Synergy of green energy technologies through critical materials circularity

Abstract Synergies between technology flows is essential to balance the consumption of their related critical materials and promote a sustainable green economy transition. Using dynamics modelling, a comprehensive analysis of silicon flows applied in green energy technologies such as photovoltaic…

Livestock manure is transformed into a bioresource enriched with carbon in just one day

Dr. Yoo Ji-ho and his research team from the Clean Air Research Laboratory of the Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER) have developed a process that immediately converts livestock manure into biochar at livestock farms. Using the process developed by the research team, it is possible to convert 10 tons of livestock manure into biochar in a single day.

What drives a warming tundra to release carbon into the atmosphere?

Increased warming in tundra ecosystems is resulting the release of carbon into the atmosphere through ecosystem respiration, contributing additionally to climate change. A recent meta-analysis published Nature revealed factors that contribute to ecosystem respiration, including soil nitrogen concentration, pH and ratio of carbon to nitrogen.

Research Finds Water Quality in Gulf of Mexico Improves When Adding Social Costs to Carbon Emissions

Research led by the University of New Hampshire took a closer look at what would happen to agriculture if there was an extra cost, or so-called social cost, added to fossil fuels, which are essential for making fertilizer used in farming.

Record $80 million grant to fund pilot program encouraging the implementation of climate-smart practices on farms

With the Alliance to Advance Climate-Smart Agriculture, which is now underway, Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences will distribute more than $57 million of the largest grant in the university’s history to producers to enact climate-friendly practices and serve as a pilot program for a national model.

Novel bacterial proteins from seafloor shine light on climate and astrobiology

In a groundbreaking study, a team of Georgia Tech researchers has unveiled a remarkable discovery: the identification of novel bacterial proteins that play a vital role in the formation and stability of methane clathrates, which trap gigatons of greenhouse gas beneath the seafloor. These newfound proteins not only suppress methane clathrate growth as effectively as toxic chemicals used in drilling but also prove to be eco-friendly and scalable. This innovative breakthrough not only promises to enhance environmental safety in natural gas transportation but also sheds light on the potential for similar biomolecules to support life beyond Earth.

Affordable and available technologies can curb rising nitrous oxide emissions

Researchers from IIASA and the University of Maryland have found that nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas and stratospheric ozone-depleting substance, could be readily abated with existing technology applied to industrial sources.

Human-caused climate change to blame for increase in California’s wildfires

In the quarter century between 1996 and 2020, wildfires in California consumed five times more area than they did from 1971 to 1995. Researchers at the University of California and other international institutions have concluded that nearly all of the increase in scorched terrain can be blamed on human-caused climate change.

Chula’s Pledge to Be Net Zero – Chula Unveiled 5 Key Strategies to Become the “University with Net Zero Carbon Emissions” by 2050

Chula President pledged to move ahead with greenhouse gas reduction on the Chulalongkorn University campus targeting Net Zero Greenhouse Gas Emission by 2050 and unveiled 5 pilot strategies for minimizing carbon dioxide emissions and also achieving campus sustainability.

GW Experts: EPA Announces its Proposal Limiting Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Power Plants

WASHINGTON (May 11, 2023) –  The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing today new limits on greenhouse gas emissions from coal- and gas-fired power plants. According to the Associated Press, it’s the most ambitious effort yet to roll back planet-warming pollution.   GW faculty…

‘Green’ energy patents more focused on ‘clean’ conventional energy instead of renewables

A new study by world leaders in patent data has revealed some unusual trends in energy tech R&D, questioning whether companies are more committed to extracting fossil fuels or in pursuing genuinely ‘green’, renewable energy technologies.

Johns Hopkins APL Releases First-Ever Global Estimates for Road Transportation Greenhouse Emissions Leveraging Artificial Intelligence and Satellite Images

APL scientists have leveraged the global coverage of satellite imagery and the strengths of machine learning to create the first automated approach for estimating greenhouse gas emissions from the road transportation sector.

What will it cost to cut the carbon footprint of cars sold in the U.S?

Argonne worked with automakers and energy companies to conduct a cradle-to-grave analysis of light-duty vehicles, which estimated the current and potential future costs and greenhouse gas emissions for vehicles over the entire course of their life cycle.

