Tag Archives: UPMC

Science & Technology

Why red algae never colonized dry land

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The first red alga genome has just been sequenced by an international team coordinated by CNRS and UPMC at the Station Biologique de Roscoff (Brittany), notably involving researchers from CEA-Genoscope, the universities of Lille 1 and Rennes 1 and the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle. The genome of Chondrus crispus, also known by the Breton name ‘pioka’, turns out to be small and compact for a multicellular organism. It has fewer genes than several other species of unicellular algae, which raises a number of questions about the evolution of red algae. This low number of genes could explain why these organisms never colonized dry land, unlike their green counterparts-from which all terrestrial plants are descended. These findings open up new perspectives on the natural history of algae and of terrestrial plants. They are published online in the journal PNAS on March 11, 2013. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Phys.org

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

EQT Expands Downtown Natural Gas Fueling Station

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By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool

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EQT Expands Downtown Natural Gas Fueling Station

Additional Pumps Needed to Accommodate Demand

PITTSBURGH–(BUSINESS WIRE)– EQT Corporation (EQT) today announced that it will expand its public access compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling station on Smallman Street with the addition of another fueling island. Construction is currently underway.

EQT opened the CNG station in July of 2011, one of the first within Pittsburgh city limits and accessible by both commercial and privately owned natural gas vehicles (NGVs). Due to the high volume of vehicles utilizing the fueling station, EQT is adding two additional fuel dispensers. The station will have the ability to fuel a total of eight vehicles simultaneously to service the growing number of fleets and consumers who are converting to NGVs as a way to save money and use a clean fuel source from the Pennsylvania region.

“EQT‘s fueling station has experienced consistently increasing customer interest and sales since its inception,” said David Ross, EQT Vice President of Demand Development. “We knew we’d be expanding at some point, but we were ahead of schedule at just 18 months of operation.”

According to last year’s sales volumes, January 2012 saw close to 200 transactions, with the sale of about 2,000 gallons of compressed natural gas. In December 2012, the station had more than 1,000 transactions with nearly 15,000 gallons sold.

EQT is on target to have roughly 200 vehicles, or 14% of its light-duty fleet, converted to bi-fuel by the end of the year, making them capable of running on CNG. When the station first opened, EQT vehicles were responsible for a large percentage of the station’s volume. Today, other major businesses in the area have made the transition to natural gas, such as the City of Pittsburgh, UPMC, Paragon Foods and Veterans’ Taxi – four of the fueling station’s customers that make up about 45% of the sales volume.

“Using CNG is a big savings for us and for the veterans who buy the fuel for their taxis,” said Robert DeLucia, CEO of Veterans’ Taxi. “It helps us compete with a better rate (for passengers) than drivers at other transportation companies. We fuel up twice a day and our guys need to get in and get out as quickly as possible, so the more pumping stations the Smallman station has, the better it will be.”

Paragon Foods currently uses a tractor trailer that runs on CNG …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance