Coal is one of the important components of producing fuel and energy. However, burning coal causes severe air pollution as it emits harmful pollutants like mercury, arsenic, and gases into the air which can create breathing problems and acid rain. Burning coal and other fuels are one of the critical reasons for global warming as they release carbon dioxide which traps heat in the air surface resulting in high temperature. Also, the growing population has impacted havoc on the resources, causing increased pollution, wildfires, etc. However, many scientists are coming up with new ideas to replace these harmful components with eco-friendly products for a better environment.
Yiannis Levendis, Distinguished Professor of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at Northeastern University, has started an experiment on replacing coal with renewable biomass and waste biomass for fuel. Levendis is known to have spent his career creating reusable products and recycling waste products. He has also recently been honoured with a position in the National Academy of Inventors where they recognise the inventors who “have made a tangible impact on the quality of life, economic development, and the welfare of society.” He says that the unused parts of the plants, such as rice or corn could be burned to produce potential fuel and being a plant, it absorbs carbon from the air and releases it while burning, thereby making no harmful changes in the air or the atmosphere.
Yiannis Levendis has built two furnaces in his lab to find out the pollutants that get released while burning the plants. In the first furnace, he speculates the combustion of different materials and in the second furnace, he measures the gases and the particulates that are produced by the burning of the plants. He mentions that waste plastic is also a clean source for fuel as it can be used as carbon nanotubes as well as natural gas. Moreover, he has found out ways to harmlessly put out fires with nitrogen as it does not contaminate the groundwater or the air. He is successfully continuing his work toward improving the atmosphere.
Rubena Bose