The threat to global food security is back. The COVID pandemic has had a huge impact. The UN estimate that as many as 811 million people were undernourished in 2020 – around one in 10. And present changes are not … Read more
In a recent series on the invaluable site The conversation, Australian scientists raised the question to what extent we will in the future be able to rely on antibiotics. Resistance to antibiotics is on the rise, all over the world. … Read more
Wind turbines have a bad reputation, particularly in respect of their effect on flying creatures like bats and birds. But new research shows that we can overcome this problem, to a large extent. As told by Katarina Zimmer in Knowable … Read more
The World Health Organization says we’re currently losing to the bugs. Because resistance to antibiotics is increasing; and because there are too few new antibiotics in the pipeline. In The Conversation, Allen Cheng reviews the situation. Antibiotics, a wonderful discovery … Read more
We know that fossil and nuclear energy, and mining of resources, can have most unwanted social effects on local communities. Now this appears to be true for solar projects as well. As is testified to by a Chinese plan for … Read more
After many years of unashamed scepticism, the International Energy Agency finally published a positive report about renewable energy; in their World Energy Outlook 2023. But with a warning: we need to step up in order to restrict global warming to … Read more
Insects as food and feed have a low CO2 footprint, grow quickly, and have rapid reproduction cycle. So says Kees Aarts in the volume Our future proteins, A diversity of perspectives. They easily convert low-value materials into high-quality nutrients. Together … Read more
Proteins are essential to feeding the world. Malnutrition from protein shortage is widespread; ca. 10% of the global population suffers from it. Whereas the world produces more than enough proteins for everyone. But they are unevenly distributed. What can we … Read more
In a first article, we looked into the problem of animal welfare and ammonia emissions in modern cow sheds. Where faeces and urine come into contact with each other. Can we solve this manure problem – while maintaining an economically … Read more
Animal husbandry has a major ammonia problem; in the Netherlands, anyway. Cows are held in barns in which urine and faeces are collected together. This is a perfect mix for a hefty ammonia emission. To the detriment of surrounding nature; … Read more
Recently, we argued that we are near ‘peak energy’. Global energy demand has slowed down a lot; it will probably peak within a few years. But solar and wind energy are in the middle of a take-off. What are the … Read more
The growth of solar and wind power has sparked a debate on how much renewable energy the grid can carry. The more solar we add to the grid, the less valuable it becomes. Can we escape from this dilemma and … Read more
Most carbon dioxide emission policies have a weak spot: they forget emissions from embedded carbon, through decay of products made from fossil sources. Often, policy only has an eye on fuel related emissions and does not take into account secondary … Read more
The invaluable Knowable Magazine recently ran an article by Sandy Ong on plastic eating microorganisms. They might be the solution to a problem that looms for long already but hasn’t been solved so far: the growing pile of plastic waste. … Read more
As a human species, we are caught in a permanent struggle with nature. It disturbs our careful agriculture and grows weeds; they adapt to our herbicides: resistance. Moreover, nature reverts to resistance as we develop smart methods to fight illness. … Read more
The release of CO2 to the atmosphere has become a problem. So much so, that a nonsensical idea like direct air capture (DAC) has attained followers. And is even experimented on by companies. Clearly, the world is in distress when … Read more
In a recent report, nova-Institute made a powerful plea for ‘much more political recognition and support for CCU’. For, as they argue, carbon capture and utilization (CCU) will enable the substitution of fossil carbon in sectors where carbon is necessary. … Read more
One of the avenues researched in the quest for the secrets of life, is the creation of a minimalist life form. What is life in its simplest form? Does it evolve? Does it adapt to its environment? And how did … Read more
The World Health Organization WHO expects antimicrobial resistance to become a persistent problem. A growing number of people develops resistance against antibiotics. In 2050, this might cause an additional 10 million people to die. What can we do to prevent … Read more
The 2021 Biennale in Venice introduced a new concept into architecture: the probiotic design. From the 19th century onwards, architects and housewives tried to keep the interior of our buildings as clean and non-biotic as possible. But recent discoveries have … Read more
The sun doesn’t always shine. Sometimes there is not a breath of wind, sometimes it storms. As we move forward towards sustainable sources in the energy transition, we need to balance better supply and demand. Data are a prerequisite for … Read more
Fermentation has been around for a long time. It is the age-old process that lends us bread, yoghurt, vinegar, tofu, beer and wine. A process that for a long-time embellished life. We now also know precision fermentation: producing compounds by … Read more
Wood is going to return as a construction material. It is no longer the former inflammable material – that could set half a Mediaeval town on fire. It now lends itself to modern, performant and sustainable constructions. Timber construction represents … Read more
The Dutch site sciencelink.net recently devoted its attention to cultured meat. Not 100% vegetarian; for the instruction for meat production must be derived from a code derived from animals. But even so: it has great potential to substitute for ‘animal’ … Read more
Last week, the UNESCO building in Paris hosted a conference on putting an end to plastic waste. Long overdue, according to many delegates. Science Magazine proposed to cap global plastics production – and then reduce it step by step, in … Read more
