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Seaweed and concrete

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Modern civilization is pretty much made of concrete.  People use more concrete than any other substance apart from water.  But concrete is made from cement, and cement is the source of 10% of all carbon dioxide emissions worldwide.

Researchers at the University of Washington and Microsoft have developed a new kind of concrete made by mixing dried, powdered seaweed with cement.  By fortifying cement with seaweed, the global warming potential of the concrete is reduced by 21% without weakening it. 

This novel recipe for concrete was developed using machine learning models, arriving upon it in a fraction of the time it would have taken by traditional experimentation.

Producing cement leads to carbon emissions from the fossil fuels used to heat raw materials and from a chemical reaction called calcination that occurs during the production process.  Seaweed is a carbon sink that pulls carbon dioxide out of the air and stores it while it grows.  By replacing some of cement in concrete, the resultant product has a much smaller carbon footprint.

Machine learning was used to predict the ideal mixture of cement and seaweed to yield concrete with a reduced carbon footprint that still passed mechanical strength tests.  Finding the right mixture would have taken 5 years ordinarily, but the machine learning process took only 28 days.

The researchers plan to generalize their work to different kinds of algae and even to food waste or other natural materials in order to create local, sustainable cement alternatives around the world. 

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Seaweed-infused cement could cut concrete’s carbon footprint

Photo, posted June 29, 2009, courtesy of Peter Castleton via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

A hidden cost of climate change

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Climate change is dramatically impacting food production by altering rainfall patterns, increasing temperatures, and triggering more frequent extreme weather events.  These changes make crops more vulnerable to droughts, floods, heatwaves, pests, and diseases, leading to lower yields and greater uncertainty for farmers worldwide.

But climate change isn’t just reshaping our planet.  It’s also changing what’s on our plates.  According to a new study by researchers from Liverpool John Moores University in the UK, rising carbon dioxide levels and warmer temperatures may be making food less nutritious.

The research team focused on popular leafy vegetables, including kale, rocket, and spinach.  The researchers simulated future UK climate conditions in growth chambers to study how the crops responded to hotter, CO2-rich environments.

The research team found that elevated CO2 levels help crops grow faster and bigger, but not healthier.  Over time, the crops showed a reduction in key minerals like calcium and certain antioxidant compounds.  These changes were exacerbated by increases in temperature.  In fact, the combination had complex effects.  The crops did not grow as big or fast, and the decline in nutritional quality intensified.

This nutritional imbalance poses serious human health implications.  Rising CO2 levels can increase sugar in crops while reducing essential nutrients, leading to calorie-rich but nutrient-poor diets. This shift may raise the risk of obesity, diabetes, and nutrient deficiencies, especially in vulnerable populations.

The challenge ahead isn’t just to grow enough food to feed a growing population, but to preserve the quality of that food in a changing climate.

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Bigger crops, fewer nutrients: The hidden cost of climate change

Photo, posted May 25, 2010, courtesy of Jason Bachman via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Soda can hydrogen

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Hydrogen is an ideal climate-friendly fuel because it doesn’t release carbon dioxide when it is used.  But most hydrogen is produced in ways that result in significant carbon emissions. Thus, the search for green hydrogen goes on. 

Last year, engineers at MIT developed a new process for making hydrogen that significantly reduces the carbon footprint of its production.  The recipe uses seawater and recycled soda cans. 

Pure aluminum reacts with water, breaking up the water molecules to produce aluminum oxide and pure hydrogen.  But when aluminum is exposed to oxygen, it forms a shield-like layer that prevents the reaction.

The MIT researchers found that the shield can be removed by treating aluminum with a small amount of gallium-indium alloy.  Mixing the pure aluminum with seawater not only produces hydrogen, but the salt in the seawater precipitates out the gallium-indium, making it available for reuse.

The research team carried out a “cradle-to-grave” life cycle assessment of the process, taking into account every step in using the hydrogen-production process at an industrial scale.  They found that using recycled aluminum – chopped-up soda cans – is environmentally and economically superior to using “primary” aluminum, mined from the earth. The cans would be shredded into pellet and treated with the gallium-indium alloy.  The pellets would be processed near a source of seawater where they would be combined to generate hydrogen on demand.

