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Solar oil from greenery

28.09.2005

Someday the source of diesel fuel will not be oil wells, but plants, an American scientist believes.

James Damsik and his colleagues from the University of Wisconsin-Madison propose to rely on carbohydrates, which make up 75% of the dry weight of plants, for the manufacture of biofuels, but not to turn them into ethanol, but to go the other way: directly convert vegetable carbohydrates into long hydrocarbon chains - they are and are diesel fuel.

Because oil and water are immiscible, these hydrocarbons will float on the surface of the reactor where they can be easily scooped out. In order to turn the short and sometimes closed carbon skeletons of plant carbohydrates into long molecules of diesel fuel, scientists conducted several reactions involving catalysts and hydrogen, and H2 is supposed to be extracted again from plants.

The experiment has so far been delivered in its pure form - chemists used carbohydrates themselves. Plants, apparently, will have to be pre-treated.

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Smart TV boom expected 26.10.2012

In 2011, "smart" TVs were 6,6 times ahead of regular TVs in terms of sales growth in Russia. By the end of 2014, J'son & Partners Consulting predicts an increase in their sales by 300% to 2 million units. According to estimates by J'son & Partners Consulting, in 2011 about 0,5 million TVs with Smart TV functions were sold in Russia in the amount of about 21 billion rubles. The growth rate of their sales in monetary terms was 6,6 times higher than that of the traditional TV market. By the end of 2014, analysts predict sales growth of these devices in Russia to 2 million units.

According to J'son & Partners Consulting, Smart TV accounted for about 10% of all TV sales over the specified period. Analysts note that this almost corresponds to a similar global market structure: according to estimates from the Taiwan Research Institute, global shipments of TVs in 2011 amounted to about 250 million units, and Smart TV - 25 million units.

The leader of the Russian Smart TV market, according to J'son & Partners Consulting, is Samsung - about 40% in terms of revenue. In addition to it, the top three also includes Panasonic and LG. The Russian representative office of Samsung told CNews that in 2011 the share of Smart TV in the total sales structure of the company's TV sets in Russia exceeded 25% and further growth of this market is expected. According to analysts, according to the results of the first half of 2012, prices for Smart TV became equal between different manufacturers and ranged from 30 to 38 thousand rubles.

According to a survey of Smart TV users conducted by J'son & Partners Consulting among residents of Moscow and the Moscow Region, video applications are the most popular feature in such devices: 74% of respondents use them regularly. Of the video hosting sites, the most popular application is YouTube, among Internet cinemas - ivi.ru, and among TV channel applications - NTV-Plus.

Smart TV users are least interested in various thematic applications: they are regularly used by only about 21% of Smart TV owners. Most of these applications are optional and are installed on the TV from the application store. Approximately 10% of users do not use Smart TV functions at all, J'son & Partners Consulting notes. As the same survey showed, the majority of Smart TV owners bought their device in 2012 - 58%. Last year, Smart TV was purchased by only 20% of respondents. Only 5% of respondents have two-year-old television sets.

As a reason for buying Smart TV, the majority of respondents - 44% - name the superiority in functionality over conventional TVs. Also a popular answer is the desire to try the Internet access function. About 85% of respondents who want to buy a TV in the next year plan to buy Smart TV, J'son & Partners Consulting says.

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