Excerpt below.  Read the complete article here.

Scientists discovered the first metal-reducing bacteria, Shewanella and Geobacter, in the late 1980s. The dissimilatory metal-reducing bacteria (DMRB) metabolism, which couples biological electron transport chains to inorganic materials, gives us a unique opportunity to both study and harness such reduction-oxidation (redox) reactions at synthetic surfaces. In fact, if a synthetic electrode is poised at a favorable redox potential, it is possible to “trick” the metal-reducing bacteria into transferring their electrons to the electrode surface in the absence of any other electron acceptor. This not only provides a quantitative readout to study respiration in real time, it gives researchers precise control of the energetic redox conditions, thereby allowing them to direct the growth of the microbes, and even to culture some bacteria that may be difficult to grow in standard media.

These bacteria are being heavily investigated as practical biological catalysts in renewable energy technologies that now attract millions of dollars annually in government and industry funding. Microbial fuel cells and bacterial batteries, for example, are constructed with microbes that oxidize diverse organic fuels—including waste products such as raw sewage—then route the resulting electrons to fuel-cell anodes, where the flow is converted into electricity. Another emerging technology is microbial electrosynthesis, which essentially runs the process in reverse by supplying microbes with renewable (e.g., solar) electrical energy in order to drive reductive microbial metabolisms for the synthesis of biofuels and other high-value chemicals. Both these technologies—fuel-to-electricity and electricity-to-fuel—rely on the ability of microbes to donate and accept electrons at synthetic surfaces.

This notion of electron transport driving information flow and communication in microbial communities is new, and as yet untested, but it has potentially transformative physiological and technological implications. Compared to the relatively slow diffusion of entire molecules, electron flow is a rapid process, allowing cells to more quickly sense and respond to environmental change. Such an electronic signaling network, in addition to regulating cell-cell interactions on the population level, could even form the backbone of new synthetic microbial networks designed as sensors to detect specific environmental conditions, such as harmful or desirable chemicals, or variations in light or pH. Eventually, researchers may even learn to interface these networks with solid-state microelectronics, using the extracellular electron transport pathways of metal-reducers such as Shewanella to perform functions from bioremediation to energy production. This vision of integrated microbial circuits was unimaginable 10 years ago. But as we unravel the molecular and biophysical basis of long-distance electron transport, these bacteria may one day become essential components of everyday technologies. 

Mohamed Y. El-Naggar is an assistant professor of physics and Steven E. Finkel is an associate professor of biological sciences at the University of Southern California.

Saturday, April 27, 2013, 8:30 AM to 3 PM
David Brower Center (Tamalpais Room)
2150 Allston Way, Berkeley, California

A group of scientists and energy analysts has laid out a path under which New York State could, in theory, eliminate its use of fossil fuels and nuclear power — including for transportation — by 2050 with the use of renewable Wind, Water, Solar (WWS) energy.

One of the study's authors makes the following points regarding the economics of paying for this proposed policy:

• Instead of upgrading, maintaining, and replacing deteriorating existing infrastructure, invest in new infrastructure. If we don’t appreciably accelerate retirement, there is no “extra” (early-retirement) cost to consider.
• Retrofit and rebuild for maximum efficiency and minimum environmental impact. The correct basis for evaluating this economically is a full social lifetime cost-benefit analysis with a near-zero discount rate. On this basis, I believe that most improvements will be economical.

Read Andrew Revkin's take in the NY Times blog, Dot Earth.

Read the complete paper here.

US Census statistics show faster population growth in American cities than its suburbs, good news for Cincinnati projects and those directly across the river from Downtown in Northern Kentucky. Studies also show that younger generations seek walkable communities, connected to the amenities and entertainment they crave.  Grassroots organizers, city planners, and developers hope the strengthening U.S. economy will boost financing, as competition for state and federal grants becomes stiffer.

Riverfronts are becoming popular development sites, as cities across the nation try to clean them up, and communities want to capitalize on the trend. Cincinnati is among the top 10 busiest inland ports in the country, with more than 13 million tons of freight traffic per year.  And as the water quality in the Ohio River improves, so do the tools to build and redevelop on floodplains safely for natural habitats and people.

Challenges lie mainly in funding.  Developers of two billon-dollar projects in Northern Kentucky communities of Dayton and Newport expressed hope that 2010 would be their year, echoing that optimism every year since.  But six years after the state enacted a tax incentive to jump-start the projects, Ovation in Newport and Manhattan Harbour in Dayton remain unbuilt. But with the worst of the recession behind them, they are hoping the projects will be back on track for 2013.

Contamination issues are dragging out plans at the brownfield development MetroWest in Lower Price Hill, rated the top priority of 17 projects funded by the Clean Ohio Council in 2007, earning $3 million for clean up. Environmental remediation usually takes 3 to 5 years for a site that size, but it’s been six so far.  Diana Christy of Cincinnati’s Office of Environmental Quality says that cleanup will be more widespread and extensive than anticipated. "We had to get more money."

Read the complete article at Cincinnati.com, by Carrie Blackmore Smith, March 12, 2013.

Mike Miller (CDM Smith) is organizing a Sustainable Remediation session at the 29th Annual International Conference on Soils, Sediments, Water and Energy at the University of Massachusettes, Amherst, MA, held October 21-24, 2013. Abstracts for this session (only) will be accepted through May 2013 (despite the "official" February 8, 2013 deadline posted on the website). Abstract requirements are available here.

Contact Mike Miller directly, with your abstracts and inquires.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency declared Newtown Creek a Superfund site in 2010.  

The creek's bottom is lined with a 15-foot-thick layer of petroleum-based pollutants that scientists have dubbed "black mayonnaise." The ooze penetrated the shoreline and now sits on top of the water table dozens of feet under Brooklyn's gentrifying Greenpoint neighborhood. More than 300,000 people still live within a mile of the creek.

Scientists are using sonar to probe the muck in the 3.5-mile waterway in hopes of determining the best way to conduct the cleanup, which will be financed by six entities that inherited the pollution: Exxon Mobil, Texaco Inc., the Phelps Dodge Refining Corp., BP Products North America Inc., National Grid NY, and the city of New York.

One method used at other Superfund sites is to dredge the sediment from barges carrying cranes with scoopers, then capping the bottom to block any residue of oil, pesticides, chemicals, and other pollutants.

Read the complete article here.

The Global Conference on Sustainability and Reporting will be held in Amsterdam May 22-24, 2013

https://www.globalreporting.org/information/events/conference2013/Pages/default.aspx

Officers:

• Nick Garson, President
• Angela Fisher, Vice President
• Karina Tipton, Secretary
• Grant Geckeler, Treasurer

At-Large:

• Stew Abrams
• Buddy Bealer (through January 2015)
• Jake Torrens (through January 2015)
• Rick Wice (through January 2015)
• vacant

Except as noted above, the trustees will serve through January 31, 2014. 

Please wish the new Board the best of luck for the coming year!

• Advancing the science and application of sustainable remediation
• Developing best practices
• Exchanging professional knowledge
• Providing education and outreach

Active outreach and technical initiative working groups include: academic outreach, regulatory outreach, sustainable remediation resource index, sustainable remediation rating system/certification, water conservation and reuse, sustainable remediation research, and preparation of a white paper on sustainable remediation around the globe.

This meeting is sure to provide a rewarding and gratifying experience to all. There will be diverse opportunities to be part of the various initiative discussions depending on where your specific passions lie. We hope you can join us to help us shape the future direction of SURF!

Meeting registration will open soon.  Please stay tuned for more information.

Email our meeting facilitator for information about sponsorship opportunities.