The melting of polar ice is not only shifting the levels of our oceans, it is changing the planet Earth itself. Newly minted Ph.D. Sophie Coulson and her colleagues explained in a recent paper in Geophysical Research Letters that, as glacial ice from Greenland, Antarctica, and the Arctic Islands melts, Earth's crust beneath these land masses warps, an impact that can be measured hundreds and perhaps thousands of miles away.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt recently told a group of forestry executives and students that from now on the U.S. government would consider burning wood to generate electricity, commonly known as forest or woody biomass, to be “carbon neutral.”
During this Climate Week, and the upcoming COP26 climate summit of world leaders, corporations will make pledges to decarbonize and policymakers will up the ante on the urgency to transition away from fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy to address threats posed by climate change.
In 2020, renewables generated a record 834 billion kWh of electricity, or about 21% of all the electricity generated in the U.S., according to the Energy Information Administration, coming in second to natural gas at 1,617 billion kWh.
Society has just begun to tap new renewable sources of energy from agriculture and forestlands on a commercial scale that impacts energy markets. Among these sources are biofuels, a small but important component of current fuel consumption in the U.S. transport sector. In 2012, biofuels accounted for roughly 7.1 percent of total transport fuel consumption, or 13.8 billion gallons, unchanged from the previous year. Ethanol, made mostly from corn starch from kernels, is by far the most significant biofuel in the United States, accounting for 94 percent of all biofuel production in 2012. Most of the remainder is biodiesel, which is made from vegetable oils (chiefly soy oil) as well as animal fats, waste oils, and greases.
Congressional members from both sides of the aisle are reminding President Joe Biden about his past promises to uphold the Renewable Fuel Standard as rumors continue to float about significantly lower RFS mandated volumes in the years ahead.
Adriana Bottino-Poage is 6 years old, with cherub cheeks and curls that bounce when she laughs. She likes soccer, art and visiting the library. She dreams of being a scientist and inventing a robot that can pull pollution out of the air. She wants to become the kind of grown-up who can help the world.
Adriana Bottino-Poage is 6 years old, with cherub cheeks and curls that bounce when she laughs. She likes soccer, art and visiting the library. She dreams of being a scientist and inventing a robot that can pull pollution out of the air. She wants to become the kind of grown-up who can help the world.
When the COVID-19 pandemic reached Georgia and healthcare facilities rapidly developed protocols and procedures for providing care in the new era of coronavirus, Emory’s medical students were pulled out of rotations in hospitals and clinics to shelter in place at home. Students were left pondering a world where global pandemics, social and environmental determinants of health, disaster preparedness, and the ability to mitigate risks to exposures are all connected to the health of patients, their families, and their communities. They also needed electives that could be implemented virtually, and soon.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Annual Energy Outlook 2020 (AEO2020) projects that U.S. biofuel production will slowly grow through 2050, primarily driven by economic and policy factors. In the Reference case, which reflects current laws and regulations, biofuels production in 2050 is 18% higher than 2019 levels. However, in a side case with higher global crude oil prices, biofuels such as fuel ethanol and biodiesel are increasingly consumed as substitutes for petroleum products, resulting in 55% growth in biofuels production in 2050 in that case.
