Building materials are major contributors to global carbon dioxide emissions. So scientists have designed a composite decking material that stores more carbon dioxide than is required to manufacture it, providing the first “carbon-negative” option. They will present their results at ACS Spring 2024.
Tag: Carbon Emissions
RPI Researchers Awarded $1.5M To Produce Hemp-Based Insulated Siding
Researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) will use hemp to develop a commercially viable, durable, and low-embodied-carbon insulated siding product to address what the U.S. Green Building Council says is a “crucial need for building retrofits to improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions.”
INFUSE workshop gives private and public fusion partners a chance to network and share experiences
More than 120 people gathered for the 2024 Innovation Network for Fusion Energy (INFUSE) Workshop at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory from Feb. 27-28. The event, which was sponsored by the DOE’s Office of Fusion Energy Sciences (FES), is a part of the INFUSE awards program that funds laboratories or universities so they can partner with private sector companies working on the science and technology solutions that will bring fusion energy to the power grid. To date, DOE has granted 90 awards, with most ranging from $100,000 to $350,000 for a 12-month project.
61% of the world’s lost forests can be restored to significantly reduce greenhouse emissions
An international collaboration of scientists with the participation of a RUDN ecologist has for the first time assessed the natural potential of the world’s forests to retain carbon. The results can be called hopeful – those regions where forests can still be restored have great potential and will help reduce the amount of greenhouse gases.
Barriers against Antarctic ice melt disappearing at the double
Undersea anchors of ice that help prevent Antarctica’s land ice from slipping into the ocean are shrinking at more than twice the rate compared with 50 years ago, research shows.
ORNL study projects geothermal heat pumps’ impact on carbon emissions and electrical grid by 2050
A modeling analysis led by the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory gives the first detailed look at how geothermal energy can relieve the electric power system and reduce carbon emissions if widely implemented across the United States within the next few decades.
Japan’s electric vehicle transition by 2035 may be insufficient to combat the climate crisis, but there are solutions
Researchers at Kyushu University have found that Japan’s current policy of stopping the sale of gas vehicles by 2035 and transitioning only to hybrids and electric vehicles may be insufficient to reduce the country’s CO2 emissions and prevent it from reaching its decarbonization target goals.
Bitcoin mining has “very worrying” impacts on land and water, not only carbon, UN-led study reveals
As bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have grown in market share, they’ve been criticized for their heavy carbon footprint: Cryptocurrency mining is an energy-intensive endeavor.
The potential of solar cars in the world
A new study, modeling the potential of solar-powered vehicles in the urban context in 100 cities across the world, shows that solar energy provides a range between 11 and 29 km per day, reducing charging needs by half.
Cornell University to lead carbon-cutting effort in aluminum recycling
A new Cornell University-led project aims to use carbon dioxide emissions and residue from aluminum recycling – a carbon-heavy process – to produce high value products.
What is the carbon footprint of a hospital bed?
Researchers from the University of Waterloo completed the first-ever assessment of a Canadian hospital to reveal its total environmental footprint and specific carbon emission hotspots.
Pacific coral reef shows historic increase in climate resistance
Coral reefs in one part of the Pacific Ocean have likely adjusted to higher ocean temperatures which could reduce future bleaching impacts of climate change, new research reveals.
US can cut building emissions by up to 91%, saving $100 billion per year in energy-related costs, modeling study shows
The US has committed to reaching net-zero emissions by 2050. To accomplish this goal, large cuts in emissions are necessary, especially in high-emission sectors like the building industry.
Offsetting or reducing CO2: This is what consumers want
Whether it’s recycled aluminum at Apple’s MacBook Air or compensation payments from Microsoft for emissions over the life of an Xbox, climate-friendly products are becoming more and more popular.
Climate scientist finds new way to measure the Earth’s ability to offset carbon emissions
A Chapman University scientist and his colleagues have determined how the Earth responds as it heats up due to climate change.
Clean, sustainable fuels made ‘from thin air’ and plastic waste
Researchers have demonstrated how carbon dioxide can be captured from industrial processes – or even directly from the air – and transformed into clean, sustainable fuels using just the energy from the Sun.
How will a warming world impact the Earth’s ability to offset our carbon emissions?
