Energy Issues News

December 22, 2024

Top Headlines

It's Worth Mixing It Up: What Combination of Policies Will Lead to a Clean Energy Future?

Dec. 16, 2024 — How can we ensure that as many households as possible adopt not only solar panels, but also their own battery to store solar energy, a heat pump, and an electric car? Researchers have looked into ...

Tourism Leads the Pack in Growing Carbon Emissions

Dec. 10, 2024 — Greenhouse gas emissions from tourism have been growing more than 2 times faster than those from the rest of the global economy. The study tracked international and domestic travel for 175 countries to find tourism's carbon footprint is 9% of the ...

Four Global Policies Could Eliminate More Than 90% of Plastic Waste and 30% of Linked Carbon Emissions by 2050

Nov. 14, 2024 — A new study determines that just four policies can reduce mismanaged plastic waste -- plastic that isn't recycled or properly disposed of and ends up as pollution -- by 91% and plastic-related ...

Curbing Air Pollution Control Devices Would Cost Thousands of Lives and Billions of Dollars

Oct. 25, 2024 — A new commentary found that power plants' use of these devices saved up to 9,100 lives and up to $100 billion in health costs in 2023. These estimates reveal the substantial health benefits that ...

Latest Headlines

updated 11:27pm EST

Trees Cool Better Than Reflective Roofs in Vulnerable Houston Neighborhoods

Nov. 1, 2024 — As heatwaves become more intense, cities are looking for strategies that can help keep neighborhoods cooler. A new tool has already helped identify potential solutions in Houston, a city where the ...

How Local Governments Can Lead the Way in Decarbonizing the U.S.

Oct. 30, 2024 — The success of the $1 trillion that was recently invested by the U.S. federal government to mitigate climate climate change through the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law ...

New AI Model Could Make Power Grids More Reliable Amid Rising Renewable Energy Use

Oct. 24, 2024 — Researchers use AI to manage the growing complexity of modern power ...

New Research Reveals How Large-Scale Adoption of Electric Vehicles Can Improve Air Quality and Human Health

Oct. 15, 2024 — A new study suggests that large-scale adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) could lead to significant population-level health benefits. The research ...

Transition to a Circular Bioeconomy Requires Getting Prices Right

Oct. 8, 2024 — A circular bioeconomy that reduces and recycles waste, transitions away from fossil fuels to renewable bio-based alternatives, and regenerates natural systems is critical for feeding and fueling the ...

Climate Report Warns of Escalating Crisis, Urges Immediate Action as UN Summit Nears

Oct. 8, 2024 — An international coalition of scientists concludes that the Earth's worsening vital signs indicate a 'critical and unpredictable new phase of the ...

Liquefied Natural Gas Carbon Footprint Is Worse Than Coal

Oct. 3, 2024 — Liquefied natural gas leaves a greenhouse gas footprint that is 33% worse than coal, when processing and shipping are taken into account, according to a new ...

Green Subsidies May Have Hidden Costs, Experts Warn

Oct. 3, 2024 — Government subsidies for business practices and processes should be approached with caution, even when they seem to be environmentally friendly, writes a group of scientists and economists. They ...

Cool Roofs Could Have Saved Lives During London's Hottest Summer, Say Researchers

Oct. 1, 2024 — As many as 249 lives could have been saved in London during the 2018 record-setting hot summer had the city widely adopted cool roofs, estimates a ...

Using Antimatter to Detect Nuclear Radiation

Oct. 1, 2024 — Discerning whether a nuclear reactor is being used to also create material for nuclear weapons is difficult, but capturing and analyzing antimatter particles has shown promise for monitoring what ...

Despite Progress, China Remains Tethered to Coal as Climate Change Pressures Mount

Oct. 8, 2024 — A new paper details how China faces numerous political, economic and technological obstacles as it tries to transition away from coal while balancing the need to combat climate change with the need ...

High Costs Slow Widespread Use of Heat Pumps, Study Shows

Oct. 1, 2024 — The high cost of installing heat pumps for home heating could slow down people widely adopting the technology and leave government targets missed, research ...

Getting to Zero Emissions: A Call for Unified Energy Planning

Sep. 30, 2024 — To help speed decarbonization, state regulators should reconceive of gas and electric utilities as serving the same purpose, according to a new report. Without coordinated action, the energy ...

