penn state university

Ecofriendly Glass

October 2, 2024 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Glass has been used for thousands of years to make everything from windows to bottles to microscope slides. For all that time, most glass has been in the form of soda lime silicate glass, which is made by melting quartz sand with carbon-based ingredients – soda ash and limestone – at high melting temperatures of about 2600 degrees Fahrenheit.

The process results in substantial carbon emissions. Worldwide, glass manufacturing produces over 86 million tons of carbon dioxide per year. Most of that comes from burning fuel to reach the high temperatures needed to make the glass, but about a quarter of it comes from the decomposition of the carbon-based materials used.

Researchers at Penn State University have developed an entirely new type of glass that represents an alternative to soda lime glass. The glass – that they call LionGlass – eliminates the use of carbonate batch materials and has a melting temperature 700 degrees lower than traditional glass. The new material has the potential to cut the carbon footprint of glass manufacturing in half. It is also 10 times more crack-resistant than ordinary glass, which would enable light weighting of glass products, lowering the emissions associated with transporting glass and glass products.

Recently, Penn state has entered into a partnership with the Italian company Bormioli, one of the world’s leading glass manufacturers that specializes in high-end packaging for fragrances, cosmetics, and tableware. By focusing on a smaller, high-end market, the focus can be on fine-tuning the glass and determining the feasibility of scaling it up further for other uses.

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Ecofriendly glass invented at Penn State secures partner for product development

Photo, posted December 26, 2005, courtesy of Lachlan Hardy via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Why are bees making less honey?

February 8, 2024 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Scientists have been sounding the alarm on the global struggle of pollinators for a long time. According to the United Nations, nearly 35% of the invertebrate pollinator species, such as bees and butterflies, are facing extinction. And since 75% of the world’s food crops depend on pollination to some extent, the decline of pollinators poses a major threat to global food security.

Honey bees are among the struggling pollinators. Honey bee colonies in the United States have experienced annual population declines since 2006. But in addition to there being fewer bees, the bees that remain are also making less honey. In fact, honey yields in the United States have been declining since the 1990s.

A new study by researchers from Penn State University has solved some of the mystery. Using five decades of data across the United States, the research team analyzed the factors that could be affecting the number of flowers growing in different regions, which, in turn, affects the amount of honey produced by bees.

In the study, which was recently published in the journal Environmental Research, the scientists found that climate conditions and soil productivity were two of the biggest factors in estimating honey yields. States in both warm and cool regions produced higher honey yields when they had productive soils. These two factors set a baseline production level of honey, while herbicide use, weather, and land use changes influenced how much honey was produced in a given year.

The study’s findings provide valuable insights that should help beekeepers, growers, and land managers better support honey bees.

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Why are bees making less honey? Study reveals clues in five decades of data

Photo, posted August 30, 2021, courtesy of Brandon O’Connor / NRCS via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Endangered Plants And The Changing Climate | Earth Wise

August 31, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Plants are a critical resource because of the countless ways they support life on Earth. Plants release oxygen into the atmosphere, absorb carbon dioxide, and provide food and habitat for humans and wildlife. Plants are also used to produce fibers, building materials, and medicines.

Plants form the backbone of natural ecosystems, and absorb about 30% of all the carbon dioxide emitted by humans each year. But plants are struggling to adapt in a human-dominated world. Even though they are easier and cheaper to protect than animals, plants are often overlooked in conservation efforts.

Ironically, conservation efforts appear to be overlooking a key threat to endangered plants. According to a new study led by researchers from Penn State University, all plants and lichens listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act are sensitive to climate change, but there are few plans in place to address that threat directly.

The threat that climate change poses to endangered plants and lichens had not been thoroughly evaluated in more than a decade. In the study, which was recently published in the journal PLOS Climate, the research team adapted existing assessment tools used to examine the threat of climate change for wild animals and applied them to 771 endangered plant species. The researchers found that all endangered plant and lichen species are at least slightly threatened by climate change, and little is being done to protect the listed species from that threat.

The researchers hope their findings will be used to aid future conservation planning. After all, plants can live without humans, but humans cannot live without plants.

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Climate change threatens 771 endangered plant and lichen species

Photo, posted June 12, 2014, courtesy of Mark Freeth via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio