Business, economic development - the unofficial Chamber of Commerce

Fast Growth for Water Treatment Technologies due to World-wide
Water Shortage

Clorox, Hendrx, ITT, and Siemens Identify Opportunities in Point
of Use Systems and Waste Water Treatment

Fei Wang, www.Water-Stocks.com January 2006 Water is a booming
business. According to an English publication Global Water
Intelligence, worldwide annual industry revenues are estimated
at $420 billion, with the United States accounting for around
$100 billion. This number is expected to grow as water becomes
scarcer and markets begin to mature. Two of the fastest growing
segments are: point of use/point of entry (POU/POE) systems and
waste water treatment. How do companies involved in this arena
see their future? In addition, over the past several years, the
industry has undergone considerable consolidation and
acquisition, a trend that is believed to continue. How will this
impact the development of the water market?

Water Shortage Of a population of roughly 6.1 billion, more than
1 billion lack access to potable water. This situation is
expected to get much worse in the future. Countries and firms
are actively looking for alternative solutions to address this
problem. Point of use/point of entry systems and waste water
recycling are two of the most popular solutions.

Point of Use/ Point of Entry Systems:

Figure 1: Quoted from www.epa.gov/ord Both POU and POE devices
purify water coming from the distribution system to a home or
facility. POU purifies water to a desired level at the tap to
which it is connected, while POE is one single device which
purifies all the water coming into the building.

As water prices increase, people start to pay more attention to
the quality of the water they are getting. Therefore, with more
publicity and awareness on the issue, POU/POE, which is said to
be a cheaper way to insure the quality of water than other
alternatives (e.g. bottled water), starts to attract more and
more attention from both industrial and residential users.

Hendrx Corp (OTCBB: HDRX), a manufacturer of water purification
technology, is addressing the water quality issue by providing
highly purified drinking water for both residential and
industrial markets. Hendrx CEO Robert De Costa said, “We at
Hendrx believe strongly that POU systems will gain in
significance providing pure drinking water for the future. The
water / sewage infrastructure worldwide is in need of massive
repair and there simply is not enough money to properly fix
these systems. In the United States alone we’re talking about
hundreds of Billions of dollars and this estimate goes up
dramatically every year. We’re also learning that currently used
water treatment methods like chlorination may not be as safe as
we once thought. Any time you introduce an additive or cleanser
to the water we drink, there’s the possibility of short term and
long term complications. Today’s consumer is becoming
increasingly health conscious and they know that proper
hydration is a major factor in maintaining a health life style.
For all of these reasons we think that micro-water systems, POU
systems will play an ever increasing roll in the supply of
personal drinking water.

Hendrx is in a unique position since we are the leading
manufacturer of Atmospheric Water Generators (AWGs). These
devices collect pure water from the naturally occurring moisture
in the atmosphere. Once you get an AWG, the only thing you need
is the proper temperature, humidity and power to run the
machine. Although atmospheric water devices will not work
everywhere, we’re very positive about the future of AWGs in many
regions of the globe.”

Brita water filtration system is a POU product as well.
According to the Clorox Company (NYSE: CLX), Brita®
water-filtration systems remove 98% of the lead from tap water.
In addition, Brita systems reduce chlorine (both taste and
odor).

Neil D. Berlant, First Vice President and Managing Director for
The Water Group, The Seidler Companies, comments,” One of the
major difficulties, in addressing water quality, is that even
when water utilities do a terrific job in purifying it, once it
leaves the central treatment facility, it conceivably passes
through dilapidated pipe systems, and it might take up harmful
chemicals along the way, so the water you get at home could be
considerately different than the water leaving the central
treatment facility. The only effective means of assuring good
quality water when you use it will be to treat it at the point
at which it will be used. Also, it is much cheaper to treat
water at the point of use versus, the cost of repairing the
pipes and infrastructure to guarantee the water quality from the
central treatment plant. ”

Steve Maxwell, Managing Director at TechKNOWLEDGEy Strategic
Group has a similar opinion, “Some people in the industry argue
that we concentrate too heavily, and spend too much, at the
centralized treatment plant. Some argue that perhaps it makes
more sense to distribute water from a central plant with lower
quality to later be treated to the level needed at home or at
the tap, instead of treating 100% of all the distributed water
to a high degree of purity at central facility,; after all, we
only drink 0.5 to 1% of the water. From a broader economic point
of view, it might be cheaper to treat the water at the point of
use. The big drawback is that this would require a rebuilding of
the whole water infrastructure, but it might be cheaper in the
long term.” To Read the Full Market Overview Click Here:
http://www.Water-Stocks.com/Water-Stocks/Articles/Market.asp
Water Market Future Potential

