TL;DR
- A new way to control the motion of bubbles might one day help separate useful metals from useless dirt using much less energy and water than is currently needed.
- With the addition of sensors and enhanced communication tools, providing lightweight, portable power has become even more challenging. New research demonstrated a new approach to turning thermal energy into electricity that could provide compact and efficient power.
- Researchers have discovered a massive enzyme complex from a methanogenic archaeon that directly transfers electrons from the electron bifurcation reaction to CO2 reduction and fixation. Their detailed insights into these efficient energy-transforming processes may open new possibilities for sustainable biotechnological development.
- Using a novel modelling approach, new research reveals the location and intensity of key threats to biodiversity on land and identifies priority areas across the world to help inform conservation decision making at national and local levels.
- Researchers create thin film polymer membranes capable of separating fluoride from chloride and other ions. Targeted ion selectivity by the filtering membranes could have important implications for water purification, environmental remediation and industrial production.
- The speed at which deadwood decomposes in forests depends on the climate as well as on fungi and insects. An international research team has now determined the annual contribution made by deadwood to the global carbon cycle and quantified the importance of insects in the decomposition of wood.
- For many, an increase in living standards would require an increase in energy provision. At the same time, meeting current climate goals under the Paris Agreement would benefit from lower energy use. Researchers have assessed how much energy is needed to provide the global poor with a decent life and have found that this can be reconciled with efforts to meet climate targets.
- A new study suggests corals may be able to cope with climate change in the coming decades better than previously thought — but will still struggle with ever-faster rates of climate change.
- Climate change will significantly alter future patterns of flooding, according to a new study. Although future increases in moderate storms won’t necessarily lead to more runoff in many regions, extreme storms will generate more devastating and frequent flooding.
- Judiciously decomposing organic matter from 700 degrees Fahrenheit to 1,200 degrees F, without oxygen — a process known as pyrolysis — and retaining nutrients from dairy lagoons can transform manure into a manageable, ecologically friendly biochar fertilizer, according to new research.
- New research finds that Indigenous Peoples and local communities provide the best long-term outcomes for conservation. The research team studied the outcomes of 169 conservation projects around the world — primarily across Africa, Asia and Latin America.
- And more!
Green Technology Market
Green technology is an applicable combination of advanced tools and solutions to conserve natural resources and environment, minimize or mitigate negative impacts from human activities on the environment, and ensure sustainability development. Green technology is also referred to as clean technology or environmental technology which includes technologies, such as IoT, AI, analytics, blockchain, digital twin, security, and cloud, which collect, integrate, and analyze data from various real-time data sources, such as sensors, cameras, and Global Positioning System (GPS).
Green technology, also known as sustainable technology, protects the environment by using various forms of sustainable energy. Some of the best examples of green technologies include solar panels, LED lighting, wind energy, electric vehicles, vertical farming, and composting.
The global Green Technology and Sustainability market size to grow from USD 11.2 billion in 2020 to USD 36.6 billion by 2025, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 26.6% during the forecast period. The growing consumer and industrial interest for the use of clean energy resources to conserve environment and increasing use of Radio Frequency Identification sensors across industries are driving the adoption of green technology and sustainability solutions and services in the market.
The blockchain segment is estimated to grow at the highest CAGR: Energy-intensive cryptocurrency mining has caused a spike in carbon emission, and hence blockchain is capable of driving innovation in the field of green technology.
Latest News
- One In Three Countries Lack Legally-Backed Outdoor Air Quality Standards, UN Finds: In a third (34%) of countries, ambient air quality is not yet legally protected, according to the study.
- Efficiency of flexible CIGS solar cells measured at record 21.4%: A group of scientists has pushed the efficiency of flexible solar cells to a new limit. Independent measurements revealed an efficiency of 21.4 percent when these types of solar cells convert light into electricity.
- Solar could power 40% of US electricity by 2035: Solar energy has the potential to supply up to 40% of the nation’s electricity within 15 years, but that would require changes in policy and billions of dollars in federal investment, a new report says.
- Smart windows that protect against solar radiation can help reduce greenhouse gases: Researchers have developed an intelligent coating for glass windows that darkens in the sun. This uses electrochromic and thermochromic materials that react to electricity and heat.
- Amid The Plastic Waste Crisis, A New Scientific Discovery Offers Hope: A team of Chinese scientists has converted a common type of waste plastic into valuable commodities.
- Fuel economy standards could save Malaysia 16.2 billion liters of petrol by 2030: Introducing fuel economy standards will significantly contribute to fuel savings and emissions mitigation in Malaysia, according to new international research.
- World’s Largest Carbon-Sucking Plant Starts Making Tiny Dent in Emissions: Startups Climeworks and Carbfix are working together to store carbon dioxide removed from the air deep underground.
- British Airways Invites Passengers to Pay for Sustainable Fuel: British Airways introduced a mechanism allowing customers to buy so-called sustainable aviation fuel to reduce their carbon footprints.
- Senate Leaders Push ‘Clean Electricity Payment Program’ — A $200 Billion Green New Deal, With Big Implications: If the CEPP gets included in the reconciliation package, it could result in some of the biggest changes to the domestic electric grid.
- California Aims to Ban Recycling Symbols on Things That Aren’t Recyclable: The symbol doesn’t necessarily mean that a product is actually recyclable. A new bill would limit the products allowed to feature the mark.
- Polluting West Balkan Coal Plants Blamed For Thousands Of Deaths In New Report: The report warns the pollution caused by these plants affects not only people in their own countries but also those in the neighbouring EU.