According to their analysis, the hydrogen produced would be at least competitive economically and environmentally with other potential methods of producing green hydrogen.

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Study shows making hydrogen with soda cans and seawater is scalable and sustainable

Photo, posted July 29, 2020, courtesy of Bruce Dupree via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

AI and greener cement

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Cement pretty much holds the modern world together.  The amount of cement required to create our infrastructure is almost incomprehensible.   By weight, humanity consumes more cement than food, about 3 pounds per person per day.  The cement industry produces around eight percent of global CO2 emissions, which is more than the aviation industry.  So, if the amount of emissions produced making concrete could be reduced by even a few percent, it would make a significant impact.

Cement plants utilize rotary kilns heated to 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit to burn ground limestone down to a substance called clinker.  That energy-intensive combustion process emits large amounts of carbon dioxide.  However, the combustion process accounts for much less than half of the emissions associated with making concrete.  The majority comes from the raw materials needed to produce clinker.

One strategy to reduce concrete emissions is to modify the cement recipe itself, replacing some of the clinker with alternative materials.  Some producers already make use of materials like slag from iron production and fly ash from coal-fired power plants.   

A team of researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland is making use of machine learning to simulate and optimize cement formulations that would emit significantly less CO2 while maintaining the same high level of mechanical performance.  This AI-based approach eliminates time-consuming experiments and conventional complex simulations.

The Scherrer Institute seeks to discover new materials and the effort has already yielded some promising candidates.  The next steps will be testing some of these recipes in the laboratory. 

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AI paves the way towards green cement

Photo, posted July 3, 2007, courtesy of Tim Shortt via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Climate change and hunger

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Worldwide, people are producing more food than ever, but most of that production is concentrated into only a handful of places.  For example, fully one third of the world’s wheat and barley exports come from Ukraine and Russia.  Across the globe, several major crop-growing regions, including some in the United States, are heading towards sharp drops in harvests as a result of climate change.

These forthcoming changes are not only bad news for farmers, but they are also bad news for everyone who eats.  According to a new study published in the journal Nature, it is going to become harder and more expensive to feed a more crowded and hungrier world.

Specifically, under a moderate greenhouse gas emissions scenario, six key staple crops will see an 11.2% decline by the end of the century, compared to a world without warming.  The largest drops won’t be in the poorer, more marginal farmlands, but rather in places that are major food producers.  These are places like the US Midwest that has long benefited by having both good soil and ideal weather for raising crops like corn and soy.

When the weather is not ideal, it can drastically reduce agricultural productivity.  Extreme weather in many places has already damaged crops.  Flooding has destroyed rice in Tajikistan, cucumbers in Spain, and bananas in Australia.  Severe storms in the US this spring caused millions of dollars’ worth of damage to crops.

As the climate changes, rising average temperatures and changing rainfall patterns are likely to diminish yields and extreme weather events like droughts and floods could wipe out harvests more often.  As climate change intensifies, agriculture is the most weather-affected sector of the economy.

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How climate change will worsen hunger

Photo, posted may 20, 2011, courtesy of Lance Cheung / USDA via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Fuel from Corn Waste

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A substantial amount of corn is grown in this country for the purpose of producing ethanol.  The value of doing so is debatable for many reasons.  Nevertheless, the majority of the corn crop is grown for food.  But along with all that corn, there is corn stover.  Stover is the dried stalks, leaves, and other plant parts that remain in the field after the corn itself has been harvested.  Corn stover is the largest quantity of biomass residue in the United States.  Around 250 million tons of it is produced annually and the majority of it is left unused.  Some is used for animal feed and other purposes and has monetary value, but much of it goes to waste.

Scientists at Washington State University have developed a way to produce low-cost sugar from stover that can be used to make biofuels and other bioproducts.

Corn stover is an abundant and cheap source of biomass, which holds great potential as a source of energy and valuable chemicals.  The challenge is to overcome the high cost of processing stover whose complex structural molecules like cellulose and lignin need to be broken down.

