Recent
Biofuels may sound inherently environmentally friendly. But they’ve had bad press in recent years because farmers generally grow them on land that’s suitable for crop production. Now researchers have genetically engineered an aquatic plant that won’t take up farmland. Could they have found a sustainable source of biofuel?...
By OPOHon
Compressed air energy storage (CAES) offers a massive opportunity for energy storage as the world’s needs grow. Population expansion and economic growth are heralding more need than ever for energy. And we need that energy to be both cost-effective and sustainable. Thankfully there are plenty of solutions to...
By OPOHon
China has just connected the world’s most efficient compressed air energy storage (CAES) plant to the grid. It will generate over 132 million kWh of electricity annually, servicing around 60,000 homes in Zhangjiaka city in Hebei province. CAES technology isn’t new. Germany’s Huntorf Power Plant went up in...
If you live in a city, you probably know of a tree-lined avenue or two. How does it make you feel to walk beneath those behemoths? Someone planted those trees before you were born, and now they play an important role in the city. They bring shade, cool...
By OPOHon
This week we hear from Timothy Griffin about Dish Dust, the environmentally friendly dish detergent he created to reduce plastic waste in the kitchen. The idea was to limit plastic waste in the kitchen, as well as getting dishes really clean. It’s likely that there’s a bottle of...
If you consider the stuff that goes in the toilet a waste product, perhaps it’s time to think again. Human waste is a valuable resource that has fertilised the earth since humans existed. Is it time to get over our squeamishness and accept the reality of nature? It’s...
If you’ve ever wondered why farmers do the things they do, read English Pastoral. Because if you, like me, are disconnected from the land which feeds you by several generations, this book might help you return, in feeling at least, to that inheritance that many of us have...
Have you ever stopped to wonder what happens when you flush the toilet? Where exactly does your raw sewage go? Tempting as it is to believe that the contents of your toilet simply disappear when you flush, it’s simply not a reality. In 2020, Surfers Against Sewage produced...
By OPOHon
Switzerland’s glaciers are melting fast and this will affect our water supplies in the future. By the end of the century the ice will only remain above 3500m and we will be facing huge water scarcity in Europe. The glaciers have lost over half their volume in the...
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