- New report details Switzerland’s geo-energy potential: A nationwide research program explore alternative energy sources, with the goal of fully replacing the country’s nuclear power with renewable energy by 2050.
- IAEA seeks Japan transparency in release of Fukushima water: Experts asked Japan for detailed information about a plan to release treated but still radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean.
- AI-powered tool used to map sustainable roofs globally: Sustainable roofs, such as those with greenery and photovoltaic panels, can contribute to the roadmap for reducing the carbon footprint of cities.
- Extreme U.S. Cold Snaps Linked To Rapid Arctic Warming, Study Finds: The paper is the first to tie February’s lethal winter storm to warming conditions in the Arctic, which are driven by human activities.
- Drought squeezes Brazil’s electricity supply: Brazil’s worst drought in almost a century is threatening electricity supply and critical crops, pushing up energy and food prices.
- South Korea develops eco-friendly way to recycle cardboard: The pandemic, and the resulting boom in online shopping, has caused a surge in cardboard waste from packaging:
- Sila Nano’s Battery Tech May Bring Cheaper Electric Cars — But First A Better Fitness Tracker: The Silicon Valley-based battery materials company has developed silicon-based anodes to help get lower-cost, longer-range electric cars on the road.
- Toyota To Spend $13.5 Billion By 2030 On Battery Production: The company said it wants to slash the cost of its batteries by at least 30%, primarily by looking for lower cost materials and a more efficient way to structure its battery cells.
- Hyundai Making Big Hydrogen Push With Cheaper Fuel Cells For Trucks, Drones And Sports Car: The Korean industrial giant says hydrogen is essential for cutting carbon emissions and intends to roll out a cheaper, smaller fuel cell system.
- ClimateTech Updates For August 2021: Exciting news in the ClimateTech universe this month from Arenko and Storegga.
Latest Research
Dynamically structured bubbling in vibrated gas-fluidized granular materials
by Qiang Guo, Yuxuan Zhang, Azin Padash, Kenan Xi, Thomas M. Kovar, Christopher M. Boyce in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
A new way to control the motion of bubbles from researchers at Columbia Engineering might one day help separate useful metals from useless dirt using much less energy and water than is currently needed.
When mining for metals such as the copper used in most electronics and the lithium used in many batteries, only a small fraction of the material that is mined is useful metal, with the vast majority just useless dirt-like particles.
“We have to separate the useful metals from the useless particles, and we do this by blowing air bubbles up through them,” said Chris Boyce, assistant professor of chemical engineering at Columbia Engineering. However, “this process utilizes a large amount of energy and water, causing climate change and water shortages, thus creating problems we are trying to prevent. We have this issue in part because we currently cannot control the motion of these bubbles.”
Now Boyce and his colleagues reveal that if they vibrate these particles while blowing air up through them, the normally chaotic motion of these bubbles becomes orderly and controllable. The vibrations cause the particles to quickly shift between solid-like to fluid-like behavior, which in turn helps structure the bubbles into regularly spaced triangular arrays.
“I think the simple addition of vibration to go from chaos to order is beautiful,” Boyce said.
Having a way to control the behavior of these bubbles can help scale up and optimize separation techniques. “We expect that the ability to create structure in flows can reduce energy and water use in mining as well as improve the efficiency of many clean energy processes,” Boyce said.
The researchers now aim to apply this structured bubbling to sustainable mining separation techniques.
Near-field thermophotovoltaics for efficient heat to electricity conversion at high power density
by Rohith Mittapally, Byungjun Lee, Linxiao Zhu, Amin Reihani, Ju Won Lim, Dejiu Fan, Stephen R. Forrest, Pramod Reddy, Edgar Meyhofer in Nature Communications
With the addition of sensors and enhanced communication tools, providing lightweight, portable power has become even more challenging. New research demonstrated a new approach to turning thermal energy into electricity that could provide compact and efficient power for soldiers on future battlefields.
Hot objects radiate light in the form of photons into their surroundings. The emitted photons can be captured by a photovoltaic cell and converted to useful electric energy. This approach to energy conversion is called far-field thermophotovoltaics, or FF-TPVs, and has been under development for many years; however, it suffers from low power density and therefore requires high operating temperatures of the emitter.
The research, conducted at the University of Michigan demonstrates a new approach, where the separation between the emitter and the photovoltaic cell is reduced to the nanoscale, enabling much greater power output than what is possible with FF-TPVs for the same emitter temperature.
This approach, which enables capture of energy that is otherwise trapped in the near-field of the emitter is called near-field thermophotovoltaics or NF-TPV and uses custom-built photovoltaic cells and emitter designs ideal for near-field operating conditions.
This technique exhibited a power density almost an order of magnitude higher than that for the best-reported near-field-TPV systems, while also operating at six-times higher efficiency, paving the way for future near-field-TPV applications, according to Dr. Edgar Meyhofer, professor of mechanical engineering, University of Michigan.
“The Army uses large amounts of power during deployments and battlefield operations and must be carried by the Soldier or a weight constrained system,” said Dr. Mike Waits, U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command’s Army Research Laboratory. “If successful, in the future near-field-TPVs could serve as more compact and higher efficiency power sources for Soldiers as these devices can function at lower operating temperatures than conventional TPVs.”
The efficiency of a TPV device is characterized by how much of the total energy transfer between the emitter and the photovoltaic cell is used to excite the electron-hole pairs in the photovoltaic cell. While increasing the temperature of the emitter increases the number of photons above the band-gap of the cell, the number of sub band-gap photons that can heat up the photovoltaic cell need to be minimized.