Nature Communications ran an interesting article on the future of our food system; and specifically on the potential of micro-organisms (bacteria, yeasts, moulds) to develop new foods and food ingredients. Our food system grapples with unsustainable practices, land degradation, and … Read more
Optimistic messages on renewable energy abound. According to a major scientific article, ‘a greener, healthier, and safer global energy system is also likely to be cheaper’. Much cheaper. But official policies and official forecasts still stay on the ‘safe side’. … Read more
UBQ Materials is an Israeli company that produces a thermoplastic compound from household waste. Their first factory outside Israel is under construction in Bergen op Zoom (the Netherlands). It will process over 100,000 tons of municipal waste to 80,000 tons … Read more
The European GRETE project has come to an end. The aim of this research project was to develop new textiles from wood pulp. With partners from Finland, Austria, Italy, Spain and Portugal, it spanned many biobased sources and many technologies. … Read more
Thousands of developers of artificial intelligence recently asked for a moratorium on its development for half a year. ‘Powerful AI systems should be developed only once we are confident that their effects will be positive and their risks will be … Read more
The first assessment of solar and wind power performance over 2022 has been published, by independent climate think tank Ember. Both forms of energy production did very well. Together, they accounted for 12% of global electricity production, as opposed to … Read more
Apparently, there is a major obstacle for the energy transition: cost. We don’t always have solar and wind energy at hand, but there always is demand for electricity. Growing, as well – ongoing, as we will install more electric heating … Read more
You might know them – websites and articles with fantastic health claims. But they endlessly postpone the revelation of their ‘secret’. If you are curious, you will be drawn ever more into the story. And always, the revelation of the … Read more
The newest development in artificial intelligence (AI) is called ChatGPT. GPT is the acronym of generative pre-trained transformer. Meaning: a self-learning program fed with large amounts of texts that generates new texts looking just like original ones. What is the … Read more
A recent blog by Nobel prize winner Jennifer Doudna in Wired Magazine explores the power of CRISPR – the discovery that lent her the Nobel prize. Particularly with regards to CRISPR’s power to feed the world. Major challenges ahead for … Read more
Knowable Magazine ran an interesting article by Bob Holmes on meat consumption. Would we stop climate change if we stopped eating meat? Yes, we might – but then, from an environmental point of view there is no need to stop … Read more
Recycling consumer products gets much attention. The circular economy calls upon us to cut down on waste and energy use and to stimulate recycling. Plastic recycling is in vogue. But rubber recycling is almost non-existent. Like recycling car tyres, which … Read more
The site Nature Communications ran a remarkable article about wax worms that break down polyethylene. We read it through The Guardian and the Dutch site change.inc. But, we asked ourselves: isn’t polyethylene completely inert? At most to be dispersed in … Read more
The effect of bioenergy on the climate has had its ups and downs in publicity. It was hailed as a solution for climate change at the turn of the century. Fast-growing crops were going to supply us with much energy. … Read more
Renewable energy continues to grow spectacularly. Investments grow faster than in almost any other economic sector. Prices comes down all the time. It has such a success that a new problem comes to the fore. How do we going to … Read more
We are now three decades into political and research efforts to stop climate change. But we are still in the era of rapid global emissions growth. Since 1990, we emitted more CO2 into the atmosphere than ever before. What is … Read more
Al last, the need to work towards zero-emission construction seems to dawn on the construction trade. Not an easy task, as the volume of building projects around the world is still growing. But at least, some in the branch have … Read more
Plastic pollution is a problem that that begins long before it reaches the environment, and therefore the solution should fulfil the same criterion. Two new European projects develop plastic technologies for that aim. One will produce biodegradable bioplastics; the other … Read more
What policy categories would be most suited for stimulation of sustainable innovation? Innovation subsidies? Taxation of heavily polluting activities? Strict environmental regulation? Empirical evidence shows: strict environmental regulation works best. Best by far, even. And it costs the least. Important … Read more
So far, many analysts expected high-renewable energy scenarios to be beneficial to the global climate; but maybe a bit expensive as well. A recent study argues that this too pessimistic. The green energy transition will in fact be much cheaper … Read more
Solid state batteries are going to provide a new boost to electric driving. They are in full development; but solid state battery-equipped cars will probably not hit the market before 2025. These batteries will have more capacity than lithium-ion batteries … Read more
Profit is important but not our only driving force, says Michiel Vos. He is founder of CocoPallet, a company that produces pallets from the husks of coconuts. We already interviewed him five years ago. His company still exists, and it … Read more
Urban waste is a serious threat to the sustainability of our cities. Essentially, our economic model, as far as private consumption is concerned, is still once-through. Consumers don’t care very much about the ‘end phase’ of their products; and waste … Read more
Plastics are wonderful materials; as far as their functionalities in direct use are concerned. But in many cases, they are a headache in the waste phase. For a long time, the waste phase used to be of minor importance to … Read more
Ben Rawlence’s book The Treeline makes us aware of our dangerous path as mankind. The climate is heating up and therefore the Northern treeline moves towards the North Pole. Ben Rawlence travelled along the entire treeline and reports on it. … Read more