The new process uses potassium hydroxide and ammonium sulfite to convert stover into a sugar.  It is a mild-temperature process that allows enzymes to break down the cellulosic polymers in stover into sugar, which can then be fermented into biofuels.  The resulting sugar from the process would be cost-competitive with low-cost imported sugars. The researchers estimate that their patent-pending process could produce sugar that could be sold for as low as 28 cents per pound.

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Scientists discover a new way to convert corn waste into low-cost sugar for biofuel

Photo, posted August 30, 2012, courtesy of Idaho National Laboratory Bioenergy Program via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

A biostimulant for wheat

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Feeding a global population projected to reach nearly 10 billion by mid-century is a massive challenge.  Wheat provides a fifth of the calories in the global human diet and is a significant source of protein, minerals, vitamins, and fiber.  Finding ways to increase the yield of wheat crops has great value.  However, wheat has complex genetics, which makes it difficult to improve yields by traditional breeding methods or even by genetic engineering.

Researchers at Oxford University and the nearby Rosalind Franklin Institute have developed a biostimulant that can deliver increased wheat yields of up to 12%.  It is applied as a spray and a four-year study in Argentina and Mexico demonstrated that it delivers major yield improvements irrespective of weather conditions.

The biostimulant is based on trehalose 6-phosphate (T6P), which is a natural molecule that regulates the plant equivalent of blood sugar.  T6P prompts plants to produce more starch and increases the rate of photosynthesis.

Naturally occurring T6P cannot be applied topically because it cannot cross cell membranes.  The researchers developed a membrane-permeable precursor of T6P that releases T6P into a plant in the presence of sunlight.

The biostimulant can be manufactured on an industrial scale and would be inexpensive to use. 

The researchers have created SugaROx, a spinout company whose mission is “to increase the productivity, resilience, sustainability, and profitability of crop production” using active ingredients inspired by powerful natural plant molecules.

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New biostimulant treatment significantly boosts wheat yields, field studies confirm

Photo, posted July 28, 2014, courtesy of Brad Higham via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Extreme heat and dairy production

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Climate change is causing more frequent and intense heat waves in the United States. Studies show that not only are heat waves now occurring more often, but that the average heat wave season is nearly 50 days longer now than it was in the 1960s.  The overall rise in temperatures, linked to climate change, has led to increased health risks and fatalities from extreme heat. 

As humans face increasing health risks from this extreme heat, livestock are also suffering from the effects of rising temperatures.  Extreme heat negatively impacts dairy production by causing heat stress in cows, which can reduce milk yield, quality, and the cows’ overall health.

A new study by researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign analyzed milk production data from 18,000 dairy farms across nine Midwest states between 2012 and 2016.  The researchers found that high heat and humidity have led to a 1% decline in annual milk yield. While this might not sound like a lot, it amounts to about 1.4 billion pounds of milk over five years from the 18,000 herds included in the study – equivalent to about $245 million in lost revenue.

The study, which was recently published in the journal Food Policy, found that small farms are hit harder than large farms.  Larger farms may be able to mitigate some of the effects through management strategies, such as open barn sides, fans, and sprinklers.

Using projections from 22 different climate models, the research team estimates that more frequent extreme heat will increase milk yield losses by about 30% by 2050. 

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Illinois study: Extreme heat impacts dairy production, small farms most vulnerable

Photo, posted March 13, 2018, courtesy of Gosdin via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Plastic from food waste

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Plastic waste management is a complicated business.  Most methods of recycling or breaking down plastic are costly and harmful to the environment.  The most common biodegradable alternatives – like paper straws – are less than ideal replacements.

There are many approaches to creating biodegradable plastics using feedstocks like seaweed, sugarcane, and other plant matter.  However, the resulting plastics often fall short compared with conventional petroleum-based plastics.

One type of bioplastic that is gaining popularity is polyhydroxyalkanoates, or PHA.  PHA is a plastic produced by microorganisms.  It is fully compostable or biodegradable but in other ways but looks, feels, and functions like regular plastic but without the environmental drawbacks.

