the needs of each sector. This research service reports on innovations in water production that specifically impact each key sector. It gives the industry snapshot of each key sector, its current water scenario, innovation landscape, global trends and technology roadmap till 2025. Several examples of innovative non-technological ways to produce or provide water are presented at the end of the report. Some key patents and contact details of key industry players are also given."

"What are the most important key performance indicators? There are, for example, indicators defining the temperature changes in reference rooms. This includes what is referred to as hours of overheating in summer. If the room temperature exceeds 26 degrees Celsius during more than 10 percent of the hours of use during a year, the room comfort is no longer achieved. Other indicators measure air quality. For example, there are CO2 sensors or so-called VOC-sensors that detect certain scents emitted by the users themselves. If the data exceed certain values, the performance in terms of air quality is not considered as good. In addition, there are energy performance indicators, such as an indicator for the overall energy efficiency of a building. We simply measure the energy that is supplied to the building. We then compare the data to pre-calculated values. We can then evaluate whether the building achieves the desired energy performance. Another indicator is the so-called net energy consumption. This is the energy that users actually have to pay for. "

Europe's focus on bulk chemical manufacture may have faded in recent times, but 2009 is proving to be the year of new advanced materials launches - particularly where high-performance and specialist qualities are demanded by customers. Sean Ottewell reports.

"Abstract Most baby-boomers have some familiarity with the classical stigma surrounding aluminum conductors in residential and commercial applications: fire hazard. Mention aluminum wiring in a building or residence and, not surprisingly, a lot of folks will react as if the structure in question should be condemned. How did aluminum get this reputation? Was it deserved? Is it still a valid assumption with today's modern aluminum alloys? Many of the historical stigmas associated with aluminum can be attributed to technical design problems of the older alloys that have now been overcome by higher quality materials and/or addressed by aluminum specific design considerations. This paper addresses the aforementioned issues and investigates the current status of aluminum conductor technology as applied to subsea power cables with a specific emphasis on the following: The Element Aluminum; Early History of Aluminum; Historical Stigmas; Technical Advances; Aluminum (Al) versus Copper (Cu); Aluminum Subsea Cable Experience"

"Water is fundamental to human life and survival-our most fundamental instinct. Because of the forecasted challenges around sourcing adequate quantities of quality water, some feel future wars will be fought over water and not oil. Other challenges are related to the increasing population concentrations and climate-related weather events. This article considers water-related challenges arising out of urbanization and looks at how policies and technology can help make transition to more sustainable use of water work. "

"In addition to the improvement of the workability, the defects in the surface are removed and a defined roughness adapted to the following processing can be reached. This enables a production considerably more efficient while increasing the product quality significantly at the same time."

Growing a mixed "lawn" of two kinds of nanowires can make a new kind of light-sensing array that could be made in metre-scale sheets. The researchers behind the prototype say such cheap, high-quality image sensors would allow uses not conceivable using today's more expensive technology. Current sensors, such as those found in digital cameras, are made like any other silicon chip - they are carved out from a block of material. The new nanowire sensors are instead built from the bottom up, using chemically-grown nano-sized components. A research team led by Ali Javey, at the University of California, Berkeley, developed the process. They start by growing an unruly "lawn" of nanowires on a surface. The crop is then printed onto another surface, a step that simultaneously tidies them up. "At the first stage, the nanowires are more-or-less standing up, like a bad hair day. But during the printing process, they effectively get combed," says Javey. The nanowires, which are a few tenths of a millimetre long and a few tens of nanometres wide, can be printed onto anything from silicon to plastic or paper. Whatever the surface, it must be prepared with a pattern that guides the nanowires to predetermined locations. To make the functioning sensor, two different "crops" of nanotubes are printed onto the same surface. Cadmium selenide nanowires produce electric charge when hit by light, while those made from silicon-coated germanium act as transistors to amplify that charge.

Applied Nanotech Holdings Inc announced that its subsidiary, Applied Nanotech Inc (ANI), established a strategic development program with Optomec, Inc, a provider of printed electronics for solar, display, electronic packaging and flexible electronics applications. As a part of the commitment, ANI will install a dedicated Optomec M3D aerosol jet printer at its facilities in order to adapt its copper ink to Optomec's patented ultra high resolution printing technology. By utilizing ANI's copper ink, the Optomec printer will offer the solar, display, flexible circuit and PCB manufacturers contact-free deposition of high quality, low cost metal lines, the companies said. According to the companies, the Optomec printing solution is able to produce much finer lines than is currently possible with traditional screen printing and inkjet printing equipment. The combined ANI/Optomec copper ink printing solution will provide an alternative to silver inks facilitating lower cost, coupled with the promise of higher reliability. Furthermore, ANI's copper inks do not require expensive vacuum installation or inert gas environment lowering the cost of the capital for manufacturing equipment.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has launched the EnergySmart Hospitals initiative, with the aim of increasing the use of energy efficient technologies in hospitals across the United States. \n\nThe EnergySmart Hospital initiative will provide hospitals with design strategies, advanced energy design guides, technology assessments, case studies, training sessions, and an interactive Website to help hospitals increase their energy efficiency. The initiative intends to improve energy efficiency in existing hospitals by 20 percent and to help develop new hospitals that are 30 percent more efficient than current building standards. It will also support hospitals in meeting the challenge of lowering costs while delivering quality patient care and maintaining healthy healing and work environments. \n

New financial credits for renewable energy in Brazil: 1053 MW for biomass

Anglo American announces a significant and high quality new copper prospect at Los Sulfatos in Chile, near its existing Los Bronces copper operation, with an Inferred Resource of 1.2 billion tonnes.

Japanese Furukawa Electric Co. plans to begin exporting copper power cable from its Shenyang production plant in China to the US and Europe from September 2011. So far, the company has been providing cables for the Chinese market only. It was reported that the quality of cables has improved sufficiently to be exported to industrialised countries. The company hopes to achieve annual sales of US$125M to industrialised countries in the next five years. The company expects strong demand from sustainable sources of energy.

"This technology is generally applied to high quality welding wire of various types, such as CO2, FCW, SAW and other copper coated wires."

"Six months into operations, company officials said, inmates were assembling wire harnesses at a rate comparable to that at the company's facility in Bawal, Haryana. To meet the company's quality standards, the harnesses are checked twice - in Tihar and Bawal."