“This was achieved by fabricating thin-film TPV cells with ultra-flat surfaces, and with a metal back reflector,” said Dr. Stephen Forrest, professor of electrical and computer engineering, University of Michigan. “The photons above the band-gap of the cell are efficiently absorbed in the micron-thick semiconductor, while those below the band-gap are reflected back to the silicon emitter and recycled.”
The team grew thin-film indium gallium arsenide photovoltaic cells on thick semiconductor substrates, and then peeled off the very thin semiconductor active region of the cell and transferred it to a silicon substrate.
All these innovations in device design and experimental approach resulted in a novel near-field TPV system.
“The team has achieved a record ~5 kW/m2 power output, which is an order of magnitude larger than systems previously reported in the literature,” said Dr. Pramod Reddy, professor of mechanical engineering, University of Michigan.
Researchers also performed state-of-the-art theoretical calculations to estimate the performance of the photovoltaic cell at each temperature and gap size and showed good agreement between the experiments and computational predictions.
“This current demonstration meets theoretical predictions of radiative heat transfer at the nanoscale, and directly shows the potential for developing future near-field TPV devices for Army applications in power and energy, communication and sensors,” said Dr. Pani Varanasi, program manager, DEVCOM ARL.
Three-megadalton complex of methanogenic electron-bifurcating and CO 2 -fixing enzymes
by Tomohiro Watanabe, Olivia Pfeil-Gardiner, Jörg Kahnt, Jürgen Koch, Seigo Shima, Bonnie J. Murphy in Science
Methanogenic archaea use sophisticated enzyme systems to live in energy-limited anoxic environments. A key mechanism for saving energy is electron bifurcation, a reaction that ‘splits’ the energy of a pair of electrons, making one more strongly reducing at the expense of the other. Researchers from the Max Planck Institutes for Terrestrial Microbiology (Marburg) and Biophysics (Frankfurt am Main) have discovered a massive enzyme complex from a methanogenic archaeon that directly transfers electrons from the electron bifurcation reaction to CO2 reduction and fixation. Their detailed insights into these efficient energy-transforming processes may open new possibilities for sustainable biotechnological development.
An estimated 1 billion tons of methane is produced each year by anaerobic microorganisms called methanogenic archaea. As methane is a potent greenhouse gas, increasing atmospheric concentrations of methane threaten lives and livelihoods. On the other hand, capturing the methane produced biologically by anaerobic digestion of wastes and wastewater may represent a renewable source of fuel. Therefore, understanding the mechanisms of microbial methane formation has the potential to stimulate and support environmental conservation efforts.
Methanogenic archaea successfully compete by performing methanogenesis, one of the final steps of anaerobic breakdown of organic nutrients, often under extreme conditions. Most methanogenic archaea produce methane from carbon dioxide (CO2) and hydrogen gas (H2) via the methanogenic cycle, involving multiple enzyme reactions. In typical methanogenic habitats, this reaction releases only a small amount of energy, so methanogens need highly efficient enzyme systems to thrive in such energy-limited environments.
A particularly sophisticated step of the methanogenic cycle is called flavin-based electron bifurcation (FBEB). In this reaction the energy of a pair of electrons is split, so that one electron becomes more strongly reducing at the expense of the other. It was assumed that methanogens transfer the high-energy electron from this reaction to fix CO2 via a small electron carrier protein, ferredoxin, which diffuses freely in the cell.
Surprisingly, a research team at the MPI for Terrestrial Microbiology (Marburg) and the MPI of Biophysics (Frankfurt) has shown that such an electron carrier is not needed to transfer electrons from FBEB to CO2 reduction. The researchers purified enzyme complexes consisting of formate dehydrogenase (Fdh), heterodisulfide reductase (Hdr) and formylmethanofuran dehydrogenase (Fmd) from the methanogenic archaeon Methanospirillum hungatei. This species, as well as many other methanogens, is often found in anaerobic digesters that treat organic wastes, such as municipal wastewater or industrial waste.
The researchers characterized the function of the enzyme complexes with enzyme assays and solved structures by cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM). The structures revealed that the enzymes catalyzing the last and first steps of the methanogenic cycle form a massive complex, thereby directly connecting two steps, namely the formate-driven FBEB and reduction of CO2, without using the diffusible electron-carrier protein ferredoxin.
“Our structural analysis revealed a gigantic enzyme complex,” says Tomohiro Watanabe, lead author of the study. “An electron-transfer chain protein, polyferredoxin, forms a conductive pathway that leads the high-energy electrons from FBEB directly to CO2 reduction, rather than via a soluble carrier. This means there is less opportunity to lose these precious electrons.”
Structural comparisons and previously published interaction assays suggest that such higher-order structures of the Hdr and Fmd complexes could be common in diverse methanogenic archaea. The structures also provided new insight into the fine-tuned mechanism of FBEB. Corresponding author Bonnie Murphy explains: “The method of cryo-EM allows us to use image classification to solve structures of different conformational states present within the same sample. In this case, we found that two different conformational states of the complex differed by a large rotation of a portion we are calling the ‘mobile arm’. By rotating between these two states, the complex controls electron flow into and out of the FBEB site.”
Together, these findings help us to understand how the energy metabolism of methanogenic archaea is fine-tuned for efficiency: by controlling electron flow into and out of FBEB and by allowing direct transfer of high-energy electrons for CO2 fixation. This knowledge will be helpful in designing strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and may allow wider application of electron bifurcation in biotechnology.