Both experts think the water industry is very promising. Maxwell
states, “Generally speaking, I think we have a business that
will continue to grow and offer great potential for firms into
the very long term future. From a global point of view, we have
a growing demand for water with a fixed supply, but we have a
rapidly growing population and rapidly expanding economy.
Meanwhile, we have the issue of poor water management practices.
So all of these combine to suggest that water resource and
availability of drinking water in the future is going to be a
bigger and bigger challenge and problem. Firms that are involved
in this kind of business solving these problems have very bright
future. So it is a very good industry to be involved in long
term. Most sectors of this industry do not offer spectacular
growth or profitability, but I think there is a very sustainable
basis for long-term growth and profitability.

Similar opinion is expressed by Berlant, “I think water will be
increasingly precious, I think the need and desire of customers
for water treatment, and desire to have better quality water is
just at the emerging stages. And I think the economics and
pricing are going to make this an extraordinary market. It has
been an excellent place to be for a long period of time.
Although up until recently, it has been largely an invisible
area. People never thought about water particularly. It is the
most important element in our life. Partially because it has
been so inexpensive, that’s why people don’t think about it that
much.”

Fei Wang

Fei Wang holds an Honors Bachelor of Commerce from University of
British Columbia Sauder Business School, with double major in
Finance and Marketing. She has experience in investment banking
and advertising in Canada, China and Korea, with a firm academic
background. Disclaimer:
www.InvestorIdeas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp ©Copyright
InvestorIdeas 2006

On Sunday morning, 11th December I got up early. I like sitting
down to write when the house is still quiet, before day light
glides over the hills and the silence of the night is chased
away by the hectic activities of the day. There is something
delightfully creative about those early hours for me and I was
keen to finish another instalment of a piece I am writing called
‘7 Steps to Inner Peace and Personal Power in 2006′.

Although my daughter was staying at a friend’s house at the
other end of the country, through habit I sneaked quietly into
the dark bathroom to get my dressing gown. Suddenly an
unfamiliar, pink-coloured flicker lighted my way. I was startled
for a moment; except for my sleeping dog I was alone in the
house. Where could this eery glow come from? As I returned to
the bedroom and looked out of the window, there was the loudest
thunder roar I had ever heard, followed a split second later by
a wave that shook the house as it sped right through, sweeping
away the last trace of mellow sleepiness and leaving me stunned.

Some kind of explosion. The railway station, I thought - or
maybe a large gas boiler in one of the shops or restaurants in
the nearby town. And then I remembered the huge oil storage
depot just 4 miles away and turned on the TV. It didn’t take
long for my suspicion to be confirmed as reports started to
arrive with pictures of sky-high flames and huge volumes of
deadly black smoke being thrown into the air. Now, we have the
largest peace time incident of this kind in the UK, just a deep
breath away.

And I was about to write about inner peace and personal power.
How ironic. For a moment, my inner peace was diminished by
thoughts of my own vulnerability and mortality; of concern for
how it affected people who were even closer and ultimately the
environmental impact this catastrophe would have.

But then came the determination to get my balance back and walk
the talk and I asked myself, what are the conditions for true
inner peace? How can anyone have personal power, when really we
are mere pawns of the power of chance, of nature, of the whim of
politicians and of the commercial interests of the high and
mighty? How can we sleep at night and be happy by day if our
lives can be changed with one spectacular blow of fate?

The answer I gave myself was the one that every spiritual
leader, every guru or compassionate priest would have given me.
It’s the same answer that has come up to so many of my questions
throughout the years of my own conscious journey to inner peace.
The same simple truth that underlies all personal power and
builds the foundation for inner peace, no matter what the
external circumstances are.

True inner peace comes from within - from the power of our own
minds. Viktor Frankl, the psychotherapist and author who
survived the horrors of Nazi concentration camps by using the
only thing he had left, his inner resources, put it like this:

‘Everything can be taken from a man but one thing; the last of
the human freedoms - to choose one’s attitude in any given set
of circumstances; to choose one’s own way.’