As the world heats up due to climate change, how much can we continue to depend on plants and soils to help alleviate some of our self-inflicted damage by removing carbon pollution from the atmosphere?
Novel tin-based metal–organic frameworks for reducing carbon dioxide to formate
The never-ending demand for carbon-rich fuels to drive the economy keeps adding more and more carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere.
Twilight zone at risk from climate change
Life in the ocean’s “twilight zone” could decline dramatically due to climate change, new research suggests.
Single-use surgical items contribute two-thirds of carbon footprint of products used in common operations
A new analysis of the carbon footprint of products used in the five most common surgical operations carried out in the NHS in England shows that 68% of carbon contributions come from single-use items, such as single-use gowns, patient drapes and instrument table drapes.
At the end of the dry season: CO2 pulses over Australia
End-of-dry-season CO2 pulses recur each year in the atmosphere above the Australian continent, a discovery made by an international research team led by environmental physicist Prof. Dr André Butz of Heidelberg University.
Path to net-zero carbon capture and storage may lead to ocean
Lehigh Engineering researcher Arup SenGupta has developed a novel way to capture carbon dioxide from the air and store it in the “infinite sink” of the ocean.
“Critical tool” launched to track national contributions to climate change
Research published today shows how countries have contributed to global warming through their emissions of key greenhouse gases since 1850 – marking a new effort to track impacts in a critical decade for climate policy.
Could Changes in Fed’s Interest Rates Affect Pollution and the Environment?
Can monetary policy such as the United States Federal Reserve raising interest rates affect the environment? According to a new study, it can. Results suggest that the impact of monetary policy on pollution is basically domestic: a monetary contraction or reduction in a region reduces its own emissions, but this does not seem to spread out to other economies. However, the findings do not imply that the international economy is irrelevant to determining one region’s emissions level.
Global warming undermines greenhouse gas sink function of pristine wetlands
Wetlands occupy about 6% of the Earth’s surface but store one-third of global soil organic carbon. Increasing evidence shows that climate warming is altering the function and service of wetland ecosystems.
A vicious circle: Climate change affects greenhouse gas emissions from stream networks
Natural greenhouse gas emissions from streams and lakes are strongly linked to water discharge and temperature according to a new study led by Linköping University, Sweden.
Partnership seeks greener mining of critical minerals
Greeshma Gadikota, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at Cornell University, will partner with Stillwater Critical Minerals to develop environmentally rigorous techniques to help the company extract elements.
Pioneering study shows flood risks can still be considerably reduced if all global promises to cut carbon emissions are kept
Annual damage caused by flooding in the UK could increase by more than a fifth over the next century due to climate change unless all international pledges to reduce carbon emissions are met, according to new research.
Economic crises can accelerate decarbonization
Crises can accelerate structural change and spur an absolute decoupling of CO2 emissions from economic growth.
Biogas produced with waste from apple juice making can minimize use of fossil fuels in industry
Scientists at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) and the Federal University of the ABC (UFABC) in São Paulo state, Brazil, have successfully produced biogas from apple pomace, the pulpy residue remaining after the fruit has been crushed to extract its juice.
Human activity has degraded more than a third of the remaining Amazon rainforest, scientists find
The Amazon rainforest has been degraded by a much greater extent than scientists previously believed with more than a third of remaining forest affected by humans, according to a new study published on January 27 in the journal Science.
Leveraging machine learning to help predict ship exhaust gas emissions
Ships are a major means of commercial transport, contributing to 80% of global goods and energy trade. However, they emit exhaust gases—from the engines when they are sailing, and from the engines and boiler when they dock in ports.
Scientists find iron cycling key to permafrost greenhouse gas emissions
The interaction of elemental iron with the vast stores of carbon locked away in Arctic soils is key to how greenhouse gases are emitted during thawing and should be included in models used to predict Earth’s climate, Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists found.
Media Tip: Scientists enhance recyclability of post-consumer plastic
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Institute for Cooperative Upcycling of Plastics (iCOUP) have developed a new method for recycling high-density polyethylene (HDPE).
An integrated, net-negative system captures carbon and produces ethylene
Engineers have built a machine that captures carbon from flue gas and converts it to ethylene. The device integrates a carbon capture system with an ethylene conversation system for the first time.