Decent living gaps and energy needs around the world
by Jarmo S Kikstra, Alessio Mastrucci, Jihoon Min, Keywan Riahi, Narasimha D Rao in Environmental Research Letters
For many, an increase in living standards would require an increase in energy provision. At the same time, meeting current climate goals under the Paris Agreement would benefit from lower energy use. IIASA researchers have assessed how much energy is needed to provide the global poor with a decent life and have found that this can be reconciled with efforts to meet climate targets.
In the fight to eradicate poverty around the world and achieve decent living standards (DLS), having sufficient energy is a key requirement. Despite international commitments such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals, in many areas progress on achieving DLS worldwide has been slow. There are also fears that improving energy access could lead to higher carbon dioxide emissions, which would interfere with goals to alleviate climate change.
In a new study, IIASA researchers used a multidimensional approach to poverty to conduct a comprehensive global study on DLS. The researchers identified gaps in DLS by region and estimated how much energy is needed to fill them. They also assessed whether providing everyone with a decent life is compatible with climate goals
Studies on poverty often use an income-based definition for defining poverty thresholds ($1.90/day or $5.50/day), which obscures that there are other factors contributing to human wellbeing more directly. In contrast, DLS represent a set of material prerequisites to provide the services needed for wellbeing, such as having adequate shelter, nutrition, clean water, sanitation, cooking stoves and refrigeration, and being able to connect physically and socially via transportation and communication technologies. Crucially, this allows for calculation of the resources needed to provide these basic services.
The largest gaps in DLS were found in sub-Saharan Africa, where more than 60% of the population are lacking in at least half of the DLS indicators. The researchers also identified high DLS deprivation in indicators such as sanitation and water access, access to clean cooking, and thermal comfort in South and Pacific Asia, and more moderate gaps in other regions. One of the most striking findings of the study was that the number of people deprived of basic needs according to DLS generally far exceeds the number of people in extreme poverty, meaning that current poverty thresholds are often inconsistent with a decent life.
When looking at which components of DLS require the most investment in energy, the researchers identified shelter and transport as having the largest share.
“The majority of the global population does not currently have decent levels of motorized transport. An important policy lesson for national governments is the large impact of investing in public transit to reduce the use of passenger vehicles, which generally have much higher energy use per person,” says Jarmo Kikstra, lead author of the study and a researcher in the IIASA Energy, Climate, and Environment Program.
The upfront energy required globally to build new houses, roads, and other materials to enable DLS provision for all from 2015 to 2040 is about 12 exajoules per year. This is only a fraction of current total final energy use, which exceeds 400 exajoules per year. The increase in annual energy for operating this increase in services, including maintenance costs, is more substantial, eventually increasing by about 68 exajoules. For some countries, reaching this goal would require robust changes in development, which will be challenging, especially in the Global South.
“For most countries, especially many poor countries in Africa, unprecedented growth in energy use as well as more equitably distributed growth are essential to achieving DLS before mid-century,” Kikstra adds. “Therefore, the biggest challenge for policymakers will be to achieve an equitable distribution of energy access worldwide, which is currently still out of reach.”
According to the study, the amount of energy needed for decent living worldwide is less than half of the total final energy demand projected under most future pathways that keep temperature rise below 1.5° C. This indicates that achieving DLS for all does not have to interfere with climate goals. While this ratio changes in different climate mitigation scenarios and by region, the energy needs for DLS always remain well below the projected energy demands on the level of larger global regions.
“To achieve decent living conditions worldwide, it seems that we do not have to limit energy access to basic services as there is a surplus of total energy. What is perhaps unexpected is that even under very ambitious poverty eradication and climate mitigation scenarios, there is quite a lot of energy still available for affluence,” says study author Alessio Mastrucci.
“Our results support the view that on a global scale, energy for eradicating poverty does not pose a threat for mitigating climate change. However, to provide everyone with a decent life, energy redistribution across the world and unprecedented final energy growth in many poor countries is required,” concludes study author, Jihoon Min.
The contribution of insects to global forest deadwood decomposition
by Sebastian Seibold, Werner Rammer, Torsten Hothorn, Rupert Seidl, Michael D. Ulyshen, Janina Lorz, Marc W. Cadotte, David B. Lindenmayer, et al. in Nature
Living trees absorb a considerable amount of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and therefore play an important role in the protection of our climate. Little is known about the role of dead trees in the global carbon cycle, though. The decomposition of wood and the recycling of the nutrients it contains are among the most important processes to take place in forests.
How much carbon is released from decaying wood worldwide? What role do insects play in this process? These questions have now been studied in a global research project established by the Bavarian Forest National Park and coordinated by the Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (JMU) and the Technical University of Munich (TUM).
At 55 forest locations on six continents, researchers laid out wood from more than 140 tree species to assess the influence of the climate on the rate of decomposition. Half of the wood was placed in mesh cages. These cages prevented insects from being involved in the decomposition and allowed quantifying their contribution to wood decomposition..
The collected data demonstrates that the rate of decomposition and the contribution of insects are highly dependent on the climate, and increase as the temperature rises. Higher levels of precipitation accelerate the decomposition in warmer regions and slow it down in regions where the temperatures are lower.
50 research groups worldwide completed the three year experiment, sometimes under exceptionally difficult conditions. It was necessary to use elaborate measures to protect some areas from elephants. One area was lost to a forest fire and reconstructed, while another area was flooded.
