April 30, 2020
A plan to recycle wastewater and make it drinkable could see the delivery of water to city dwellers become much more efficient. Using Houston as a model, researchers at Rice University's Brown School of Engineering have come up with an idea that could reduce the need for surface water (from rivers, reservoirs or wells) by 28%, through recycling wastewater to make it drinkable once again. While the cost
...April 30, 2020
A study commissioned by the Australian Infrastructure Sustainability Council (ISCA) reveals that infrastructure will play a key role in Australia’s economic recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic, with sustainable infrastructure having the potential to deliver significant benefits. The IS Rating Scheme Return on Investment Study found that infrastructure projects rated under the IS
...April 30, 2020
Agtech startup Pivot Bio snags $100 million amid busy April for climate tech Heather Clancy Thu, 04/30/2020 - 04:31 Even in the old normal, the healthy $100 million investment disclosed this morning by agtech startup Pivot Bio — which hopes to disrupt the $65 billion global market for synthetic nitrogen fertilizer — would be impressive. Given the current economic climate,
...April 30, 2020
It would be devastating if the COVID-19 crisis killed off climate tech startups. We only have a few months to get it right.
April 30, 2020
Here's why a key Sustainable Development Goal is back in style, and why it may be the SDG "for our times."
April 30, 2020
Here's what will help beyond immediate disaster response.
April 29, 2020
With political short-termism aplenty, Canada’s climate leaders are private companies.
April 29, 2020
Buckle up: this year will be rough, but this road trip still looks promising.
April 29, 2020
Because everyone can use some extra help and additional perspective right now.
April 29, 2020
Within the last two years, financial institutions representing $17.2 trillion have committed to align their portfolio emissions with the goals of the Paris Agreement. But there's still more to be done.
April 28, 2020
To repair our economy and ensure its resilience, we can — and we must — solve for public and planetary health at the same time.
April 28, 2020
It's no coincidence that new diseases have risen as more ecosystems have vanished.
April 28, 2020
Coronavirus has caused unemployment to skyrocket. Tree restoration could be a cost-effective way to put Americans back to work.
April 27, 2020
A research team from the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) Water Cycle Research Center has developed a high-efficiency, adsorbent material using PET waste bottles. The new material is expected to help solve the problem of environmental toxins and antibiotic-resistant bacteria caused by leaks of antibiotics into water. Due to high rates of antibiotic use, South Korea is categorised as a
...April 27, 2020
Several frameworks are emerging that sets performance thresholds identifying economic activities that align with the Paris Agreement emissions reduction targets.
April 27, 2020
From Google to North Face, companies used Earth Day to share big plans. Here are the ones that stood out.
April 24, 2020
The company's new carbon-intelligent software can switch loads between its data centers depending on the availability of clean power.
April 24, 2020
Redundant, distributed, resilient, smaller scale and locally powered, yet connected to the larger world in ways that benefit it when safe.
April 23, 2020
Daniel Lee, executive director of the Levi Strauss Foundation, joined veteran journalist Marc Gunther for a conversation about how the foundation has worked on social justice issues for well over a century. In those years, the foundation has largely focused its philanthropic efforts on protecting the marginalized.
April 23, 2020
Outdoor clothing brand Timberland marked Earth Day by debuting a video with an emotional open letter to nature called “Caring is no longer enough”. Narrated by a child, the letter reflects on the impact of the current pandemic: “Dear Nature, we miss you. Probably more than you miss us. Take this time to breathe, to bloom, to conquer your space. And when we’re back, we promise
...April 23, 2020
A new device could open more areas to wind production by using stationary airfoils instead of twirling turbines
April 23, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic response shows our potential to pull together.
April 22, 2020
On the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, Thomson Reuters, which owns Reuter Events, announced that it will work to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 or sooner. The new targets align to worldwide efforts to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, the most ambitious aim of the Science Based Targets initiative.Image: Channels: Communications &
...April 22, 2020
The stunning array of technologies emerging to decarbonize the world and make it more habitable for flora, fauna and humans goes far beyond cleantech 2.0.
