Environment and energy

Research headlines

Optimal size for wind farms is revealed by computational study

Efficiency declines in farms exceeding 30 km in length

Solar device generates electricity and desalinates water with no waste brine

New system is highly efficient at both tasks, say inventors

Zeolites detect toxic lead in water

Simple, low-cost and highly sensitive technique could be extended to other heavy metals

Wood-based coatings offer green soundproofing

Multi-scale irregularity means fibre-based panels attenuate sounds

Sandwich strategy makes solid-state lithium battery last longer

New multilayer design prevents finger-like dendrites from shorting out anode and cathode

A photo of a truck carrying a load of ore-bearing rock past the stepped surface of an open-pit copper mine

‘Keyhole surgery’ could reduce environmental burden of metal extraction

Electrokinetics-based technique may offer a more sustainable future for mining, say researchers

Opinion and reviews

Strolling in the deep

Is the answer to climate change lying beneath your feet?

James McKenzie examines the potential of pumps that warm our homes and offices by extracting heat from the ground below

A million years into the future: why you need a dose of very deep thinking

Robert P Crease discovers why a nuclear-waste programme in Finland can help us to envisage the world a million years from now

Video showcase

Scientists refuse to be cowed by the livestock methane problem

How can wildfires trigger thunderstorms?

What happened to all the plastic we released into the oceans?

Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability

Open for submissions: Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability (ERIS). A multidisciplinary open-access journal dedicated to seeking innovative solutions to challenges underpinned by infrastructure and sustainability. No open access publication fees until 2022

Latest articles

Thermodynamic origins of reaction heterogeneity in lithium battery electrodes

Join the audience for a live webinar on 28 July 2021 sponsored by The Electrochemical Society and Hiden Analytical

Researchers analyse carbon footprint of planned neutrino experiment

Team finds that the annual greenhouse-gas emissions from the Giant Array for Neutrino Detection will be similar to the production of 1000 cars

Icequakes and rogue waves: geoscientists and musicians interpret the sounds of the sea

This podcast looks at Arctic seismology and music inspired by the ocean

Carbon-based inks make first fully recyclable transistors

New devices address the growing problem of electronic waste

Illustration of materials for quantum technologies

Why quantum technologists and materials scientists need to talk, lockdown silence is a boon to seismologists

In this podcast we chat about building better quantum devices and the seismology of human activity

Recycled plastic bags make sustainable fabrics

A new material made from polyethylene yarn could be an eco-friendly alternative to conventional textiles

Real-world tests of hybrid cars show higher-than-expected emissions

Failure to charge vehicles frequently enough blamed for excess

Melting glaciers have been shifting the Earth’s poles since 1995, new study suggests

Movement of water from land to the oceans is affecting our planet’s rotation

New technology for artisanal gold miners and the pros and cons of blockchain

In this podcast we talk about reducing mercury use in gold production and the environmental impact of Bitcoin mining

2020 was Europe’s hottest year on record, finds report

Two major reports paint a bleak picture of the climate ahead of today's virtual summit of world leaders

Solar-powered water purifier is inspired by pufferfish

Passive device could deliver clean water to communities worldwide

Fermilab physicists may have glimpsed a new force, reducing greenhouse-gas emissions from belching cattle

In this podcast we also chat about energy-generating floors

Photograph of solar cells on the roof of a house

New perovskite fabrication technique could lead to large-scale solar cell production

Antisolvent buys more time for making larger thin films

Sunny superpower: solar cells close in on 50% efficiency

Multi-layered solar cells stand on the brink of 50% efficiency, but are more likely to be installed in space than on Earth, as Richard Stevenson explains