“On the basis of the experiment, we were able to model the role that deadwood plays in the global carbon cycle,” explains Rupert Seidl, Professor of Ecosystem Dynamics and Forest Management at the Technical University of Munich (TUM). “According to the report, some 10.9 giga-tons of carbon are released from deadwood worldwide every year. In this context, part of the carbon is absorbed into the soil, while another part is released into the atmosphere. The amount of carbon released from deadwood is equivalent to roughly 115 percent of the emissions from fossil fuels,” adds Dr. Werner Rammer, a scientist at TUM who played the leading role in the global calculations.
“At 93 percent, tropical forests contribute disproportionately to this result due to their high wood mass combined with their rapid decomposition processes. Decomposition in temperate and boreal forests is considerably slower indicating that deadwood stores carbon over long time periods in these regions. Insects account for almost one third of wood decomposition, although this is mostly confined to the tropics. In boreal and temperate forests, the contributions made by insects are small, though,” explains PD Dr. Sebastian Seibold, lead author of the study.
“The study highlights the role played by deadwood in the global carbon cycle and the functional importance of insects in the decomposition of wood. In this way, we are closing another gap in the global modelling of carbon cycles,” explains Professor Jörg Müller, Head of Research at the Bavarian Forest National Park and the Ecological Station at JMU Würzburg.
“At a time of global change, we can see some dramatic declines in biodiversity and changes in climate. This study has demonstrated that both climate change and the loss of insects have the potential to alter the decomposition of wood, and therefore, the carbon and nutrient cycles worldwide,” explains PD Dr. Seibold.
Using the IUCN Red List to map threats to terrestrial vertebrates at global scale
by Michael B. J. Harfoot, Alison Johnston, Andrew Balmford, Neil D. Burgess, Stuart H. M. Butchart, Maria P. Dias, Carolina Hazin, Craig Hilton-Taylor, Michael Hoffmann, Nick J. B. Isaac, Lars L. Iversen, Charlotte L. Outhwaite, Piero Visconti, Jonas Geldmann in Nature Ecology & Evolution
Using a novel modelling approach, new research reveals the location and intensity of key threats to biodiversity on land and identifies priority areas across the world to help inform conservation decision making at national and local levels.
A team of leading researchers have produced global maps for the six main threats affecting terrestrial amphibians, birds and mammals: agriculture, hunting and trapping, logging, pollution, invasive species, and climate change. Results show that agriculture and logging are pervasive in the tropics and that hunting and trapping is the most geographically widespread threat to mammals and birds. There are sizeable continental areas in which there is more than a 50% chance that any particular amphibian, mammal or bird species is threatened by logging, hunting and trapping, agriculture, invasive species or climate change.
The world is facing a global nature crisis, yet information about the location and intensity of the threats responsible for biodiversity loss remains limited. Information on the spatial intensity of threats and how they affect species on the ground is critically important to improving and targeting conservation responses. This study presents both a first attempt to map this information and a research track to improve our understanding of how threats to biodiversity vary across the world.
Using the IUCN Red List to map threats to terrestrial vertebrates on a global scale identifies the most prevalent threat for each taxa. It finds that agriculture is the greatest threat to amphibians, being the most prevalent threat to these species across 44% of global lands. For birds and mammals, hunting and trapping is most prevalent, ranking as the highest threat across 50% of land for birds and 73% of land for mammals. Agriculture is the most prevalent threat for amphibians, mammals, and birds combined.
The research also identifies locations where threats are particularly prevalent. In Southeast Asia, particularly the islands of Sumatra and Borneo, as well as Madagascar, there is a high risk of impact from all six threats to amphibians, birds, and mammals. For amphibians, Europe stood out as a region of high threat impact due to a combination of agriculture, invasive species and pollution. Polar regions, the east coast of Australia and South Africa are mostly likely to be impacted by climate change, affecting birds in particular.
Dr. Mike Harfoot, one of the two lead authors of the paper, UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), says: “We are facing a global nature crisis, and the next ten years is a crucial window for taking decisive action to tackle biodiversity loss. Our results reveal the location and intensity of human-caused threats to nature. This information can support decision-makers at a range of levels in identifying where action to reduce these threats could yield the best results for people and planet. With further work, we will improve this information in terms of accuracy and the breadth of nature considered.”
To help guide conservation action, the authors also combined threat impact data with spatial information on biodiversity importance to create conservation risk maps that identify high priority areas for threat mitigation. These maps are one tool that can support and inform decision-making on national and other levels as appropriate. The areas identified include the Himalayas, Southeast Asia, the east coast of Australia, the dry forest of Madagascar, the Albertine Rift and East Arc Mountains in eastern Africa, the Guinean forests of West Africa, the Atlantic Forest, the Amazon basin and the Northern Andes into Panama and Costa Rica in South and Central America.
Dr. Jonas Geldmann, Assistant Professor, Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, University of Copenhagen, and co-lead author of this paper says: “These maps also reveal that priority areas for one threat rarely overlap with that of other threats, meaning that to effectively respond to the current human impact on biodiversity we need a global response.”
Dr. Piero Visconti, a study co-author who leads the Biodiversity, Ecology, and Conservation Research Group at IIASA, says: “Despite ubiquitous sensors and advanced technology, we still know so little about the exact location and intensity of some of the most important threats to species such as hunting and trapping and the presence of invasive species. On-the-ground surveys are irreplaceable to have an accurate local picture of the distribution and impacts of these threats, but they are challenging and resource-intensive, therefore difficult to do at the scale at which some conservation decisions are made. This analysis is an important first step that can help efficiently direct local assessments of specific threats to terrestrial biodiversity, and start identifying the most appropriate local solutions.”
