Livestock production is an important component of U.S. agriculture, with global demand for meat and dairy expected to double in the coming decades. This increase will lead to intensified grazing on U.S. grasslands, potentially exacerbating water quality degradation from livestock waste runoff into waterways.
Zillow has announced that its real estate property listings in the US will soon feature details about climate risks, including the potential for wildfires, flooding, extreme temperatures, high winds, and poor air quality. Buyers will also see what types of insurance are required or recommended for a property.
When worn, washed, and dried, clothing sheds—dispersing tiny fibers throughout homes, soils, and waterways that can take centuries to degrade.
These fibers, often made of polyester and often too small to see, are a major—if invisible—source of microplastic pollution. By some estimates, fibers from polyester clothing account for nearly half of all microplastics in the natural environment, exacerbating a growing environmental and public health hazard.
Rivers are nature’s highways, supplying nearby areas with life-sustaining water, nutrients, and biodiversity on their journeys to larger bodies of water. These days, however, they are far from pristine. A harmful substance is making its way down rivers and into oceans around the world: plastic debris.
Barriers that are currently preventing the use of greater percentages of biomass-based diesel fuel blended into petroleum diesel have been identified, along with strategies to overcome them, according to researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) tapped the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to support a new $15 million research effort to improve the measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) of carbon dioxide (CO2) removal technologies.
A marine research engine at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is providing scientists with valuable insights into biofuel design for large ocean-going vessels (OGVs) in a multi-lab project focused on reducing total life-cycle carbon emissions from this vital transportation sector.
It’s not hyperbole: global trade depends upon the sea. Every year, 80% of the world’s goods are hauled between continents by giant ships. These boats, known as cargo ships or freighters, come with large tanks, vessels, or metal shipping containers to hold a range of goods, from produce and foodstuffs to the materials, parts, and finished products we can’t live without.
Seaweed, in its many forms, serves distinct purposes. It’s a vitamin-rich snack, with many health benefits. In the water, it provides a safe habitat for sea creatures, absorbing gases and nutrients like carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and phosphorous. It’s even used as an extra ingredient in ice cream, thickening it and preventing ice crystals from building up. But the phrase “too much of a good thing” applies to seaweed, too.
Stakeholders, such as farmers, industry, and local, regional, and national planners, have a powerful, free, and easy-to-access data portal at their command to unlock the power of bioenergy: the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Bioenergy Knowledge Discovery Framework, or BioenergyKDF. The portal, stewarded by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) for DOE’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), is the nation’s premier source of information on biomass potential, providing high-quality data that can guide investments in support of a robust bioeconomy for sustainable, low-carbon energy sources.
