Tuesday, September 30, 2008
2008 R&D 100 Winner
Global warming is widely recognized as an important technical, scientific, and geopolitical challenge. Successfully halting global warming will require limiting greenhouse gases, particularly CO2, and successful regulation of CO2 emissions will require extensive testing and verification technology. To that end, Eric Crosson at Picarro, Inc., Sunnyvale, Calif., has developed the Picarro G1101-i Isotopic CO2 Analyzer, a portable cavity ring-down spectrometer that provides simple and rapid access to accurate 13C/12C ratios from air samples for greenhouse monitoring applications. The G1101-i is based in cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS), a quantitative technique that measures trace gas concentrations with high accuracy and sensitivity without the need for frequent re-calibration. It is a portable, rugged instrument that can measure the amount of CO2 and identify its source in seconds, at any remote location, and without the presence of a technician, with an accuracy of 0.03% or better, a level of accuracy that easily exceeds the needs of all targeted greenhouse gas applications.
Technology
Portable cavity ring-down spectrometer
Developer
Picarro, Inc.