Post-lockdown auto emissions can’t hide in the grass
University of California scientists have a new way to demonstrate which neighborhoods returned to pre-pandemic levels of air pollution after COVID restrictions ended.
Reliable planning tool for the emissions path to achieving the Paris temperature goal
The central aim of the Paris climate agreement is clear: Limiting man-made global warming to well below 2°C. This limit requires a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to net zero.
Earth’s many new lakes
The number of lakes on our planet has increased substantially in recent decades, according to a unique global survey of 3.4 million lakes that the University of Copenhagen has taken part in.
Ceramics that breathe oxygen at lower temperatures help us breathe cleaner air
Although much of the discourse on reducing vehicle emissions centres on electric vehicles (EV), their sales remain low – with EV vehicles accounting for a mere 1% of car purchases in Japan in 2021.
New Report: Countries’ Climate Pledges Put Unrealistic Demands for Land Ahead of Emissions Reductions
A new study is the first to calculate that countries collectively need a total of 1.2 billion hectares of land to fulfill the promises laid out in their official climate plans, part of global efforts to meet Paris Agreement goals.
A New Tandem Catalyst Converts Carbon Dioxide into Valuable Multicarbon Products More Selectively
Electrochemical reduction can convert carbon dioxide into multicarbon products for use as a raw material in chemicals and fuels. In this research, scientists improved this conversion process by using a tandem catalyst electrode. The electrode includes a silver or iron-nitrogen-carbon-based catalyst to convert carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide and incorporates a second segment that contains a copper catalyst to convert carbon monoxide into multicarbon products. Relative to prior methods, the developed approach more selectively converts carbon dioxide into desired compounds.
Climate change is turning the trees into gluttons
Trees have long been known to buffer humans from the worst effects of climate change by pulling carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Now new research shows just how much forests have been bulking up on that excess carbon.
Tropical soils highly sensitive to global warming, warn researchers
Global warming is likely to cause a decline in the number of species of microbes that live in tropical soils which could threaten the biodiversity of rainforests and increase carbon emissions, according to new research.
Climate extremes: The energy required for adaptation calls for stronger mitigation efforts
A new study published today in Nature Communications by researchers from the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, the European Institute on Economics and the Environment and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine finds that adapting to climate change will require more energy than previously estimated, leading to higher energy investments and costs.
China’s cities leading the way on carbon reduction – Study
Thirty-eight Chinese cities have reduced their emissions of planet-warming carbon dioxide (CO2) despite growing economies and populations for at least five years – defined as proactively peaked cities, a new study reveals.
Unchecked emissions could double heat-related child mortality
If carbon emissions are limited to slow temperature rise, up to an estimated 6,000 child deaths could be prevented in Africa each year, according to new research. A team of international scientists, led by the University of Leeds in collaboration with researchers at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), have shown that thousands of heat-related child deaths could be prevented if temperature increases are limited to the Paris Agreement’s 1.5ºC target through to 2050.
UAlbany Expert in Climate Change, Environmental Law Offers Insight on Supreme Court EPA Ruling
Albany, N.Y. (July 1, 2022) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday limited the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s authority to set climate standards for power plants. The court’s 6-3 ruling – which addressed an Obama-era regulation aimed at coal-fired power…
Including all types of emissions shortens timeline to reach Paris Agreement temperature targets
Instead of focusing on carbon dioxide’s effect on future temperature, new research includes the related human-generated emissions of methane, nitrogen oxide and particle pollution. Expanding the scope increases the amount of future warming that is already guaranteed by past emissions, and shortens the timeline to reach the Paris Agreement temperature targets.
Lights, catalyst, reaction! Converting CO2 to formic acid using an alumina-supported, iron-based compound
Photoreduction of CO2 into transportable fuel like formic acid (HCOOH) is a great way of dealing with CO2’s rising levels in the atmosphere.
Passive solar could furnish a third of home heating needs
Passive solar heating systems collect natural light via skylights or windows and use it to directly heat spaces, without converting it to electricity. Based on a detailed analysis of heating needs and solar energy availability around the United States, such installations could supply a third of residential space heating needs nationwide, researchers found. The findings, which appear in the November issue of Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, are the first detailed survey of direct solar heating resources in the U.S.