When something shakes our world to the core and throws us off
course, even if we may think we don’t, we still have the power
of choice. We can choose how to react. The personal power that
comes from this realisation is immense.

Wherever you look, you will see people who made the choice to
let a crisis empower them rather than crush their confidence and
break their spirit. People like the family of the murder victim
Anthony Walker, who forgave the young men who so cruelly took
their son and are not haunted by the poisonous power of hate,
people who have courageously built a new life after the floods
in New Orleans rather than wallow in self-pity and blame.

Those are the people who chose to take the path of inner peace
and personal power. They are who I chose to use as my
inspiration this morning, as I continued my writing under the
ever-growing toxic black cloud.

I wish you inner peace and hope you find it easy to make that
choice today. Greetings

Title: WILL GLOBAL WARMING CAUSE ANOTHER NOAH’S FLOOD?

Author: Arthur Zulu
Contact Author: mailto: controversialwriter@yahoo.com
Copyright: Copyright © Arthur Zulu 2002
Word Count: 632
Web Address: http://www.1stbooks.com/bookview/10975

Publishing Guidelines: Permission is granted to publish this article electronically or in print as long as the bylines are included. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated.

WILL GLOBAL WARMING CAUSE ANOTHER
NOAH’S FLOOD?

By Arthur Zulu

Man is a very clever animal. For example, he is the only one who knows that the world will end someday, and worries about it. And he is the only creature that can create anything out of a useless thing like ice.

Now, let’s imagine ourselves in a man-made ice theater– floor, roof, and all. We are sitting on chairs made of ice; drinking beer from glasses (made of ice of course), and we are about to watch a play.

What is the play about? The actor, (of course flesh and blood) is going to enter into a mighty cooking pot made of ice. Then he will be covered; and the giant ice cooking pot, suspended by equally giant tripods (made of ice too), is to be
heated by a gigantic fire.

As we the spectators watch to see what happens to the actor, we observe that first, the iced floor begins to crack
as a result of the fire. Then the pot begins to melt, and before we know it, the ice-made glasses on our hands, also begin to melt as a result of the heat.

Suddenly, the roof of the heated ice theater begins to give way and collapse on our heads, and before long, we find ourselves swimming in an ocean of water. So, we the spectators become actors; and birds and all sorts of flying things, become the spectators!

But wait. This is not a play. It is real, and very soon where once used to be our houses, might well become an ocean,
and we all will be swimming for our lives! And if you live in
a coastal city, say New York, London, or Cape Town; you had better start making your ark for another Noah’s flood. But how, you may ask, will this come about?

Over the decades, man has turned up the global thermostat through the emission of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide. This has caused climatic upheavals (heavy rain, drought, superkiller winds), and health hazard
(skin cancer).

It has even been speculated that the warming trend could bring about the opposite — global freeze. It happened before in Europe at the end of the Ice Age when a natural warming initiated a phenomenon that shut up the Gulf Stream. Suppose it happens again, and throws us into a deep freeze for say, 2000 years (the previous one in Europe lasted 1,300 years).

What if the former wins out and the polar ice begins a Great meltdown. It has been melting for decades, and several bodies of water have been forming at the Arctic and the Antarctica. And so what?

If you live in Alaska, you will now understand why memorial crosses are collapsing on the tombs in your local cemeteries while the tombs themselves are yawning and displaying their bowels. And you will know why your house is sinking or slanting at a terrible angle, and why your country roads are cracking up.

Even the animals are perplexed as they roam into unexpected lakes (where once used to be ice), and grasslands (where forests once stood). So the marooned polar bear gazing helplessly at the equally marooned countryman knows that the ground on which they are standing is playing games.

Just in case you are skeptical of the global warming trend, you could do one of two things: Find out why ivory gulls are now soaring in the Arctic, the land of polar bears. Or look
up down under and say what caused the gaping holes in Australia.

Yes, there are difficulties in predicting the Greenhouse effect. This is as a result of the roles of some elements –melting ice and snow, clouds, the oceans, volcanoes and solar cycles — in the heating and cooling process of the earth.

But that does not mean that we should take the warming trend as natural, or for granted, because a major climatic change may soon come. Why wouldn’t it come when we continue to burn gasoline and coal without check. Dump the Rio Summit! Forget the Kyoto Protocol! Who cares if a global flood is coming. Let Holland sink. And let Bangladesh go under water. We will all swim!

But not to worry; it may not happen now. It may be the lot of your great great grandchildren, perhaps when the earth had hit 15 or 20 billion. And the little children may find it funny after all.

Imagine 15 or 20 billion dancing boats, with their occupants waving multi - colored farewell flags on a global ocean. Like
a carnival. What a way to exit the planet — the boats become floating coffins; and the ocean their watery graves!

Copyright © 2002, all rights reserved

About the Author:

ARTHUR ZULU, The Most Controversial Writer in the World, is the author of the best - selling book,
HOW TO WRITE A BEST-SELLER. Download your copy and FREE excerpt at :
http://www.1stbooks.com/bookview/10975
For FREE writing helps, mailto : controversialwriter@yahoo.com

About the Author

ARTHUR ZULU, The Most Controversial Writer in the World, is the author of the best - selling book,
HOW TO WRITE A BEST-SELLER.

VFD-Double-Stage High-Efficiency Vacuum Insulation Oil Purifier
Application VFD series is mainly used to improve the properties
of insulation oil. It can remove trace water, gas, particulate
matters etc. from the insulating oil effectively and rapidly so
as to boost performance of transformers, circuit breakers,
mutual inductors, cable and capacitors which has insulation
system. VFD series specialize in purifying branded oil,
insulating oil of high voltage and super high voltage
transformer. Additionally, it is suitable for treating low
viscosity lubrication oil.

Regardless of how you use specialty gas mixtures to calibrate a
laboratory instrument or monitor, the most important thing you
can do to ensure the accuracy of your measurements is to ensure
the accuracy of your gas mixture. Gas mixture accuracy, in
turn, is largely dependent upon its analytical traceability to a
reference material. For analytical traceability to exist, there
must be an unbroken link of comparison between the measured
value of the gas mixture and a reference that is recognized in
the national or international measurement system as being a true
value. Thus, analytical traceability is the link between the
analyzed concentration and the true concentration of a gas
mixture. The National Institute of Standards and Technology
(NIST) provides Standard Reference Materials (SRMs) for this
purpose. Another such metrological organization, the Netherlands
Measurement Institute (NMi), provides Primary Reference
Materials (PRMs).

Analytical traceability is achieved by laboratory analysis of a
mixture using an instrument that has been directly calibrated
using either an SRM or a PRM. A mixture analyzed in this manner
is said to be “directly traceable.” SRMs and PRMs are at the top
of the traceability hierarchy and add the least amount of
uncertainty to a mixture analysis because they are individually
analyzed and certified by NIST or NMi laboratories.

Since 1995, NIST and NMi have maintained an equivalence
agreement in those cases where comparative analyses have been
completed by the two labs. Because of this NIST/NMi equivalency,
traceability to a PRM is considered the legal equivalent of an
SRM.

Direct analytical traceability can also be established using
what are known as NIST Traceable Reference Materials (NTRMs).
NTRMs are produced by gas suppliers and then batch analyzed and
audited by NIST against the same internal standards as SRMs.
NTRM values are assigned by NIST and offer nearly the same
accuracy confidence level as SRMs and PRMs in most cases.

The high cost of producing SRMs and PRMs make it economical for
some specialty gas suppliers to blend intermediate standards
called Gas Manufacturer Intermediate Standards (GMISs). Though
they are analyzed against existing SRMs, they are at the bottom
of the traceability hierarchy. A GMIS introduces more
uncertainty because more steps are involved and because NIST is
not involved in either their analysis or certification. The gas
supplier is responsible for assigning the concentration and
accuracy, based solely on their analysis.

Gas mixtures that are produced using GMISs do not provide direct
NIST-traceability, and so may not be suitable for some
applications. For example, the EPA requires that a Continuous
Emission Monitor be calibrated using a protocol that is at least
as accurate to within ±2%. Use of a protocol that was prepared
using a GMIS may not guarantee such accuracy.

When selecting any specialty gas mixture, be sure you know what
type of standard the mixture you are purchasing will be analyzed
against. To ensure accuracy, insist on traceability to an SRM,
PRM or NTRM. Also remember that, as in the case of emission
monitoring, traceability and subsequent accuracy may be governed
by law.

