New report on the future development of Norwegian hydropower
The smarter utilisation of Norwegian hydropower will promote nature conservation, improve access to energy and boost earnings.
Sintef
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Reuse enthusiasts want used materials on sale in builders’ merchants
Norway has declared ambitious targets for waste reduction in the building industry. Researchers have been asking sector representatives what needs to be done to achieve them. This article lets you in on some of the answers.
Urban sewage can be used to generate household electricity
According to researchers, so-called ‘industrial symbioses’ and ‘green hubs’ are offering answers to the challenge of meeting Europe’s climate change mitigation targets.
Norway needs a ‘salmon feed revolution’
The issue of salmon feed has become a bottleneck, hindering the growth and sustainability of the Norwegian aquaculture sector. In the future, insect meal, bristle worms and bacteria that consume CO2 may become essential components of a farmed salmon’s diet.
Small snail looking to be big business
Researchers have succeeded in nurturing a small snail called periwinkles in the laboratory for the very first time and are hoping that this French delicacy might be the launch pad for a new, Norwegian aquaculture business.
The aluminium in your old car should be recycled into a new car, not something else
Unless we acquire greater knowledge about what happens at the atomic and molecular scale during materials recycling, progress towards a truly circular economy will grind to a halt.
Active control of wind turbine speed can lead to fewer bird strikes
Norwegian researchers are currently developing wind turbines that can adapt their blade rotation speeds to prevent bird strikes.
Milk analysis reveals ‘invisible’ disease in dairy cows
Researchers have developed a new method of detecting a metabolic disease that affects dairy cows after calving. The aim is to determine whether cows are at risk of contracting the disease before they actually become sick.
Teaching the world how hydropower development can safeguard fish populations
SINTEF researcher Marcell Szabo-Meszaros is the man behind the international study ‘Hydropower and Fish – a Roadmap for Best Practice Management’, which offers guidelines on fish population protection in rivers to companies carrying out hydropower developments.
Learning to trace salmon lice
Is it only farmed fish that are responsible for spreading salmon lice larvae? Or is it also possible that wild salmon can infect farmed fish? This is what researchers will be trying to find out.
3D printing – a revolution in manufacturing technology
In recent years, 3D printing has exploded in popularity, and may open a new era of faster and more climate-friendly manufacturing. But is it really the manufacturing method of the future?
How solar energy can be stored in ‘batteries’ made from food waste
Soon you may be able to keep your house warm in winter using heat which molecules from food waste have borrowed from yesterday’s sunshine.
A digital ideas box has changed Aker Solutions in Stord
A physical suggestion box doesn’t work in 2023. So why not just create a Facebook group or set up an e-mail address? Because there’s another option, which we’ll tell you more about now.
Artificial intelligence has become the cardiologist’s “super-assistant”
If anything goes wrong with your heart, it is critical to get the right treatment quickly. Artificial intelligence can help with just this – and more lives can be saved.
The construction sector must learn to reuse plastic insulation after demolition
Tonnes of reusable polystyrene ends up as plastic waste when buildings are demolished. Researchers want to see more recycling and reuse.
The aquaculture sector is aiming at better plastic recycling
There is enormous potential in the aquaculture sector to generate circular economy initiatives when it comes to its use of plastics. But can these be made commercially viable? Researchers believe that they can.
Cultures of fear can be strangled at birth
In the wake of the shocking revelation from a major Oslo hospital that fear among employees is making corporate whistleblowing difficult, some in the IT sector are promoting the opposite. When something goes wrong, they learn from their mistakes together.
Ground-breaking knowledge from minute organs grown on microchips
The use of stem cells now makes it possible for us to cultivate so-called organoids, such as tiny versions of a liver, heart or small intestine, in the lab. These micro-organs can then be connected to a microchip that simulates the body’s biological processes. This ‘organ-on-a-chip’ technology opens the door to previously undreamt-of research possibilities.
Residents must participate in the development of our future communities
In Palma de Mallorca in Spain, researchers are planning to use VR headsets to encourage resident participation in a community project.
We need to adapt our cities to a changing climate. But in Norway it’s still business as usual
If we are to avoid our cities becoming ‘heat magnets’ one day, and overwhelmed by flooding the next, we have to incorporate wetlands and ditch systems into our urban infrastructure.
Locking CO2 captured from seaweed in biocoal
Seaweeds cultivated in the sea off the coast of Trøndelag, Norway will be converted into biocoal and used to improve agricultural land. A new method for carbon capture and storage is now being trialled by Norwegian researchers.
Artificial intelligence – fairy tale or nightmare?
Some people are very anxious. Others are enthusiastic. But how intelligent is AI, really?
Green and everlasting concrete is no longer a distant dream
Everlasting concrete is here! It requires no maintenance, and its manufacture emits 80 per cent less CO2 than current products. And just recently, its inventors have been awarded a research prize for their achievement.
The healthiest crisps on the planet
Researchers have now found out how to stop the formation of harmful acrylamides when deep-frying potatoes to make crisps.