A major study into landscape changes in the Brazilian Amazon sheds new light on the many environmental threats the biome faces – but also offers encouraging opportunities for ecological sustainability in the world’s most biodiverse tropical forest.

Aiming to produce environmentally friendly alternatives to plastic food wrap and containers, a Rutgers scientist has developed a biodegradable, plant-based coating that can be sprayed on foods, guarding against pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms and transportation damage.

Last June, Aaron Flansburg felt the temperature spike and knew what that meant for his canola crop.

As climate change shifts precipitation patterns, irrigation can be a powerful tool for increasing the world’s food supply—feeding more than a billion additional people without converting natural spaces into farmland, according to a new study by Carnegie’s Lorenzo Rosa published in Environmental Research Letters.

“Two of the major disruptions gathering pace in the Australian economy are digital transformation and reducing greenhouse gas emissions to Net Zero,” Dr Alan Finkel AO.

As wind energy occupies an increasingly large share of the energy landscape, a new study by Colorado State University economists and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows that more accurate wind forecasts over the last decade have netted consumers over $150 million per year in energy savings.

The study, published in the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, is based on NOAA’s High Resolution Rapid Refresh model, which provides hourly updated weather forecasts, including wind speed and direction data, for every part of the United States. Every few years, NOAA releases an updated HRRR model to the National Weather Service, while working on the next update at the same time.

Utilities must be able to predict wind patterns accurately and far in advance to determine how much additional energy they must produce from other sources. A bad prediction can cost the utility a lot of money, and those costs are then passed on to consumers. Conversely, a good prediction can result in substantial savings for those same customers.

Read more at: Colorado State University

Increasingly accurate wind forecasts have been providing consumers with about $150 million in energy savings each year. (Photo Credit: NOAA)

Increasing sustainable use of the world’s forests would support economic recovery while providing environmentally friendly wood construction materials.

When the power grid goes down, there’s a step-by-step recovery process – a “blackstart” that up to now has depended on power from gas or hydro turbines spinning away inside a power plant.

Texas A&M graduate Carl McAfee '90 is using polymer chemistry and recycled materials to make a sustainable impact.

Around the world, hundreds of millions of acres of land are being abandoned due to what’s known as “rural outmigration,” or people leaving for urban centers.