PHA can be made using bacterial fermentation of a variety of feedstocks such as vegetable oils, sugars, starches, and even methane and wastewater.

Researchers at a startup from the University of Waterloo in Canada called MetaCycler BioInnovations have developed a process for producing PHA based on bacteria that has been engineered to convert waste from milk and cheese production.  This solution upcycles waste from the dairy industry into cost-effective, sustainable bio-based plastics. 

PHAs can be tailored to have a wide range of properties ranging from being rigid and tough to being quite flexible.  Therefore, they can be suitable for many applications including packaging, agricultural films, and consumer goods. 

The Waterloo technology is a way to tackle the problems of both food waste and plastic pollution with one solution.

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Turning food waste into a new bioplastic

Photo, posted December 10, 2017, courtesy of Leonard J Matthews via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Making hydrogen using bioengineering

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Hydrogen has great potential for helping society to reach net-zero emissions.  The problem is that the most economical and established production methods for hydrogen depend heavily on fossil fuels and result in roughly a dozen kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions for every kilogram of hydrogen produced.

The carbon-free way to produce hydrogen is by splitting water into its component elements.  This process generally requires the use of catalysts and lots of energy.

Researchers at the University of Oxford are developing a synthetic biology approach to the production of so-called green hydrogen.  The idea is to replace expensive, exotic metal-based catalysts with a highly-efficient, stable, and cost-effective catalyst based on genetically-engineered bacteria.

There are specific microorganisms that can naturally induce the chemical reaction that reduces protons to hydrogen by the use of hydrogenase enzymes.  While these reactions do occur naturally, they are limited to low hydrogen yields.

The Oxford researchers genetically engineered the bacterium Shewanella oneidensis by inserting a light activated electron pump called Gloeobacter rhodopsin as well as adding nanoparticles of graphene oxide and ferric sulfate.  All of this tinkering with the bacterium resulted in a ten-fold increase in hydrogen yield.

The researchers believe that their system, based entirely on biological methods rather than traditional chemical approaches, could be scaled up to produce ‘artificial leaves’ that, when exposed to sunlight, would immediately begin producing hydrogen.  The Oxford work was published last summer in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

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A green fuels breakthrough: bio-engineering bacteria to become ‘hydrogen nanoreactors’

Photo, posted July 27, 2016, courtesy of Blondinrikard Froberg via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Growing safer potatoes

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We are often advised to avoid eating green areas on potatoes.  The green comes from chlorophyll that occurs naturally when potatoes are exposed to light.  It is harmless but when it is there, it can be accompanied by a natural toxin – a substance called solanine, which is a steroidal glycoalkaloid or SGA.  Sunlight can produce solanine as well as chlorophyll.  Solanine is produced by plants to protect them from insects. 

Solanine is bitter tasting so one is unlikely to consume much of it.  But consuming enough of it can lead to gastrointestinal complications like diarrhea, abdominal pain, vomiting, and sweating. 

Researchers at the University of California Riverside have discovered a way to eliminate toxic compounds from potatoes, making them safer to eat and easier to store.  They have identified a key genetic mechanism in the production of SGAs.  They found a specific protein that controls the production and believe it will be possible to control where and when SGAs are produced.  Thus, it may be possible to have SGAs present in the leaves of potato plants, thereby protecting them from insects, while having none in the potatoes themselves.  By limiting SGAs to non-edible parts of plants, they can be safer and more versatile plants.  For example, modified potatoes could be stored in sunny places without worry and would always be safe to eat.

Plants have evolved ingenious ways to balance growth, reproduction, and defense.  Our growing understanding of these mechanisms can allow people to redesign crops to meet modern needs, increase food safety, and reduce food waste.

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Growing safer spuds: Removing toxins from potatoes

Photo, posted October 14, 2013, courtesy of Elton Morris via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Climate change and the global food supply

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One of the most troubling aspects of global climate change is its potential to severely disrupt the production, distribution, and quality of food. While food security is already challenged by many factors, including population growth, poverty, and changing eating habits, climate change intensifies these issues by altering weather patterns, causing more frequent droughts, floods, and extreme temperatures that damage crops and reduce yields. 

