An international team of researchers from Taiwan, Australia, India and Bangladesh has successfully developed a method of converting agricultural biomass into commercially valuable chemicals for food and pharmaceutical companies, the Financial Express reported on Monday.
The new method is “significantly cheaper and more environmentally friendly and efficient” than existing conversion methods, because the catalyst materials used are recyclable and the process produces a high yield of valuable chemicals, the Indian English-language newspaper said.
Specifically, the researchers used “raw biomass, such as bagasse, rice husk, wheat straw, cotton stalk, corn cob and low-grade jute from different areas of India and Bangladesh, and converted it into high-value chemicals, such as xylose and arabinose, furfural and HMF [hydroxymethylfurfural],” Shahriar Hossain, a materials scientist at University of Wollongong’s Australian Institute for Innovative Materials, was quoted as saying.
The report quoted Wu Chia-wen (吳嘉文), a professor of chemical engineering at National Taiwan University who was also involved in the project, as saying that such chemicals have widespread uses in the food and pharmaceutical sectors.
“Xylose and arabinose ... can play an important role in the management of blood glucose and insulin levels related to sucrose intake” when used in food products, Wu said.
Furfural can be applied as “fungicides, pesticides, drugs and bioplastics, flavor enhancers,” the report said.
“This discovery will add significant economic value to the agricultural waste materials through industrialization of our technique in Bangladesh and other South Asian countries,” the researchers were quoted as saying.
Researchers from National Taiwan University, Australia’s University of Wollongong, Bangladesh’s Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University and Indian schools were involved in the project.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
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