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HIRSCHFELD, GERMANY - Scientists in Germany have come up with a method for extracting the precious element germanium from plants. The element is a semi-conductor and was used to develop the first transistor because it is able to transport electrical charges extremely quickly. Nowadays, silicon-germanium alloy is indispensable to modern life, crucial in making computers, smartphones and fiber-optic cables. Transparent in infra-red light, germanium is also used in intelligent steering systems and parking sensors for vehicles. Yet although germanium is present in soil all over the world, it is difficult to extract, and most supplies currently come from China. Now...

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who has tried to curb soda consumption, ban smoking in parks and encourage bike riding, is taking on a new cause: requiring New Yorkers to separate their food scraps for composting.

The German Die Welt online here reports that veterinary and medical experts are now saying that biogas plants may be the source of the lethal E. coli bacteria now running rampant through Germany. Although the disaster is nowhere the scale we saw in Bhopal, India, so far we have seen 18 dead and over 500 hospitalized. And needless to say, millions of Europeans are spooked. Die Welt writes: Ernst-Günther Hellwig, director of the Agricultural and Veterinary Academy in Horstmar, warns that the bacteria likely comes from new sources, saying the epidemic is a house-made German problem. ‘It is possible that...

The Bio-Bug has been converted by a team of British engineers to be powered by biogas, which is produced from human waste at sewage works across the country. They believe the car is a viable alternative to electric vehicles. Excrement flushed down the lavatories of just 70 homes is enough to power the car for 10,000 miles - the equivalent of one average motoring year. This conversion technology has been used in the past but the Bio-Bug is Britain's first car to run on methane gas without its performance being reduced. It can power a conventional two litre VW Beetle...

Turning a dead cow into something resembling a jar of molasses may sound like a bad science fiction movie, but the reality is the groundbreaking technology should have far-reaching benefits for ranchers, packing plants and the environment. It's called thermal hydrolysis, a process that uses high temperature saturated steam and pressure to get rid of infectious proteins and other micro-organisms in animal carcasses and other organic waste. And developer Biosphere Technologies is preparing to build the world's first pilot demonstration plant at Lacombe after 14 years of research and clinical trials of its patented Biorefinex process. The resulting ooze is...

GOTEBORG, Sweden: Taking a road trip? Remember to visit the toilet first. This city is among dozens of municipalities in Sweden with facilities that transform sewage waste into enough biogas to run thousands of cars and buses. Cars using biogas created a stir when they began to be rolled out on a large scale at the start of the decade. The tailpipe emissions are virtually odorless, the fuel is cheaper than gasoline and diesel, and the idea of recovering energy from toilet waste appealed to green-minded Swedes. "When you're in the bathroom in the morning and you can see something...

STOCKHOLM (AFP) - The world's first train to run on biogas, a renewable energy source made up of organic waste, made its maiden voyage in Sweden, a country that has high hopes for biofuels. "The train left on time, at 2:32 pm (1242 GMT) and everything is going well," said Peter Unden, head of marketing at Svensk Biogas, the company that owns the train. The train which links the city of Linkoeping, just south of Stockholm, to the east coast town of Vaestervik some 80 kilometers (50 miles) away, is scheduled to make one trip a day to begin with,...