You can ensure the integrity of your laboratory calibrations by
obtaining gas mixtures from reliable companies such as Scott
Specialty Gas, which has been the leading supplier of precursor
standards for NIST SRMs for more than 25 years, Praxair, the
second largest supplier of industrial and specialty gases to
chemical companies worldwide, and Airgas, which offers an
extensive line of high purity specialty gases as well as a full
range of specialty gas equipment specifically designed for use
with highest purity gases and high tolerance gas mixtures. Your
dedication to accurate calibrations will be rewarded many times
over in the precision of your measurements, and thus the quality
of your products, which can only make your customers smile.

For more information about EPA protocol gas accuracy, download a
copy of Accuracy Counts from http://www.scottgas.com.

This article is provided by Scott Specialty Gases. Scott
Specialty Gases, a leading global manufacturer of specialty
gases located in Plumsteadville, PA. More information on the
company can be found at http://www.scottgas.com.

This article is copyrighted by Scott Gases. It may not be
reproduced in whole or in part and may not be posted on other
websites, without the express written permission of the author
who may be contacted via email at
scottgas@digitalbrandexpressions.com.

About the Author R.L. Fielding has been a freelance writer for
10 years, offering her expertise and skills to a variety of
major organizations in the education, pharmaceuticals and
healthcare, financial services, and manufacturing industries.
She lives in New Jersey with her dog and two cats and enjoys
rock climbing and ornamental gardening.

More and more new homes, offices, restaurants and retail spaces
are looking for attractive flooring that is unique, healthy, and
easy to maintain. Now a touch of glitter can be added to epoxy
flooring to create a subtle yet attractive flooring surface.
Most often a small size glitter is used and applied to a
complementary background of colored epoxy. Although the glitter
does not stand out in bright sunlight, it is perceived as an
attractive glint under mood lighting conditions. The floors
sparkle with life and create a gentle and appealing ambience.

During application of a second layer of floor coating, the
glitter is gently blown out over the floor while the epoxy is
still liquid. Swirls settle in and are permanently trapped. A
three-finger pinch of glitter with the applicator is all that is
needed. The most common colors are silver or gold, but other
colors or blends of colors are available including red, blue,
green, and copper. A personally customized floor is easily
created by combining a choice of glitter with any of dozens of
epoxy colors and/or colored chip options. Other looks available
include granite, tile, and slate. Logos, stripes and “yellow
brick roads” are sometimes added to the floors of restaurants,
“collector cars” garages, basements, and even food processing
plants. The finish can be gloss, flat, or satin. Additionally,
the floors may be skid-resistant, like emery paper, yet still
easy to sweep or squeegee. Epoxy flooring goes on at the job
site and requires no seams. With no breaks in the surface, the
floor coating becomes a continuous membrane that seals what is
above from what is below. Mold, mildew, and other contaminants
cannot penetrate the epoxy membrane and wash off easily. One
leading floor coating manufacturer, Durall Industrial Flooring
of Minneapolis, MN, also makes over 500 specialty cleaners.
Their special preparations of cleaners produce an application
system that assures optimum flooring adhesion and wear results.
Durall experts help customize their flooring kits at no cost to
the customer, always including complete procedures for
installing and maintaining a quality epoxy or urethane floor
coating. To address those unexpected questions and problems,
Durall also provides a complimentary 24/7 help line during the
project.

For a high resolution chart of available glitter colors, visit
www.concrete-floor-coatings.com/photos/glitter

For more information, contact Harvey Chichester at
harvey@concrete-floor-coatings.com

Phone: 1-800-466-8910 or 952-888-1488 (24/7)

###

Thank you for staying with me for this two part article about how our environments add enchantment to every day living. This week I invite you to read about how my Virtual Assistant, Rebecca, put beauty, meaning and form into her home. Her story is different from mine, as each of ours are, but it is the same in the sense that it is her way of building enchantment into her life.

Building Enchantment
By Rebecca Trelfa

I wanted to share a little note about creating enchantment in your home. I recently moved into an
old Victorian house that needs serious redecorating. A previous owner loved dark woods and shag carpets. (Not my style!)