In 2022, the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity will meet in Kunming, China, and is expected to adopt a post-2020 global biodiversity framework, a new global plan for nature. The research helps to demonstrate the various types and geographic breadth of the threats to terrestrial species, and so the scale of the challenge for transformation that the framework must deliver if we are to conserve life on Earth.
Plant uptake of nitrogen adsorbed to biochars made from dairy manure
by Leilah Krounbi, Akio Enders, John Gaunt, Margaret Ball, Johannes Lehmann in Scientific Reports
Cow manure — a longtime agricultural waste headache for dairy farmers — soon may ignite a new sustainable fertilizing trend.
Judiciously decomposing organic matter from 700 degrees Fahrenheit to 1,200 degrees F, without oxygen — a process known as pyrolysis, very different from incineration — and retaining nutrients from dairy lagoons can transform manure into a manageable, ecologically friendly biochar fertilizer, according to new research. That would allow dairy producers to stop storing excreta in on-farm lagoons or spreading it only in nearby fields.
“Manure is usually a liquid problem and it has increasingly been an issue of disposal,” said Johannes Lehmann, professor in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University. “Using pyrolysis of solid manure and retention of nutrients from the liquid onto the biochar, we can create a fertilizer from waste. That’s a marketable commodity.”
Commercial fertilizer made of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium is created using carbon inputs like natural gas, sulfur, coal and rock deposits. If agriculture can recycle nitrogen, Lehmann said, farming can reduce the carbon input that comes from fossil fuel.
“Once we make a dry fertilizer out of what was once a liquid problem, it is no longer an issue of disposal,” said Lehmann, a Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability faculty fellow. “It’s safe because the solids are pyrolyzed. There are no pathogens, no hormones or antibiotics residues or any other material that could contaminate soil or water.”
Nitrogen management is a major challenge throughout the farming world. In New York state, for example, dairy manure waste production averages 12.8 million metric tons annually, which can easily fertilize the state’s 43,000 acres of corn. If a farmer grows 200 acres of corn, that producer spends about $28,000 annually for commercial fertilizer, while a dairy farmer with 550 cows spends about $25,000 annually on manure storage, according to the paper.
“Coupling the local excess of manure nutrients with regional fertilizer needs could help farmers save money and alleviate environmental issues,” said doctoral student Leilah Krounbi, the paper’s lead author.
“You’re reducing the volume of the solid waste product that has 90% water and reducing it to zero water,” Lehmann said. “If we retain nutrients from the liquid as we have shown in this study, you’re going from these huge lagoons that are noticeably emitting odor and climate gases such as methane and reducing that footprint by an order of magnitude. That’s a huge saving all around.”
An extremeness threshold determines the regional response of floods to changes in rainfall extremes
by Manuela I. Brunner, Daniel L. Swain, Raul R. Wood, Florian Willkofer, James M. Done, Eric Gilleland, Ralf Ludwig in Communications Earth & Environment
Climate change will significantly alter future patterns of flooding, according to a new study led in part by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). Although future increases in moderate storms won’t necessarily lead to more runoff in many regions, extreme storms will generate more devastating and frequent flooding.
The reason that increasing precipitation will have these differing impacts on flooding has to do with the influence of warmer temperatures on both atmosphere and land, the study found. At the same time that warmer temperatures will cause the atmosphere to release more moisture, they will dry out soils and enable the land to absorb more rain and snowmelt.
As a result, the water from moderate cloudbursts can seep into the ground instead of inundating the landscape. But the drenching precipitation from extreme storms, which are becoming more frequent with climate change, will saturate the soil and cause increases in flooding, according to advanced computer simulations by the research team.
“It may seem counterintuitive, but climate change can lead to both reduced flooding for moderate rainfall and increased flooding for extreme rainfall,” said the study’s lead author, Manuela Brunner. “This is especially dangerous if a lack of changes in moderate events gives us a false sense of security when, in fact, extreme flood events will become increasingly likely and potentially cause more extensive damage.”
The threshold for increases in precipitation leading to more flooding varies according to season, elevation, and other factors, the researchers found. The study’s findings could have significant implications for infrastructure design and flood risk mitigation strategies.
Brunner, a visiting scientist at NCAR, conducted her research as an NCAR postdoctoral fellow. She is currently a lecturer at the University of Freiburg. The research team also includes scientists from the University of Munich, the University of California Los Angeles, and the Nature Conservancy.
Major deluges, such as the torrential rains that caused devastating flooding in western Europe this summer, have heightened concerns about the impacts of a changing climate. But streamflow observations across much of the world have provided mixed evidence regarding the response of flooding to increasingly intense downpours.
To better determine the relationship between precipitation and flooding in a warming world, the research team used a combination of a climate model and a hydrologic model to run a large ensemble of simulations, comparing historical conditions in the late twentieth century with projected warmer conditions at the end of this century. Their approach enabled them to capture both the atmospheric response to climate change and conditions at the surface such as streamflow and soil moisture. It also allowed the scientists to evaluate a significant number of extreme events, such as 100-year floods that are rarely observed in the real world.
The research team applied the modeling to 78 watersheds in Bavaria, but their approach is also applicable for watersheds elsewhere.