These shifts not only threaten agricultural productivity and increase food prices, but they also impact water resources, pests, and disease dynamics, further destabilizing food systems and exacerbating vulnerabilities, particularly in regions already facing food insecurity.

According to a new paper, which was co-authored by 21 scientists from 9 different countries, climate change will cause widespread food shortages, leading to famine, mass migration, and global instability, unless swift action is taken to develop climate-resilient crops.

Adding to the urgency is the fact that agriculture itself also contributes approximately 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions, creating a vicious feedback loop that threatens to further accelerate global climate change.

The research, which was recently published in the journal Trends in Plant Science, outlines five key recommendations to address this crisis: Study plants in real-world conditions, strengthen partnerships with farmers, streamline regulations for faster innovation, build public trust in new technologies, and create global research initiatives that unite scientists from developed and developing nations to share resources and expertise.

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Climate Change Threatens Global Food Supply: Scientists Call for Urgent Action

Photo, posted September 21, 2014, courtesy of Peter via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Politics and plastic

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The world currently produces nearly half a billion tons of plastic each year.  This is more than twice the amount it produced 20 years ago.  Half of all plastics ever manufactured have been made in the past 20 years.  Plastic waste is everywhere.  About eight million tons of plastic waste escapes into the ocean each year.

Environmental groups have urged nations to adopt a legally binding treaty to address the ever-growing problem of plastic pollution. The United Nations climate conference in South Korea last month took up the issue of reaching agreement on such a treaty.  At what was supposed to be the final round of talks on the topic, delegates could not bridge wide differences on what such a treaty should contain.

The main bone of contention was whether the treaty should include limits on plastic production itself.  Saudi Arabia, Russia, Kuwait, and other oil-producing countries opposed any curbs on plastic production.   They also opposed the phase-out of harmful chemicals used in the production of plastic.

The Saudi delegation claimed that if the issue of plastic pollution is addressed, there should be no problem with producing plastics.  They said the problem is pollution itself, not plastics.  They proposed a focus on improving recycling and waste management.

Of course, preventing plastic pollution from occurring is an extremely challenging thing to do.  Delegates from countries pushing for a wide-ranging treaty – led by Rwanda – were unwilling to accept a toothless theory lacking real constraints on the plastics industry.

As the conference ended, delegates said that they would reconvene in future months to try again to produce a treaty.  No date or place has been announced.

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Nations Fail to Reach an Agreement on Plastic Pollution

Photo, posted February 4, 2023, courtesy of Ingrid Taylar via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Hydrogen-powered aviation

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The transportation sector is responsible for about a quarter of human-generated greenhouse gas emissions.  Most of the energy used by transport systems comes from fossil fuels.  The transition to electric vehicles – cars, trucks, and buses – is making a real difference.  However, the emissions from the aviation industry have continued to grow faster than those of other forms of transportation.  There have been increased efforts to develop hydrogen-powered aircraft, but the challenges are substantial.

Hydrogen can be used for aviation both as a directly combusted fuel, or to power electric fuel cells.  Its advantages are that its use produces no carbon dioxide, and, in fact, hydrogen produces more energy per pound than jet fuel.

A study by researchers at MIT looked at the prospects for hydrogen use in aircraft and what needs to be done to make it practical.  The biggest issue is that the extra bulk of a hydrogen fuel tank and fuel cells in a plane would have to be offset by weight reductions elsewhere, such as reducing payload (cargo or passengers).  This would mean there would need to be more flights, thereby reducing the gains made.  The researchers argued that improvements in fuel cell power and more weight efficient fuel systems could eliminate the need for additional flights.

The bigger challenge is the infrastructure for generating and distributing hydrogen.  There needs to be green hydrogen – hydrogen produced without carbon emissions – and the infrastructure for getting it to planes where it is needed has to also not produce substantial emissions.

The study suggests that the rollout of hydrogen-based aviation should start at locations that have favorable conditions for hydrogen production.

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Fueling greener aviation with hydrogen

Photo, posted December 20, 2016, courtesy of Dylan Agbagni via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Mining extinct volcanoes

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Rare earth elements are a group of 17 elements that are used to improve the performance, efficiency, and durability of a wide range of products.  More than 200 products across a diverse set of applications make use of rare earth elements.  Although the amount of rare earth used in a particular product may not be very much of its weight, volume, or monetary value, it may often be necessary for the device even to function.  Rare earth elements react with other elements to form compounds that are essential because of their specific chemical behaviors. 

Rare earth elements are not actually rare; in fact, they are fairly common.  But they are mostly not found in their pure form and are generally difficult to refine.  China accounts for more than 90% of global production of rare earth elements and this represents a strategic problem for the rest of the world.

New research by scientists from the Australian National University has found that some extinct volcanoes, which have not erupted for thousands or even millions of years, may be rich sources of rare earth elements.  Furthermore, those elements may be easier to extract than the ones from other sources because the iron-rich magma that formed the volcanoes could be up to 100 times more efficient at concentrating rare-earths than magma found in active volcanoes today.

The clean tech industry uses rare earths for wind turbines, solar panels, and electric cars.  The demand for rare earths may grow fivefold by the end of this decade.  Relying on just one country for the world’s supply is a major concern.  There are ancient volcanoes all over the planet and they may represent a solution to a global problem.

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Extinct Volcanoes Could Be Source of Key Metals Needed for Clean Tech

Photo, posted June 6, 2020, courtesy of Dennis Jarvis via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Extreme geothermal power

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Krafla is one of the most explosive volcanoes in Iceland, which is home to many active volcanoes, including one recently in the news near Reykjavik that hadn’t erupted for 800 years .  Krafla is the site of the Krafla Magma Testbed, which may end up being for geoscientists what the Large Hadron Collider has been for particle physicists. 

For over a decade, researchers have been drilling straight into the ground at Krafla to study what goes on deep beneath an active volcano.  Ten years ago, they encountered an unexpected magma chamber a little over a mile down.  Their equipment was destroyed but the researchers decided that they had uncovered a unique opportunity to study magma dynamics and potentially be able to tap into a significant new energy source.

The plan is to use the tremendous heat energy contained in magma to dramatically improve the production of geothermal energy.  Krafla is already the site of a geothermal energy plant that makes use of the heat beneath the surface to boil water that then drives turbines to generate electricity.

Forthcoming drilling projects will make use of new equipment that can handle the harsh conditions that will be encountered in the magma chamber.  The goal is to tap directly into the magma to produce superheated steam that could produce ten times more power than conventional geothermal systems.  Conventional systems access temperatures around 200 to 300 degrees; the magma is at 1,800 degrees.

It will take a few years to complete the project, but if it is successful, it could have implications well beyond Iceland.  There are many active volcanoes all over the world.

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Drilling into magma: Risky plan takes geothermal to supercritical extremes

Photo courtesy of Landsvirkjun.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Reducing emissions from cement

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Cement production accounts for about 7% of global carbon emissions.  It is one of the most difficult challenges for emissions reduction.  The emissions associated with producing cement come from both the energy used to provide heat for the process and from the chemical reactions that take place in the formation of cement.  Cement is an essential building block of society, and its use is not expected to decline over time.

A German company called Heidelberg Materials is embarking on an ambitious project to reduce carbon emissions from a cement plant in Norway.  They are building a facility to use absorbent chemicals to capture large quantities of carbon dioxide emitted through cement production.  More than half a ton of carbon dioxide arises from every ton of cement produced at the plant.

Once the carbon dioxide is captured it will be chilled to a liquid, loaded onto ships, and carried to a terminal farther up the Norwegian coast.  From there, it will be pumped into undersea rocks located 70 miles offshore and a mile and a half below the bottom of the North Sea.

With all of this complicated process going on, cement from the plant is likely to be quite expensive.  It might even be two or three times the price of ordinary cement.  Heidelberg Materials is counting on customers’ willingness to pay much more for cement that comes with green credentials. 

Can this be economically viable?  Heidelberg estimates that cement accounts for only about 2% of the cost of a large building project but as much as 50% of the emissions.  As a result, using carbon-free cement could be a relatively inexpensive way for builders to reduce emissions.