Since I work at home, I found it necessary to temporarily add some enchantment to ‘this old house’ because I spend so much time here. I took down dark drapes and replaced them with sheers to let the light in and, and sanded down and refinished some of the dark wood to give it a lighter appearance.

What a difference! Now I love my new home and am even happier to spend my days here. We have a nice back yard that I plan to plant some flowers and shrubs in once the weather is nice. I have even developed a new interest in Feng Shui and sit glued most nights to the Home & Garden channel watching dreary homes get enchanting face lifts.

I am reminded of an article of Dr. Holstein’s called Positive Spaces, which focuses along the same lines. When you are surrounded by enchantment and things that really reflect your own personality and things that you love, you create new warm memories by bringing out the best of the past.

For example, my love of New Orleans has inspired me to create a Creole-style kitchen and my love of the Caribbean has inspired a soft bathroom with unusual colors. It is so fun to be creative and pull the best from your experiences.

A Play Date with Building Enchantment

You have now read two different accounts of making a house come alive with personal history. Take a few moments to reflect on what you have loved in the past. Was it what you saw on a vacation? Perhaps, actual household items, as I talked about. Perhaps a certain style or time period makes you feel great.

What else would you like to bring into your life … new things … a new home …a garden … new clothes? Perhaps it is nothing physical, but things like more music, or time with friends. Whatever it is, take some time to daydream. Let our stories wet your appetite and give you encouragement to bring more enchantment into your life.

About the Author

Dr. Holstein is the originator of The Enchanted Self and a psychologist since 1981. She is the author of two books: The Enchanted Self, A Positive Therapy and Recipes for Enchantment, The Secret Ingredient is YOU!
Dr. Holstein speaks on radio, and appears on television in NY and NJ. She gives lectures, seminars, retreats and audio interviews on LadybugLive.com and is in private practice in Long Branch, NJ with her husband, Dr. Russell Holstein.

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lifetime of machinery which has lubrication system.

In some dictionaries life is defined, as a power that demonstrates a purpose to feed, process matter into energy, grow, and reproduce. Life means existence, a state of being. No matter how we look at the definitions, one thing is clear: life is the energy driving the universe and all its happenings, and for humans and all the living organisms, life, or being alive, is a force entirely dependent on special factors such as air, water, light and much more elements that interact to support existence in all its forms and each of them is equally important for the survival of the species…

All these resources are an abundant presence on Earth, but nothing can last forever. Polluted water is not usable, air is itself contaminated on many parts of the Globe, mineral resources are non-renewable and light… natural light has its benefits but also it can constitute a danger for the species if we consider the UV emissions reaching Earth’s atmosphere.

Light influences all life on Earth directly or indirectly. Plants need light for photosynthesis, therefore for growing and in exchange they forward their energy to the animals that consume them. At the same time animals need light for a harmonious evolution and even nocturnal ones require some low level illumination. Lack of natural light causes various disorders by people and the same happens by plants and animals.

UV light can harm living organisms in several ways. For example plants overexposed to UV light reduce size and are more susceptible to specific diseases. The light coming direct from the sun sends to earth three types of ultraviolet: UV-A (380-315 nm), UV-B (315-280 nm) and UV-C (280-10 nm). Due to the absorption in the atmosphere’s ozone layer, 99% of the ultraviolet light that reaches the Earth’s surface is UV-A.

While UV-A causes plants only a little harm, UV-B, which is a shorter wavelength, can damage plant tissue and in humans it can cause skin cancer. UV-C is the part from the UV spectrum with the shortest wavelength and all bacteria and virus get deadly sunburn in an artificial UV-C filter system. Certainly UV light has its paradoxes: even if it is harmful in one way, it is useful in another. Medicine is using this artificial UV light to cure difficult skin conditions such as psoriasis eczema, lymphoma, acne, a-topic dermatitis, and so on.

Fact is that plants don’t need too much UV light, on the contrary. This is why crop production with artificial light means that will eliminate the dangerous UV emissions seems to be the next logical step.

Growing Plants Technology - Crop Production Systems

The target of crop production systems is to develop innovative technologies that lower the costs of harvest and ensure ecologically aware crop farming.