Physicians call on health care organizations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

In a new commentary published in Annals of Internal Medicine, authors from Lahey Hospital and Medical Center, Beth Israel Lahey Health, Tufts University of School of Medicine and Case Western Reserve University offer strategies for healthcare organizations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and outline potential strategy tradeoffs to consider toward this goal. They say health care has a moral imperative to reduce its emissions and environmental footprint and force transformation across all other sectors it touches.

How do we remove greenhouse gases from the air?

Mechanical engineer Jennifer Wade is leading two federally funded projects that are addressing the critical question of how to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, thus slowing the devastating effects of global climate change. It’s part of a national effort called the Carbon Negative Earthshot: Being able to remove carbon at $100 a ton at a scale of a million tons per year. That’s a difficult task, Wade says, but it’s not an insurmountable one.

As temperatures rise, tropical glaciers feel same impact as poles

For the first time, scientists have shown that glaciers in the tropical Andes mountains have been in sync with polar ice extent in Antarctica and the Arctic for nearly a million years. A study, published July 13 in Nature, is the first to show that the effects of greenhouse gases and other drivers of the Earth’s temperature are impacting glaciers in the Southern Hemisphere at the same pacing as ice sheets in the north.

Scientists find greenhouse gas warming likely cause of industrial-era sea level rise

An international team of scientists has developed an accurate record of preindustrial sea level utilizing precisely dated phreatic overgrowths on speleothems that provide a detailed history of Late Holocene sea-level change in Mallorca, Spain, an island in the western Mediterranean Sea. The results provide an unprecedented picture of sea level over the past 4,000 years, putting the preindustrial and modern global mean sea level (GMSL) histories in context.

Climate Change Threatens Base of Polar Oceans’ Bountiful Food Webs

A study recently published in Nature Communications suggests that displacing cold-water communities of algae with warm-adapted ones threatens to destabilize the delicate marine food web. The team was led by University of East Anglia researchers and included DOE Joint Genome Institute researchers.

Chula Successfully Converts Carbon Dioxide to Methanol – Reduces Global Warming, and Adds Value to the Circular Economy

An Engineering professor, Chulalongkorn University has successfully converted carbon dioxide to methanol via a thermochemical method that consumes less energy and provides more yield, providing an alternative solution to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and stimulate the circular economy.

Rutgers Experts Available to Discuss Addressing Climate Change, Environmental Protection in 2021

New Brunswick, N.J. (Jan. 12, 2021) – Rutgers University–New Brunswick professors Robert E. Kopp and Pamela McElwee are available for interviews on how President-elect Joe Biden and his incoming administration could strengthen efforts to address climate change and protect the environment. Kopp, a professor in…

UNH Receives NSF Grant to Research Carbon Interactions in Thawing Arctic

The University of New Hampshire will lead research as part of a $1.5 million award from the National Science Foundation to better understand how interactions between plants, microbes and soil minerals in permafrost, a subsurface layer of frozen soil covering a fourth of the Northern Hemisphere, stimulate the release of carbon which adds to the warming Arctic.

How to Get a Handle on Carbon Dioxide Uptake by Plants

How much carbon dioxide, a pivotal greenhouse gas behind global warming, is absorbed by plants on land? It’s a deceptively complicated question, so a Rutgers-led group of scientists recommends combining two cutting-edge tools to help answer the crucial climate change-related question.

Land Development in New Jersey Continues to Slow

Land development in New Jersey has slowed dramatically since the 2008 Great Recession, but it’s unclear how the COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to fight societal and housing inequality will affect future trends, according to a Rutgers co-authored report. Between 2012 and 2015, 10,392 acres in the Garden State became urban land. That’s 3,464 acres a year – far lower than the 16,852 acres per year in the late 1990s and continuing the trend of decreasing urban development that began in the 2008 Great Recession.

Fossil Fuel-Free Jet Propulsion with Air Plasmas

Humans depend on fossil fuels as their primary energy source, especially in transportation. However, fossil fuels are both unsustainable and unsafe, serving as the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. Researchers in China have demonstrated a prototype device that uses microwave air plasmas for jet propulsion, generating the high-temperature, high-pressure plasma in situ using only injected air and electricity. They describe the engine in AIP Advances.