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Paris and climate change

September 8, 2025 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Paris is associated with climate change by virtue of the 2015 international agreement seeking to limit the amount of warming taking place on the planet. But Paris is well aware that the world is not making much progress in meeting the goals of that agreement and the French capital is already suffering from the impact of the warming climate.

France has had multiple heat waves this summer that have seen multiple record high temperatures across the country. Eight of the 10 hottest summers recorded in Paris have occurred since 2015.

Paris officials have performed heat crisis simulations to learn what the effects of extreme heat situations would be. One simulation looked at the impact of temperatures reaching 122 degrees. The consequences to many of the city’s functions and systems would be dire. This might seem outlandish, but in 2019, temperatures in Paris reached 109 degrees, and climate change is warming Europe at more than twice the global average. With its zinc roofs, squares paved with stone, and highest population density in Europe, Paris is especially ill-suited to hot weather.

Paris is taking steps to prepare for a warmer future. It is pulling up asphalt parking places and road centers to plant trees, 15,000 last winter alone. It is putting up more shade structures and water misters. Paris is insulating older buildings – 7,000 a year now and a goal to reach 40,000 a year by 2030. Paris is registering isolated older or disabled people, so that they can be checked on during heat waves.

It is a race against time. Paris is trying to prepare for the changes to come.

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Paris Braces for a Future of Possibly Paralyzing Heat

Photo, posted September 30, 2018, courtesy of Pedro Szekely via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

A green battery from industrial waste

February 11, 2025 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Flow batteries are rechargeable batteries in which liquid electrolytes flow through one or more chemical cells from one or more tanks. The electrolytes are redox pairs, that is, chemical compounds that can reversibly undergo reduction and oxidation reactions. The most common redox electrolytes include elements like vanadium, chromium, iron, zinc, and bromine. Flow batteries can provide large amounts of both electrical power and stored energy based on the size of the electrolyte tanks. As a result, they can be scaled up far more readily than other battery technologies.

Flow batteries are safe, stable, long-lasting, and their electrolytes can easily be refilled. They have significant potential for use in utility-scale storage for renewable energy systems.

Researchers at Northwestern University have developed a redox flow battery based on an organic industrial-scale waste product. The material – triphenylphosphine oxide or TPPO – is produced in the thousands of tons each year. It is byproduct of producing a variety of substances including some vitamins, pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and other bulk chemicals. For the most part, TPPO is of little use and must be carefully discarded.

The current market for redox flow batteries is very small but is expected to grow over time as the need for utility-scale energy storage continues to expand. A battery technology based on a waste material that is already produced in high volume and that must otherwise be disposed of with caution would have significant advantages.

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Green battery discovery turns trash into treasure

Photo, posted January 12, 2015, courtesy of California Energy Commission via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Deep sea mining

August 19, 2024 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Deep sea mining is the extraction of minerals from the ocean floor at depths greater than 660 feet and as much as 21,000 feet below the surface. Active or extinct hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor create sulfide deposits which collect metals such as silver, gold, copper, manganese, cobalt, and zinc. This forms polymetallic nodules – potato-sized rocklike deposits containing these valuable minerals. There are literally trillions of these things scattered over wide areas of ocean floor. The largest of these deposits are in the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and Mexico in the Clarion Clipperton Fracture Zone.

Mining companies argue that land-based sources for valuable metals are running out and are critically needed for green technologies like batteries for electric vehicles and manufacturing solar panels and wind turbines. They also claim that mining in the deep sea will be less environmentally damaging than land-based mining.

The deep sea is viewed by many as kind of a watery desert but there are actually diverse and rich ecosystems down there. Most of the animals living in the depths are tiny, but that doesn’t make them any less important. Many can live for a very long time. Some invertebrates live for thousands of years.

There are currently no commercial deep sea mining operations underway. Many countries have outlawed them.

The deep seas are the last mostly unexplored part of the Earth. Deep sea mining will unquestionably be highly destructive to these environments. We don’t really know what the impact of widespread deep sea mining might be, but the world continues to edge ever closer to allowing it to happen.

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Can We Mine the World’s Deep Ocean Without Destroying It?

Photo, posted March 30, 2018, courtesy of the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Minerals from seawater

June 27, 2024 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

There are about 18,000 desalination plants around the world that take in 23 trillion gallons of water each year. The plants produce more than 37 billion gallons of brine – enough to fill 50,000 Olympic-size swimming pools – every day. Disposing of this brine is an ongoing challenge. Dumping it into the ocean can damage marine ecosystems. Inland desalination plants either bury this waste or inject it into wells, adding further cost and complexity to the already expensive process of desalination.

According to researchers at Oregon State University, this waste brine contains large amounts of copper, zinc, magnesium, lithium, and other valuable metals. A company in Oakland, California called Magrathea Metals has started producing modest amounts of magnesium from waste brine in its pilot projects. With support from the U.S. Defense Department, it is building a larger-scale facility to produce hundreds of tons of the metal over two to four years.

Most of the world’s magnesium supply comes from China, where producing it requires burning lots of coal and utilizing lots of labor. Magrathea’s brine mining makes use of off-peak wind and solar energy and is much less labor intensive.

No large-scale brine mining operations currently exist and when there are some, they might end up having negative environmental impacts. But in principle, the process should produce valuable metals without the massive land disturbance, acid-mine drainage, and other pollution associated with traditional mining. Brine mining could turn a growing waste problem into a valuable resource.

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In Seawater, Researchers See an Untapped Bounty of Critical Metals

Photo, posted February 18, 2017, courtesy of Jacob Vanderheyden via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Pollution From Tires | Earth Wise

October 16, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

A few years ago, researchers investigating massive deaths of coho salmon in West Coast streams discovered that the water contained particles from vehicle tires. The cause of the fish mortality turned out to be a chemical called 6PPD that is added to tires to prevent cracking and degradation. The mystery was solved, but so far, the chemical continues to be used by all major tire manufacturers and is found on roads and in waterways around the world.

Worse still, the acute toxicity of 6PPD and the chemicals that it transforms into when exposed to ground-level ozone is only the tip of the tire pollution iceberg. Tire rubber contains more than 400 chemicals and compounds, many of which are carcinogenic.

About 2 billion tires are sold across the globe each year and that number is expected to reach 3.4 billion by 2030. Tires are made from about 20% natural rubber and 24% synthetic rubber, which requires about 4 gallons of petroleum per tire. Hundreds of other ingredients – including steel, fillers, heavy metals like copper, cadmium, lead, and zinc – make up the rest.

Tire wear particles are emitted continually as vehicles travel. They range in size from visible pieces of rubber or plastic to microparticles. Research has shown that a car’s four tires collectively emit half a trillion ultrafine particles per mile driven. These particles are small enough to be breathed into the lungs and can travel throughout the body and even cross the blood-brain barrier. Particle pollution from tires exceeds that from tailpipes.

Tire pollution is a huge problem that is just starting to receive the attention it deserves.

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Road Hazard: Evidence Mounts on Toxic Pollution from Tires

Photo, posted June 22, 2018, courtesy of Tony Webster via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Better Zinc Batteries | Earth Wise

May 17, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The rapid growth of wind and solar power continues to drive a global quest for new battery technologies that can be used to store the energy generated by these sources when the sun isn’t shining, and the wind isn’t blowing.

For the most part, current battery energy storage systems use lithium-ion batteries – the same sort of batteries found in cellphones and electric vehicles. There are many other battery chemistries, but they mostly have shortcomings in performance, economy, or longevity.

Batteries store electricity in the form of chemical energy and chemical reactions convert that energy into electrical energy. Every battery has two electrodes: the anode, from which electrons flow into external circuits, and the cathode, which receives electrons from the external circuit. The electrolyte is the chemical medium through which the electrons flow.

One technology that has great potential is zinc-based batteries. Zinc itself is a metal that is safe and abundant. Batteries based on it are energy dense. However, zinc batteries have faced the challenge of having a short cycle life. The batteries end up plating zinc on their anodes and battery performance degrades.

A team of researchers at Oregon State University and three other universities have recently developed a new electrolyte for zinc batteries that raises the efficiency of the zinc metal anode to nearly 100% – actually slightly better than lithium-ion batteries.

