After installing a 200 KW Fuel Cell for its data center and debuting the world’s most energy efficient server, Fujitsu is back again with their first green laptop.
Their new laptop dubbed the LifeBook T2010 comes with a biodegradable chassis made out of plastic derived from cornstarch. Unlike conventional plastic which is made from non-renewable materials such as coal and natural gas, this green plastic has been made from plant-based material such as starch. This plastic variant has been available for many years but suffered two main problems that needed some research – The plastic made from starch was expensive and was soluble in water, making items made from this plastic swell and deform on contact with moisture.
Researchers have been able to better the plastic by modifying the starch into a different polymer. When the starch is harvested from corn or potatoes, a micro-organism transforms it into lactic acid, which is then chemically treated to link up into long chains or polymers, forming a plastic called polylactide (PLA).
PLA though expensive is a much greener product than conventional plastic. While petroleum made plastic takes decades to decompose in a landfill, this starch made plastic decomposes in mere months.
Via: Tech World
