By Daniel Boero Vargas and Mandy Chan, Freethink Decarbonizing the steel industry is a crucial challenge to overcome if the world is going to meet its climate goals. Steel production contributes around 11% of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, making it one of the heaviest polluting industries and a heavy-emitting …
Their batteries hurt the environment, but EVs still beat gas cars. Here’s why
By Camila Domonoske, NPR Electric vehicles are sometimes called “zero-emission vehicles.” But the batteries that go into them are not zero-emission at all. In fact, making those batteries takes a lot of (mostly-not-clean) energy and hurts the environment in other ways, a fact that’s become common knowledge after widespread media coverage. Does that environmental damage cancel …
Natural disasters are scaring property insurers away. States are trying to help
Fast Company Months after a catastrophic fire burned more than 2,200 homes in Hawaii, some property owners are getting more bad news—their property insurance won’t be renewed because their insurance company has deemed the risk too high. It’s a problem that has played out in states across the U.S. as climate change and increasing development has …
Will alternative seafood sink or swim?
By Alex Robinson, Corporate Knights Canadian faux fish and seafood startups are hoping to serve ocean-friendly food for a growing planet. When Chris Bryson sees a problem, he has a lot of trouble looking away. In the early days of the pandemic, when pet adoptions were on the rise, he …
The lowly light bulb is the Biden administration’s latest climate-fighting tool
By Gautama Mehta, Grist The DOE is tripling efficiency standards for light bulbs, a move that will cut CO2 emissions by 70 million metric tons and save consumers $27 billion over 30 years. The Department of Energy, or DOE, announced Friday that it’s strengthening energy efficiency requirements for light bulbs …
Can Single European Sky slash aviation emissions by 10%?
By Marta Pacheco, EuroNews Air traffic management measures can play a key role in decreasing emissions but the uptake of sustainable aviation fuels and a clear airspace design between civil and military space is crucial, according to aviation experts. Aviation players were divided on the extent air traffic management measures …
The US aims to ‘crack the code’ on scaling up geothermal energy production
By Oliver Milman, Grist A limitless supply of heat exists beneath our feet within the Earth’s crust, but harnessing it at scale has proved challenging. Now, a combination of new techniques, government support, and the pressing need to secure continuous clean power in an era of climate crisis means that …
Amazon increased US plastic packaging despite global phase-out, report says
By Oliver Milman, The Guardian The same year, 2022, company replaced plastic sleeves in EU with paper and cardboard, and cut plastic packaging globally by 11.6%. The amount of plastic packaging waste created by Amazon has increased in the US even as the online retail giant sought to phase out plastics elsewhere …
This Technology May Tackle 2 Sustainability Challenges in One Fell Swoop
Sustainable Brands Anaerobic digestion offers a solution to two major challenges: food waste and transitioning to clean energy. We spoke with Shawn Kreloff, founder and CEO of Bioenergy Devco, to discuss the technology’s potential. As individuals, companies, and the government work to be more sustainable, food waste remains a challenge. …
Hellmann’s AI-Enabled Tool Reveals Your Fridge’s Meal Potential
By Sustainable Brands Meal Reveal, developed in collaboration with Google Cloud, uses simple fridge scan to help consumers overcome ‘fridge blindness’ and reduce household food waste. Hellmann’s has created a new AI-enabled tool called “Meal Reveal” to help households use up more of the food they have in their fridge with great-tasting …