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Cement Is a Big Polluter. A Plant in Norway Hopes to Clean It Up.

Photo, posted May 7, 2016, courtesy of Phillip Pessar via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

How much energy storage is needed?

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Energy storage is a critical aspect of modern energy systems as they move towards heavy dependence on renewable sources such as solar and wind that don’t produce energy at the same rate all the time.  Excess energy generated by solar power needs to be stored for when the sun isn’t shining; excess wind energy needs to be stored for when the wind isn’t blowing.  But how much storage capacity does the energy system need to have?

Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a model that can be used to project what a system’s storage needs would be if it were to shift entirely to renewable sources.

The model accounts for how energy production from renewable sources would change during different times of day and different times of the year.  For example, there is much more solar energy generation in the summer when the days are longer, and it is sunny more often.

There is also the issue of short-term vs. long-term energy storage.  Short-term energy storage does not refer to how long a storage device can store the energy.  It refers to how long it can provide power at its rated level.

The study focused on Italy’s energy system, which has suffered in recent years because it had difficulties in obtaining natural gas from Russia due to the invasion of Ukraine.

As the world moves increasingly towards renewable power sources, energy systems need to be able to account for the variability of those sources.  The new model offers policymakers critical information for use in energy system planning.

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Model Projects Energy Storage Needs for Fossil Fuel-Free Energy System

Photo, posted October 28, 2016, courtesy of Daxis via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Rising methane emissions

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Methane is a colorless and odorless gas that occurs abundantly in nature and is also a product of certain human activities.  It’s a short-lived but highly potent greenhouse gas and, as a result, is a major driver of climate change.  In fact, methane heats the atmosphere nearly 90 times faster than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. 

Despite a global pledge from more than 150 nations to reduce methane emissions by 30% this decade, methane emissions continue to rise.  In fact, according to a new paper led by researchers from Stanford University, total annual methane emissions have increased 20% over the past two decades. 

The paper, which was recently published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, found that atmospheric concentrations of methane today are more than 2.6 times higher than in pre-industrial times.  In fact, atmospheric methane concentrations are currently the highest they’ve been in at least 800,000 years.

Methane emissions from coal mining, oil and gas production and use, cattle and sheep ranching, and decomposing organic waste in landfills are responsible for driving the growth.  In 2020, the most recent year for which data was available, nearly 400 million tons – or about two-thirds – of global methane emissions came directly from human activities. 

Methane concentrations in Earth’s atmosphere have increased at record speed over the past five years.  According to the research team, only the European Union and possibly Australia seem to have decreased methane emissions from human activities over the past two decades.  This trend “cannot continue if we are to maintain a habitable climate.”

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Methane emissions are rising faster than ever

Photo, posted December 4, 2010, courtesy of Dani Mettler via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Solar energy on federal land

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Officials at the federal Bureau of Land Management announced late in August that they had finalized a plan to add Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Washington, and Wyoming to the Western Solar Plan, which started during the Obama era.   The plan, created in 2012, provides permitting for solar projects on federal land.  The original plan included Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah.

The Western Solar Plan is a major expansion for clean energy production in the Bureau of Land Management’s land leasing portfolio.  For decades, the BLM has leased tens of millions of acres of federal land to fossil fuel companies for oil, coal, and natural gas exploration and production.

The new addition includes 1.1 million acres of land in Oregon, an area larger than the entire state of Rhode Island.  The land selected is deemed to be of low risk for any adverse environmental effects from solar installation, and the plots of land are all within 15 miles of existing or planned electrical transmission lines.  A little over 50% of Oregon’s land is owned by the federal government and is managed primarily by the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service.

The publication of the finalized plan at the end of August initiated a 30-day period for any participants in the initial planning to voice objections.  The governors of the 5 new states are reviewing the plan.  Final approval and adoption are expected later this year.

Western states need to expand solar and other clean energy production to meet their climate goals and federal lands will have to play an important role.

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Plan would make 1 million acres of federal land in Oregon available for solar energy projects

Photo, posted May 20, 2024, courtesy of the U.S. Department of Agriculture via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

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