April 22, 2020
This is climate tech Heather Clancy Wed, 04/22/2020 - 01:50 Since mid-March, as the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic infected certain sectors of the U.S. economy, more than 200 U.S. startups have cut thousands of jobs. While they’re not immune to the forthcoming fiscal challenges, entrepreneurs developing solutions for addressing climate change — from
...April 21, 2020
But this may be the last stretch of typical clean energy procurement activity in a while.
April 21, 2020
The recent report, The Outlook for Biogas and Biomethane1, from the International Energy Agency (IEA), provides a welcome assessment of the huge global potential of biogas from anaerobic digestion to contribute to a clean and low-carbon global energy system. However, it makes only passing reference to the importance of digestate in meeting these targets, something which depends on the conversion of a
...April 21, 2020
Leaders from Amazon, Danone, Salesforce, Mars, General Mills and others share how plans have changed and where they’re holding firm.
April 21, 2020
UBS analysis suggests the pandemic is set to curb air travel growth 10 percent over the next decade as high-speed rail flourishes.
April 21, 2020
We need to develop neighborhoods that ensure access to food, healthcare, education and jobs — without relying on personal vehicles.
April 20, 2020
Society is facing at least six challenges related to COVID-19. Our families and communities need to Keep Calm, Keep Working, Keep Going, Stay Solvent, Stay Supplied, and Stay Safe. Companies can help address each of these challenges
April 20, 2020
Australian researchers have revealed that 2 m2 of solar window will generate the same amount of power as a standard rooftop solar panel. Semitransparent solar cells incorporated into window glass have been tipped by Australian scientists as a game changer that could transform architecture, urban planning and electricity generation, as outlined in a paper published in Nano Energy. Led by Professor
...April 20, 2020
Addressing biodiversity, like so many other things, seems to have been shunted aside by the coronavirus outbreak. It would make much more sense to keep it front and center.
April 20, 2020
Let this be the beginning, not the peak, of a corporate transformation journey, so that once society is beyond the immediate threats, we move into a refreshed approach to capitalism.
April 19, 2020
Australia is one of the biggest producers of municipal waste per capita in the world. Every year, Australia saves 25 million tonnes of waste from going to landfill. But it takes very little to make a truckload of separated waste unusable, which is the general waste problem. Even some of the most environmentally savvy people don’t fully understand where everything goes in our complicated waste and
...April 17, 2020
What’s implausible in 2020 may be plausible by mid-century.
April 16, 2020
It’s all about collecting and connecting data, which is part of the software giant’s DNA.
April 16, 2020
There's an emerging market to pay farmers to store more carbon in the soil by using improved agricultural practices. But some scientists are questioning whether these efforts will actually help slow global warming.
April 15, 2020
What is old is new again for the food industry as consumers become aware of the virtues of turning damaged apples and other fruit into purees, canned foods, breakfast items and other products.
April 15, 2020
Cities — from Wuhan in China to New York in the United States — have been at the front lines of the novel coronavirus crisis and will be in the same position for future crises.
April 14, 2020
What would happen if more people than ever before demanded goods aligned with a sustainable, low-carbon economy? Our economy would transition swiftly.
April 14, 2020
Despite the hard transportation times for public transit and micromobility, it's not all doom and gloom.
April 14, 2020
It's important to choose wisely.
April 14, 2020
Nuclear plants, CCS and whole-building retrofits should not be prioritized over smaller cheaper alternatives, study argues, while acknowledging small scale technologies do not offer a panacea.
April 14, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has put an incredible strain on global supply chains, from medical supplies to household goods, as spikes in demand stress-test logistics infrastructures. There is an opportunity for unmanned delivery vehicles to assist in addressing this demand and help to reduce the risk of spreading infection.
April 14, 2020
In the long term, the need for visibility into supply chain data, and ability to provide services digitally across borders, whether for telehealth or education, is clear.
April 14, 2020
One huge potential benefit: reduced production costs for electric vehicle batteries.
April 13, 2020
But an analysis suggests the likely reduction in CO2 still would be far off goals of the Paris Agreement.
April 10, 2020
Los Angeles is behind a two-phase, first-of-its-kind transformation that will turn a coal-fired power plant in Utah into one powered by green hydrogen by 2045.
April 10, 2020
For starters, it's a material that is readily available, biodegradable and affordable.
April 10, 2020
Will we be better prepared to respond to the climate emergency and other urgent sustainability challenges as a result of this experience?
April 9, 2020
Thriving in the age of climate change pivots around electricity, and that means electric utilities are at the center.
April 9, 2020
COVID-19 has stalled legislation but efforts to increase energy efficiency are expected to resume once the pandemic is over.
April 8, 2020
GlobalData analysis reveals that the COVID-19 outbreak in China will affect the green energy sector, impacting renewable energy sources, battery energy storage, electric vehicles (EVs), and renewable heating and cooling. Global car manufacturers are looking for independence from the current supremacy of Chinese battery manufacturers and are looking to secure their own battery supply
...April 8, 2020
Emulating the natural process plants use to convert sunlight into energy could bring benefits in efficiency not just for power generation, but for energy storage.
April 7, 2020
When products are moved along the supply chain, they travel with carbon emissions. According to a new publication from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, these travelling emissions account for a whopping 10% of all global carbon emissions. Not only that, but these same emissions have tripled between 1995 and 2012. Many goods, including cars, mobile phones and medicines, have
...April 7, 2020
Stronger concrete can be made from a by-product of steel creation, according to new research. This by-product can also be used to make stronger concrete, in a zero-waste approach to help advance the circular economy. Engineering researchers at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, examined whether slag that had been used to treat wastewater could then be recycled as an aggregate material for
...April 7, 2020
As the federal government seeks to bail out the industry, environmental advocacy organizations urged Congress to ensure that any financial aid for cruise lines come with strings attached.
April 7, 2020
That's according to a BloombergNEF report that calls policy support for the hydrogen economy "insufficient."
April 6, 2020
The mission: create an open data-sharing application that chemicals and plastics producers can use to inform circular production processes.
April 5, 2020
A report released by ClimateWorks Australia points to an unprecedented opportunity for Australia to move to a net zero emissions economy by 2050, given the rapid progress and plummeting cost of green technology. The report — Decarbonisation Futures: Solutions, actions and benchmarks for a net zero emissions Australia — demonstrates that Australia has entered the transformational decade
...April 3, 2020
The Covid-19 pandemic highlights the need for governments to take their duties seriously in protecting people and their human rights. Society’s ills can never be solved by business and markets alone. For several decades, the US government has taken a back seat as it relied on the private sector to solve public challenges — a system that is now being shaken to the core as benefits tied to employment are
...April 3, 2020
With two-thirds of the global population expected to live in cities by 2050, and 70 million more people migrating from the countryside to urban habitats every year, cities are growing in importance as climate actors, according to climate action disclosure platform CDP. The extent to which cities are rising to this challenge, even where national government may be failing to grasp the nettle, is seen nowhere more
...April 3, 2020
Will the spectacular drop in natural gas prices throttle the movement to electrify buildings? What's driving the coming collision.
April 3, 2020
One key is to design out waste in the first place.
April 2, 2020
The hunger for alternative protein and non-synthetic approaches to cultivation are inspiring new innovation recipes for animal health and aquaculture.
April 2, 2020
For the sector to play its part means adopting aggressive energy efficiency, zero-carbon and grid-interactive strategies, especially for existing structures.
April 2, 2020
In Pennsylvania, an innovative program is showing farmers how to plant cash crops in buffer zones to help stabilize stream banks and clean up waterways.
April 1, 2020
About eight million pieces of plastic make their way into the world’s oceans each day, representing a global-scale pollution problem that is not going anywhere without serious intervention. Bioplastics — plastics produced from biomass feedstocks — could help solve the world’s plastics problem but are struggling to wrestle market share away from conventional plastics.
...April 1, 2020
The output of desalination plants is a mere fraction of what it the world could use. Using the sun to convert seawater into drinking water could be key.