Zinc batteries have a number of potential advantages over lithium-ion. The new hybrid electrolyte developed by the researchers is non-flammable, cost-effective, and has low environmental impact. Lithium-ion batteries rely on the supplies of relatively rare metals that are often difficult and environmentally harmful to obtain.

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Researchers develop electrolyte enabling high efficiency of safe, sustainable zinc batteries

Photo, posted May 13, 2017, courtesy of Jeanne Menjoulet via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Lithium Mining And Andes Ecosystems | Earth Wise

October 28, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

A remote region in the high Andes straddling the borders between Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile has become known as the Lithium Triangle. The area has become the focus of a global rush for lithium to make batteries for electric cars. The global demand for lithium is expected to quadruple by 2030 to 2.6 million tons a year.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, more than half of the world’s lithium reserves are dissolved in ancient underground water within the Lithium Triangle. The cheapest way to extract the lithium is to pump the underground water to the surface and evaporate it in the sun to concentrate the lithium carbonate contained in it.

Every ton of lithium carbonate extracted using this cheap, low-tech method dissipates into the air about half a million gallons of water that is vital to the arid high Andes. The process lowers water tables and has the potential to dry up lakes, wetlands, springs, and rivers. Hydrologists and conservationists say the lithium rush in Argentina is likely to turn the region’s delicate ecosystems to deserts.

The global drive for green vehicles to fight climate change has the potential to be an ecological disaster in this remote region of South America and for the indigenous people who live there.

The environmental impacts are not an inevitable price for the transition to electric vehicles. First of all, there are alternatives to lithium. Both zinc and nickel are potential substitutes in rechargeable batteries. But, there are also ways of obtaining lithium that are less destructive than evaporating the metal from saline ecosystems. It is up to battery manufacturers, automakers, and financiers to start demanding lithium from sources that are less environmentally destructive.

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Why the Rush to Mine Lithium Could Dry Up the High Andes

Photo, posted September 25, 2015, courtesy of Nuno Luciano via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Stretchy And Washable Batteries | Earth Wise

January 13, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Wearable electronic devices are a big market but there are limitations created by the properties of the batteries that operate them. The ideal battery for wearable electronics would be soft and comfortable, stretchable, and washable. Researchers at the University of British Columbia have recently developed just such a battery. The work has been described in a new paper published in Advanced Energy Materials.

The battery encompasses a number of engineering advances. Traditional batteries are made from hard materials encased in a rigid external shell. The UBC battery is stretchable because its key components are ground into small pieces and then embedded in a rubbery polymer. Ultra-thin layers of these materials are then encased in the same polymer. This construction creates an airtight, waterproof seal.

The batteries survived 39 cycles in washing machines using both home and commercial-grade appliances. The batteries came out intact and functional.

The batteries use zinc and manganese dioxide chemistry which is safer than lithium-ion batteries in case they break while being worn.

The materials used are low-cost, so if the technology is commercialized, it will be cheap. When it is ready for consumers, it is likely to cost no more than existing batteries. Work is underway to increase the power output of the batteries and their cycle life. There is already commercial interest in the technology.

There are many potential applications for such batteries. Apart from watches and medical monitors, they might also be integrated with clothing that can actively change color or temperature. If the batteries are commercialized, they will make wearable power comfortable, convenient, and resilient.

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Stretchy, washable battery brings wearable devices closer to reality

Photo, posted April 15, 2021, courtesy of Ivan Radic via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Metals In Western Water Supplies | Earth Wise

October 29, 2021 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

A new study published by the University of Colorado Boulder looked at the problem of rivers being contaminated by acid rock drainage. Rocks that include sulfide-based minerals, such as pyrite, oxidize when exposed to air and water. The resulting chemical reaction produces sulfuric acid which, when present in water, dissolves metals like lead, cadmium, and zinc. The recent study found that rare earth elements are also leached out of rock by this process.

Rock drainage occurs naturally throughout the western United States, but historic mines that disturbed large amounts of rocks and soil have dramatically increased this process and have led to growing downstream water pollution. Upwards of forty percent of the headwaters of major rivers in the West are contaminated by some form of acid mine or rock drainage.

The warming climate has brought longer summers and less snow in winters. Longer, lower stream flows make it easier for metals to leach into watersheds and concentrate the metals that would otherwise be diluted by snowmelt.

Rare earth elements are essential components of many high-tech devices such as computers, hard drives, and cell phones. There is not a long history of studying the hazards they might represent when they enter the environment.

The study looked at the Snake River watershed in Colorado and found that increasing amounts of rare earth elements are entering Colorado water supplies. Concentrations of rare earth elements are not ordinarily monitored and there are no water quality standards set for them.

According to the researchers, once rare earth elements get into water, they tend to stay there. Traditional treatment processes don’t remove them. It is a growing problem that needs to be addressed.

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Rare earth elements and old mines spell trouble for Western water supplies

Photo, posted October 27, 2007, courtesy of Dion Gillard via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Metal From Plants | Earth Wise

March 31, 2020 By EarthWise 2 Comments

Large amounts of metal in soil are generally bad for plants. But there are about 700 species of plants that thrive in metal-rich soils. These plants don’t just tolerate minerals from soil in their bodies but actually seem to hoard them to ridiculous levels.

In areas where soils are naturally rich in nickel, typically in the tropics and Mediterranean basin, plants have either died off or have adapted to become nickel loving. Slicing open a tree with this adaptation produces a neon blue-green sap that is actually one-quarter nickel, which is far more concentrated than the ore that typically feeds commercial nickel smelters.

A group of researchers from the University of Melbourne and other institutions is investigating whether this phenomenon is not just interesting but might also be of real commercial value. They established a plot of land in a rural village in Borneo and have been harvesting growth from nickel-hyper accumulating plants. Every six to twelve months, a farmer shaves off one foot of growth from these plants and either burns or squeezes the metal out. After a short purification, they end up with about 500 pounds of nickel citrate, potentially worth thousands of dollars on international markets.

Phytomining – extracting minerals from hyper-accumulating plants – cannot fully replace traditional mining techniques. But the technology could enable areas with toxic soils to be made productive and might allow mining companies to use plants to clean up their former mines and waste while actually collecting some revenue.

There are other plants that suck up cobalt, zinc, and similarly crucial metals. With growing demand for metals, perhaps it is time to harvest them on the farm.

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Down on the Farm That Harvests Metal From Plants

Photo courtesy of the University of Queensland.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Climate Change And Nutrients

August 15, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Ending hunger isn’t a question of producing enough food. Globally, enough food is produced to feed all 7.7 billion people on the planet. But despite this, approximately 1 in 9 people go hungry. Conflict, natural disasters, and extreme poverty are some of the main drivers of global hunger.

Climate change is another. The more frequent and intense extreme weather events increase food insecurity and malnutrition by destroying land, livestock, crops, and food supplies. Climate change makes growing crops harder every year, especially for those who lack the tools and technology to adapt.

But the challenge of reducing hunger and malnutrition is to not only produce foods that provide enough calories, but to also produce foods that make enough necessary nutrients widely available. According to new research, climate change is projected to significantly reduce the availability of critical nutrients such as protein, iron, and zinc over the next 30 years. The total impact of climate change could reduce global per capita nutrient availability of protein, iron, and zinc by 19.5%, 14.4%, and 14.6%, respectively.

While higher levels of carbon dioxide can boost growth in plants, wheat, rice, corn, barley, potatoes, soybeans, and vegetables are all projected to suffer nutrient losses of about 3% on average by 2050 due to the elevated CO2 levels.

The study, which was co-authored by an international group of researchers and published in the peer-reviewed journal, Lancet Planetary Health, represents the most comprehensive synthesis of the impacts of climate change on the availability of nutrients in the global food supply to date.

Climate change is complicating the quest to end global hunger and malnutrition.

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Rising CO2, climate change projected to reduce availability of nutrients worldwide

Photo, posted April 30, 2015, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Better Zinc-Air Batteries

September 26, 2017 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Zinc-air batteries are metal-air batteries powered by oxidizing zinc with the oxygen from the air. They have high energy densities (as much as five times more energy than lithium-ion batteries) and are more environmentally friendly. Since they are based on abundant zinc, they are potentially much cheaper to produce than the lithium-ion batteries that are used in so many current applications. But because it is difficult and expensive to produce rechargeable versions of these batteries, they have only found limited use in hearing aids, in some film cameras, and in large form to power navigation instruments, oceanographic experiments and railway signals.