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<p> | <p> | ||
For a detailed look on our consumptions and calculations check out our <a href="T--TU_Dresden--GG_CalculationTU.xlsx">Excel</a> file. | For a detailed look on our consumptions and calculations check out our <a href="T--TU_Dresden--GG_CalculationTU.xlsx">Excel</a> file. | ||
+ | </div> | ||
<div class="contentbox"> | <div class="contentbox"> | ||
<h1 class="box-heading"> Integration</h1> | <h1 class="box-heading"> Integration</h1> | ||
− | < | + | <h2>What have we done to integrate the gained knowledge and to reduce GHG emissions?</h2> |
<p>With the help of the GHG emission monitoring we wanted to detect the biggest influencing factors and draw conclusions for reducing our carbon footprint. This allowed us to integrate the gained knowledge into our project and change our behavior concerning lab work:</p> | <p>With the help of the GHG emission monitoring we wanted to detect the biggest influencing factors and draw conclusions for reducing our carbon footprint. This allowed us to integrate the gained knowledge into our project and change our behavior concerning lab work:</p> | ||
− | < | + | <h3>Avoiding power consumption of devices in the standby mode</h3> |
<p>We found out that some of our lab devices, e.g. scales and photometers, always consume power although they seemed to be turned off. This is because of the standby mode. Some devices have an additional switch to disconnect from the mains. For those that cannot be turned off completely we decided to pull the plug if the device is not in use for longer periods of time. Therefore, we can save energy without effort. </p> | <p>We found out that some of our lab devices, e.g. scales and photometers, always consume power although they seemed to be turned off. This is because of the standby mode. Some devices have an additional switch to disconnect from the mains. For those that cannot be turned off completely we decided to pull the plug if the device is not in use for longer periods of time. Therefore, we can save energy without effort. </p> | ||
− | < | + | <h3>Reconsidering working routines</h3> |
<p>By sharing devices and thoroughly planning of experiments no-load running can be avoided and thus power consumption can be reduced. Sometimes it is reasonable to (literally) go the extra mile and incubate your plates in the 37°C room (if there is one at your institute) instead of turning on the incubator in your lab for incubating one petri dish. We tried to share as many devices as possible like our ultra-low temperature freezer, our ice-machine, autoclaves, thermocycler, plate reader etc with other working groups at our institute. Furthermore, we collected media and materials of the whole team for autoclaving or tried to autoclave our stuff together with materials that were needed for practical courses anyways. Reconsidering working routines means also to differentiate between reasonable actions and convenience. Is it necessary that computers or incubaters run all time? </p> | <p>By sharing devices and thoroughly planning of experiments no-load running can be avoided and thus power consumption can be reduced. Sometimes it is reasonable to (literally) go the extra mile and incubate your plates in the 37°C room (if there is one at your institute) instead of turning on the incubator in your lab for incubating one petri dish. We tried to share as many devices as possible like our ultra-low temperature freezer, our ice-machine, autoclaves, thermocycler, plate reader etc with other working groups at our institute. Furthermore, we collected media and materials of the whole team for autoclaving or tried to autoclave our stuff together with materials that were needed for practical courses anyways. Reconsidering working routines means also to differentiate between reasonable actions and convenience. Is it necessary that computers or incubaters run all time? </p> | ||
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</h4>Ultra-low-temperature freezer</h4> | </h4>Ultra-low-temperature freezer</h4> | ||
<p>The power consumption of just one ULT freezer is equal to 2 - 3 average german households. <a target="_blank" href="http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/average-household-electricity-consumption">[1]</a>. That is why we have set our minds to rising the temperature of our ultra low temperature freezer from -80°C to -70°C which safes up to 40 % of its total energy consumption.<a target="_blank" href="http://www.freezerchallenge.org/temperature-tuning.html">[2]</a>. It was not hard to convince our head of institute of this action as he has an interest in prolonging the longevity of his device and raising the temperature reduces the burden on the compressor, making a failure of the system less likely. There is a lot of prove as well, that the sample quality is not influenced by storage at -70°C (have a look at this list of <a target="_blank" href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13UvBeoXAhwSHshSYoUDHwcxWiW7qYLnUb-eLwxJbCYs/edit#gid=0">successfully preserved samples</a> ) </p> | <p>The power consumption of just one ULT freezer is equal to 2 - 3 average german households. <a target="_blank" href="http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/average-household-electricity-consumption">[1]</a>. That is why we have set our minds to rising the temperature of our ultra low temperature freezer from -80°C to -70°C which safes up to 40 % of its total energy consumption.<a target="_blank" href="http://www.freezerchallenge.org/temperature-tuning.html">[2]</a>. It was not hard to convince our head of institute of this action as he has an interest in prolonging the longevity of his device and raising the temperature reduces the burden on the compressor, making a failure of the system less likely. There is a lot of prove as well, that the sample quality is not influenced by storage at -70°C (have a look at this list of <a target="_blank" href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13UvBeoXAhwSHshSYoUDHwcxWiW7qYLnUb-eLwxJbCYs/edit#gid=0">successfully preserved samples</a> ) </p> | ||
+ | |||
<p>Surprisingly the setting to -80°C is only a result of marketing strategies and not of necessity. When we communicated our findings to other work groups they were surprised and open minded, so that now at least four freezers are set to -70°C with hopefully more to follow.</p> | <p>Surprisingly the setting to -80°C is only a result of marketing strategies and not of necessity. When we communicated our findings to other work groups they were surprised and open minded, so that now at least four freezers are set to -70°C with hopefully more to follow.</p> | ||
<h4>Autoclave</h4> | <h4>Autoclave</h4> | ||
− | When we were looking into our working routines, we noticed that our default setting for the autoclave was at 134°C. As it is one of the devices with a high power consumption we tried to find ways of reducing its run time and a quick googles search revealed that a setting of 121°C is more than sufficient when working with S1 organisms. Higher temperatures are only necessary for persistent pathogens like prions. Naturally we adapted the settings to minimize the autoclaves power consumption.</p> | + | <p>When we were looking into our working routines, we noticed that our default setting for the autoclave was at 134°C. As it is one of the devices with a high power consumption we tried to find ways of reducing its run time and a quick googles search revealed that a setting of 121°C is more than sufficient when working with S1 organisms. Higher temperatures are only necessary for persistent pathogens like prions. Naturally we adapted the settings to minimize the autoclaves power consumption.</p> |
<p class="reference">Further achievements are listed on our <a href="https://2017.igem.org/Team:TU_Dresden/iGEM-goes-green/Experience" style="color: green">experience page</a> of iGEM goes green. </p> | <p class="reference">Further achievements are listed on our <a href="https://2017.igem.org/Team:TU_Dresden/iGEM-goes-green/Experience" style="color: green">experience page</a> of iGEM goes green. </p> |
Revision as of 17:41, 29 October 2017