The results showed there are thresholds, depending on the catchment, beyond which increases in intense precipitation translate to increases in flooding because precipitation overwhelms the ability of the land to absorb all the moisture. In some cases, the threshold might be a 1-in-10-year event or “return interval”; in other cases, the return interval may be a 1-in-50-year or even more extreme event. The variations depend in part on season and elevation, as well as the size of river basins.
“Flooding is not just about precipitation. It’s also about snow and soil and other catchment characteristics,” Brunner said. “It’s important to understand that you can’t just apply the same change factor to every kind of flood event.”
The study did not look at urban settings in which paved surfaces are largely impermeable and lead to a relatively direct relationship between increasing precipitation and flooding. But its findings are relevant to regions in the world with temperate climates and hydrological systems that are driven by precipitation or snowmelt.
“Antecedent conditions such as soil moisture are important in modulating moderate events,” Brunner said. “The hydrologic response to precipitation varies, and we need to understand these variations in order to strengthen society’s resilience to floods.”
Coral adaptation to climate change: Meta‐analysis reveals high heritability across multiple traits
by Kevin R. Bairos‐Novak, Mia O. Hoogenboom, Madeleine J. H. Oppen, Sean R. Connolly in Global Change Biology
A new study suggests corals may be able to cope with climate change in the coming decades better than previously thought — but will still struggle with ever-faster rates of climate change.
Lead author Kevin Bairos-Novak is a PhD candidate at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University (Coral CoE at JCU). He said the rate at which corals can adapt to climate change depends on what is passed down from their parents.
“We looked at all previous coral studies examining what is called ‘heritability’ and this allowed us to look at how parent corals’ survival under environmental stress is likely to be passed down, through genes, to their offspring,” Mr Bairos-Novak said. “We found their ability to pass on adaptive traits is maintained despite increasing temperatures. In particular, corals that are better than average at survival, growth and resisting bleaching stress under future ocean conditions should be good at passing those advantages on to their offspring.”
However, while the study is good news, the authors warn that making the most of this capacity for adaptation will require reducing the current rate of global warming.
“Though temperature increases don’t appear to influence the ability of corals to pass on adaptive traits, the damage that we are already seeing to coral reefs from climate change tells us that the current rates of change are too fast for coral adaptation to keep up,” said co-author Associate Professor Mia Hoogenboom, also from Coral CoE at JCU.
“Climate change is rapidly intensifying across the globe,” said co-author Professor Sean Connolly from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. He said if climate change is too fast then there isn’t sufficient time for evolution to generate new variations to cope with even more stressful conditions.
“Adapting to change means a species can persist in an altered environment for longer,” Professor Connolly said. “But as new conditions arise, evolution needs time to generate new variation in coral traits, such as temperature tolerance, which can then spread in the population if they are beneficial. So, if we can curb climate change, and stabilise temperatures, many coral species will have a shot at adapting to warmer temperatures.”
The study is a synthesis of 95 trait measurements across 19 species of reef-building corals.
“The fossil record tells us that times of rapid environmental change are a major challenge to life, and can lead to very high rates of extinction,” Mr Bairos-Novak said. “This is a challenge faced by all living organisms during such times.”
“However, our findings show that corals are fighters. They are good at passing beneficial traits onto the next generation and the next — helping them cope with the stresses they face.” “And this is what may help them navigate the next few decades better than we previously thought.”
Interaction-based ion selectivity exhibited by self-assembled, cross-linked zwitterionic copolymer membranes
by Samuel J. Lounder, Ayse Asatekin in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
A team of scientists at the Tufts University School of Engineering has developed a new filtering technology inspired by biology that could help curb a drinking water-related disease that affects tens of millions of people worldwide and potentially improve environmental remediation, industrial and chemical production, and mining, among other processes.
The researchers demonstrated that their novel polymer membranes can separate fluoride from chloride and other ions — electically charged atoms — with twice the selectivity reported by other methods. They say application of the technology could prevent fluoride toxicity in water supplies where the element occurs naturally at levels too high for human consumption.
It is well known that adding fluoride to a water supply can reduce the incidence of tooth decay, including cavities. Less well known is the fact that some groundwater supplies have such high natural levels of fluoride that they can lead to severe health problems. Prolonged exposure to excess fluoride can cause fluorosis, a condition that can actually weaken the teeth, calcify tendons and ligaments, and lead to bone deformities. The World Health Organization estimates that excessive fluoride concentrations in drinking-water have caused tens of millions of dental and skeletal fluorosis cases worldwide.
The ability to remove fluoride with a relatively inexpensive filtering membrane could protect communities from fluorosis without requiring the use of high-pressure filtration or having to completely remove all components and then re-mineralize the drinking water.
“The potential for ion selective membranes to reduce excess fluoride in drinking water supplies is very encouraging,” said Ayse Asatekin, associate professor of chemical and biological engineering in the School of Engineering. “But the technology’s potential usefulness extends beyond drinking water to other challenges. The method we used to manufacture the membranes is easy to scale up for industrial applications. And because the implementation as a filter can also be relatively simple, low cost and environmentally sustainable, it could have wide applications to improving agricultural water supplies, cleaning up chemical waste, and improving chemical production. For example, theoretically the process could improve yields from limited geological reserves of lithium for sustainable lithium battery production or uranium needed for nuclear power generation”.
In developing the design of the synthetic membranes, Asatekin’s team was inspired by biology. Cell membranes are remarkably selective in allowing the passage of ions into and out of the cell, and they can even regulate the internal and external concentrations of ions and molecules with great precision.