Support for Meat Rationing to Protect Climate

Sep. 30, 2024 — Rationing of goods such as meat and fuel can both effectively and fairly reduce consumption with high climate impact. Almost 40 percent of the public say they could accept such ...

Digital Biomarkers Shedding Light on Seasonality in Mood Disorders

Sep. 25, 2024 — Wrist-based activity sensors worn by individuals with depression and those without over the course of two weeks provided evidence for the relationship between daily sunlight exposure and physical ...

Major Boost in Carbon Capture and Storage Essential to Reach 2°C Climate Target

Sep. 25, 2024 — Large expansion of carbon capture and storage is necessary to fulfill the Paris Climate Agreement. Yet a new study shows that without major efforts, the technology will not expand fast enough to meet ...

Demand-Side Actions Could Help Construction Sector Deliver on Net-Zero Targets

Sep. 20, 2024 — Researchers used a detailed mathematical model to demonstrate that the construction sector in the UK and Europe could almost eliminate its carbon emissions by 2060. This could be achieved through ...

Study Outlines Cost-Effective Paths to Eliminating Greenhouse Gas Production

Sep. 18, 2024 — A study lays out a wide range of options available to cost-effectively eliminate greenhouse gas production from the energy system in the United States by 2050. The findings give policymakers and ...

Soil Footprint: A Simple Indicator of a Crop's Impact on Soil Erosion

Sep. 17, 2024 — A research team proposes a method to calculate, compare and communicate how different crops affect the loss of agricultural soil, with the aim of raising awareness of this problem and promoting ...

To Build a Thriving Electric Vehicle Market, Prioritize Equity and Justice

Aug. 28, 2024 — When it comes to purchasing and using electric vehicles (EVs), housing- and income-related factors significantly shape perceptions and preferences among potential buyers, finds a new study. This ...

What Works: Groundbreaking Evaluation of Climate Policy Measures Over Two Decades

Aug. 23, 2024 — Researchers have unveiled the first comprehensive global evaluation of 1,500 climate policy measures from 41 countries across six continents. The study provides a detailed impact analysis of the wide ...

Sharing Risk to Avoid Power Outages in an Era of Extreme Weather

Aug. 20, 2024 — Heat waves, droughts, and fires place growing stress on the West's electric grid. New research suggests that more integrated management of electricity resources across the region could ...

Renewable Energy Policies Provide Benefits Across State Lines

Aug. 20, 2024 — New research suggests U.S. states with clean energy policies provide benefits to their neighbors, including states without their own renewable energy ...

Researchers Develop Index to Quantify Circular Bioeconomy

Aug. 19, 2024 — As the world faces the challenges of mitigating climate change and providing resources for a growing population, there is increasing focus on developing circular economies for sustainable production. ...

Nitrogen Interventions as a Key to Better Health and Robust Ecosystems

Aug. 16, 2024 — An international research team combined multidisciplinary methods to evaluate how nitrogen interventions could improve air quality and reduce nitrogen deposition. Their study found that ...

Climate Reporting Standards Insufficient, Must Be Expanded, Say Experts

Aug. 14, 2024 — A new article concludes that current climate standards are not sufficiently incentivizing the big picture innovations necessary to deliver net zero, and must be expanded to include a company's ...

Fracking Frenzy in India: A Water Crisis in the Making?

Aug. 14, 2024 — India's plans to scale up fracking operations without robust regulations could spell disaster for the country's finely balanced water security, according to ...

Nighttime Light Data Shows Inequities in Restoring Power After Hurricane Michael

Aug. 14, 2024 — Using nighttime lightdata from NASA, remote sensing, official outage records and census information, a study reveals notable differences in power-restoration rates between urbanized and rural areas ...

Balancing Technology and Governance Are Key to Achieving Climate Goals

Aug. 12, 2024 — Despite advancements in clean energy, global CO2 emissions continue to rise. IIASA researchers contributed to a new international study that underscores the importance of integrating technological ...

Research Catalogs Greenhouse Gas Emissions Tied to Energy Use for Interbasin Water Transfers

Aug. 5, 2024 — Much of the water in the West is transported across vast geographical areas by large infrastructure projects known as interbasin water transfers. Two of these projects in particular make up 85% of ...