The crop production systems do not disregard important factors that influence plant development: temperature, humidity, light, carbon dioxide, water and nutrients. All these blend to create the ideal environment for a plant to grow and reproduce as well as they influence size, seeds, plant health and so on. Each plant will progress in its own manner, depending on the environment. Since a long time already biologists are studying the factors that influence vegetation’s evolution. Light is a very important factor and researchers were able to determine exactly which wavelengths are the ones plants need for their growth. Some colours in light rays are essential for good plant evolution. Vegetation mirror and receive a small amount of energy from yellow and green emissions of the visible spectrum. However the red and blue fractions of the light continuum are the most valuable energy resources for plant life, and plants necessitate more red (625 to 675 nm) than blue (400 to 470nm). Yellow (525 nm) triggers photosynthesis too, while IR influences seed spurring and UV colour and scent.

How Light Colour Influences Plant Growth

Blue light: plants react to the intensity of blue light. Lessening the blue light will cause poor growth – the strength of the radiation in any other part of the spectrum is not as important as the intensity of the blue, which shapes height and quality.

Red (660 nm) and infrared (730 nm) (also known as IR or far red) light: Intensifying the total of IR in relation with 660 nm red makes plants grow tall and thin. On the other hand if red is increased while IR diminished, plants will be short but thick. Plant reactions are not linear with the red/far red ratio and they can also vary in their response to red and far red light.

Ultraviolet light (UV): While overexposure is dangerous, small amounts of UV light can be beneficial for the flora. In many cases UV light is a very important cause for colours, taste and aroma. But UV-C and UV-B are believed to stop plant spread and this is why they have to be removed from the light under which plants are developed in green houses by UV stabilisers or glass. Removal of the UV up to 400nm is might be effective also in case of virus carrier insects (as insects see partly in UV).

Direct light from the Sun distributes the useful wavelengths only on special times of the day and in small quantum enough for a harmonious growth in some parts of the Earth, yet not enough on others.

Crop production systems are dealing with such problems and find ways to replace natural light with artificial light. The idea of growing plants under artificial illuminators is not new at all. Long time ago NASA started to grow plants in space, and the results were astonishing. Nowadays we know that by using the correct wavelength plants develop harmonious and healthy, sure if they have all the other conditions ensured. Yet getting light of the correct wavelength is not an easy task, especially if one takes into account the costs and efficiency of such light sources.

LED Lighting Technologies to Substitute Natural Light

To substitute natural light is quite difficult also if you consider how hard it is to obtain light near the visible part of the spectrum with traditional luminaries. Light emitting diodes are here to change that difficulty.

SSL (solid state lighting) is the youngest lighting technology and by now is believed to be more efficient than incandescence and fluorescence due to the fact that SSLs produce light at or near the visible part of the spectrum and as a result the emitted light can be used straight or with minor conversion. One of the most important advantages is that SSL technology has eliminated damaging components from the light sources (remember: light emitting diodes contain no ultraviolet unless they are produced as UV LEDs).

NASA is already using SSL in its space farming systems. The reasons are quite simple: incandescent or fluorescent lamps are not efficient enough for such purposes, because they consume a lot of electrical power, generate heat and contain electrodes that burn out (maintenance costs are high). This is why NASA’s plant physiologists started to work with light emitting diodes (blue and red) to grow salad plants such as lettuce and radishes. The researchers found our that blue and red light is essential for plant growth and, in general, a percentage of 8% blue LEDs and 92% red LEDs, both with the same frequency and relative intensity per LED, are enough for a harmonious evolution. Blue has a smaller influence than red; however a percentage between 1% and 20% of blue light can be selected, depending on the plants and their growth requirements. The NASA scientists have tried to create the most cost and energy efficient light sources possible, and this is why they have eliminated from the fixtures other colours normally found in white light. “What we’ve found basically is that we are able to limit the amount of colour we give to the plants and still have them grow as well as with white light.” said the research scientist Greg Goins of Dynamac Corp. LEDs are not the only ones efficient for growing plants: sulphur microwave lamps are the most efficient light sources known to man, that can generate as much light as the noonday sun, perfect for illuminating large-scale systems such as greenhouses. For smaller applications, such as indoor gardens, LEDs seem to be the right choice.