Biological ion channels create a more selective environment for the passage of these small ions by lining the channels with functional chemical groups that have different sizes and charges and different affinity for water. The interaction between the passing ions and these groups are forced by the nanometer dimensions of the channel pores, and the rate of passage is affected by the strength or weakness of the interactions.
The filtration membranes created by Asatekin’s team were designed by coating a zwitterionic polymer — a polymer in which molecular groups contain closely linked positive and negative charges on their surface — onto a porous support, creating membranes with channels narrower than a nanometer surrounded by both water repelling and plus and minus-charged chemical groups. As with the biological channels, the very small size of the pores forces the ions to interact with the charged and water repelling groups in the pores, allowing some ions to pass much faster than others. In the current study, the composition of the polymer was made to target the selection of fluoride vs chloride. By altering the composition of the zwitterionic polymer, it should be possible to target the selection of different ions, the researchers say.
Most current filtering membranes separate molecules by significant differences in particle or molecular size and charge but have difficulty distinguishing single atom ions from each other because of their small size and when their electric charges are nearly identical. By contrast, the Tufts researchers’ membranes are capable of separating ions that differ by only a fraction of their atomic diameter even when their electric charges are nearly identical.
The role of Indigenous peoples and local communities in effective and equitable conservation
by Neil M. Dawson, Brendan Coolsaet, Eleanor J. Sterling, Robin Loveridge, Nicole D, Gross-Camp, Supin Wongbusarakum, Kamaljit K. Sangha, Lea M. Scherl, Hao Phuong Phan, Noelia Zafra-Calvo, Warren G. Lavey, Patrick Byakagaba, C. Julián Idrobo, Aude Chenet, Nathan J. Bennett, Stephanie Mansourian, Francisco J. Rosado-May in Ecology and Society
Indigenous Peoples and local communities provide the best long-term outcomes for conservation, according to new research from the University of East Anglia (UEA) and partners in France.
Lead author, Dr Neil Dawson of UEA’s School of International Development, was part of an international team conducting a systematic review that found conservation success is “the exception rather than the rule.” But the study suggests the answer could be equitable conservation, which empowers and supports the environmental stewardship of Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
The research team studied the outcomes of 169 conservation projects around the world — primarily across Africa, Asia and Latin America.
From restoring national forests in Taiwan and community gardens in Nepal, to watershed restoration in the Congo, sustainable fisheries in Norway, game management in Zambia, and preserving wetlands in Ghana — the team took into account a range of projects.
They investigated how governance — the arrangements and decision making behind conservation efforts — affects both nature and the well-being of Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
Dr Dawson, a Research Fellow, examines poverty, wellbeing and environmental justice among rural populations, particularly poor and marginalised social and ethnic groups, and is a Steering Committee member of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy (IUCN CEESP).
Dr Dawson said: “This study shows it is time to focus on who conserves nature and how, instead of what percentage of the Earth to fence off.”
“Conservation led by Indigenous Peoples and local communities, based on their own knowledge and tenure systems, is far more likely to deliver positive outcomes for nature. In fact, conservation very often fails because it excludes and undervalues local knowledge and this often infringes on rights and cultural diversity along the way.”
International conservation organisations and governments often lead the charge on conservation projects, excluding or controlling local practices, most prominently through strict protected areas.
The study recommends Indigenous Peoples and local communities need to be at the helm of conservation efforts, with appropriate support from outside, including policies and laws that recognise their knowledge systems.” Furthermore, it is imperative to shift to this approach without delay, Dr Dawson said.
“Current policy negotiations, especially the forthcoming UN climate and biodiversity summits, must embrace and be accountable for ensuring the central role of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in mainstream climate and conservation programs. Otherwise, they will likely set in stone another decade of well-meaning practices that result in both ecological decline and social harms.
“Whether for tiger reserves in India, coastal communities in Brazil or wildflower meadows in the UK, the evidence shows that the same basis for successful conservation through stewardship holds true. Currently, this is not the way mainstream conservation efforts work.”
From an initial pool of over 3,000 publications, 169 were found to provide detailed evidence of both the social and ecological sides of conservation. Strikingly, the authors found that 56 per cent of the studies investigating conservation under ‘local’ control reported positive outcomes for both human well-being and conservation.
For ‘externally’ controlled conservation, only 16 per cent reported positive outcomes and more than a third of cases resulted in ineffective conservation and negative social outcomes, in large part due to the conflicts arising with local communities. However, simply granting control to local communities does not automatically guarantee conservation success.
Local institutions are every bit as complex as the ecosystems they govern, and this review highlights that a number of factors must align to realise successful stewardship. Community cohesion, shared knowledge and values, social inclusion, effective leadership and legitimate authority are important ingredients that are often disrupted through processes of globalisation, modernisation or insecurity, and can take many years to re-establish.
Additionally, factors beyond the local community can greatly impede local stewardship, such as laws and policies that discriminate against local customs and systems in favour of commercial activities. Moving towards more equitable and effective conservation can therefore be seen as a continuous and collaborative process.
Dr Dawson said: “Indigenous Peoples’ and local communities’ knowledge systems and actions are the main resource that can generate successful conservation. To try to override them is counterproductive, but it continues, and the current international policy negotiations and resulting pledges to greatly increase the global area of land and sea set aside for conservation are neglecting this key point.
“Conservation strategies need to change, to recognize that the most important factor in achieving positive conservation outcomes is not the level of restrictions or magnitude of benefits provided to local communities, but rather recognising local cultural practices and decision-making. It is imperative to shift now towards an era of conservation through stewardship.”
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