Pros and Contras LED Grow Light Systems

There are some pro and contras when it comes to LED grow light systems. When planning such farming alternatives, one has to carefully consider that plants do use light at all wavelengths from UV to IR, as explained above, needed to convert water and carbon dioxide into sugars. Some plants use more red and blue, less green and yellow, while others use green as much as they use red and blue, as well as the light in between. If LEDs are chosen for brightness, there is one aspect to be underlined: they just look bright because their light is unidirectional and their size is small. To get enough light there are many LEDs needed, that’s why the cost of LED arrays or LED modules is so high. LEDs can be calibrated to emit only the light most efficient for the plants, but not all the light plants need. This is why such light sources are recommended only in places where direct light from the sun is not enough or inexistent – space farming for example. Also in places where light from the sun is too strong and can harm the plants with the high emission of UV, LEDs are a good choice, because UV filters are stopping some of the useful wavelengths too. In wintertime the weather conditions restrain crop production; this is why greenhouses need a substitute for the natural light. It makes sense to deliver plants the minimum lighting conditions for a corresponding evolution.

There are some significant factors to take into account when choosing light sources for such applications and these are low costs, energy efficiency, long life, and ability to withstand voltage fluctuations, modularity in order to grant users the possibility to assemble arrays that gives as much light as needed, where needed. LEDs are pretty efficient in the conversion of electric power to light, in any case more than traditional fluorescent and incandescent lamps. Due to the fact that light emitting diodes can be manufactured to emit a specific wavelength and are expected to have a long life span (from 50000 hours up), many plant physiologists are considering using them in large applications. Compared to LEDs most of the other traditional lamps have to be replaced every two-three years. Other features such as choice of viewing angles, control options, instant turn on times, cold start and much more, recommend the semiconductor devices. At present this is still an expensive technology, but in time LEDs efficiency will be maximized while prices reduced and these details are a good base for future planning.

My-tronic GmbH to Produce LED Grow Light Systems on Request

It is so far clear that in order to produce efficient LED grow light systems a lot of investigation is necessary. It is not enough to mount some blue and red LEDs on a PCB and say: “that’s it; we’ve got the plant growing LED system”. NASA created only a mechanism that delivers the minimum amount of light needed for some plants. For greenhouses on Earth other questions need to be answered: how much blue, how much red? What about the other colours, what about UV and IR? Should the light pulse? Should it be dimmed in the morning and evening to imitate natural conditions (sunrise and sunset?). Do plants need light at night? And the list remains opened.

At my-tronic GmbH there are no plant physiologists, but only engineers ready to bring their technical expertise to scientists in order to build the best light sources for LED plant growth systems. The domain is still new and can be considered a challenge for any researcher. Still my-tronic’s engineers know exactly which are the LEDs’ limitations, what can be done with such devices and what not. And the company’s motto: “bringing light in your lives” is also a statement of commitment to life and development.

About the Author

Mihaela Lica started her career as a reporter for the National Romanian Radio Station, worked as a PR Referent in a bank, later used to work as a military journalist for the Romanian MoD and now she is the PR and Media Manager for the German company my-tronic GmbH.

At first glance, solar cooling looks like an oxymoron. However,
the same energy that can provide heat in the wintertime can also
provide cooling during the summer.

Several passive cooling systems have been developed and tested.
At their simplest, they rely on a coolant that absorbs and
dissipates heat from the house. This could be a pool of water on
the rooftop which absorbs seat from the inside of the house as
it evaporates on exposure to the sun.

More sophisticated passive solar cooling systems have a solar
collector which is shaded during the daytime. A storage medium
collects heat during the day and dissipates it at night by
exposing the solar collector to the cool night air.

Since the solar collector must be shaded, a retractable awning
or overhang extension can be installed. Since the system can be
reversed in the winter months, it is important that the solar
collector can be exposed to sunshine if needed.

Solar panels can also be used to operate traditional air
conditioners. As it happens, the periods of intense heat
correspond to the periods of peak electricity production from
photovoltaic cells. As long as you have solar panels which
generate sufficient to electricity, you can operate air
conditioners at no cost.

Solar cooling that does not take advantage of high technology is
another possibility. The Romans used a system of running water
to cool down exterior walls of their houses. The heat of the sun
causes the water to evaporate and dissipate the heat within the
house. This kind of system can be used on walls or on rooftops.

Heating and cooling are two of the biggest expenses for most
households. Using solar energy to reduce this expense makes
sense financially as well as ecologically. The less dependent we
are on fossil fuels for heating and cooling the cleaner the
environment will be.