Ten times as much solar energy
There are many reasons for use of more solar energy. Most importantly, the climate. Moreover, the world needs to scale down its use of gas and oil quickly. More solar … Read more
Towards methane mitigation
Methane is a very powerful greenhouse gas. It has 82.5 times more warming potential than CO2 over a 20-year timespan. But fortunately, it lives shortly in the atmosphere: it degrades … Read more
A plant-based diet would have a major impact on climate change
A shift towards a plant-based diet could buy humanity a much needed pause in the growth of greenhouse gas emissions. The plant-based diet and global warming The effects of a … Read more
Low-tech and its benefits for sustainability
Many proponents of sustainability adhere to the idea that the main path to sustainability lies in high-tech solutions. Like electric cars instead of the old ones, that guzzle fossil fuels. … Read more
Methane emissions cause concern
Almost three years ago, in 2019, we voiced our concern over increased methane emissions. Although then we saw a bright side to this problem: unlike CO2 emissions, methane (CH4) emissions … Read more
Ban plastics? Back to science-based material policy
Gut feeling says plastics are bad for the environment – but are the alternatives really better? Originally published in Renewable Carbon News of the nova-Institute. Plastics, an environmental problem? In … Read more
Biological crop protection
Biological crop protection is on the rise. In many respects, biologicals are better than chemicals. Generally, they carry low risk for human health and for the environment. Not necessarily harmless … Read more
Microbes that eat plastic pollution
Plastic pollution is everywhere nowadays. Even in the remotest places on earth. A problem that we need to address urgently. But nature may be working hard to help us solve … Read more
Solar parks, opportunities and problems
Solar energy is making a breakthrough. Solar panels become cheaper all the time. Therefore, structural problems, like their diluted electricity production, become less important. Even in a country with little … Read more
RMI: decarbonize fast and profitably
For decades, the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) spread the message ‘that the energy transition will happen faster and be less costly than many people think’; in the words of CEO … Read more
Ambitions for solar energy
In the past few decades, solar energy (PV) has grown a lot; the number of applications has much increased and production has become much more large-scale. Costs have taken a … Read more
Green roofs
The Earth heats up; and in this process, towns are among the areas most hit. Buildings and streets tend to store incoming radiation. Towns urgently need to be turned greener, … Read more
Ecomimicry: enriching urban landscapes
Why are the ‘green’ areas in our cities often so uniform? Why are they ‘blandscaped’, to create virtually uniform green spaces that are devoid of local character or distinctiveness? Just … Read more
Meat alternatives on the rise
Around the world, meat consumption is on the rise. People eat more meat as they become more affluent. But meat alternatives are becoming popular. They are fashionable; and their environmental … Read more
Solar and wind energy: increasing recognition
This month, before publication of their NZE2050 scenario, the International Energy Agency considerably upped its forecast for solar and wind energy. Even after the major upward revision already done in … Read more
Towards net zero carbon emissions
In an unprecedented move, the International Energy Agency (IEA) published its NZE2050 scenario this month: towards net zero carbon emissions in 2050. Required for a climate strategy that limits the … Read more
Cheap energy storage speeds up
Costs of producing renewable energy keep coming down; and technologies for cheap energy storage keep evolving. Therefore, the eternal problems with solar and wind energy appear to be more and … Read more
Renewables versus nuclear – a choice already made
The most important low-carbon energy sources, renewables and nuclear, compete for investment funds. But if we are not mistaken, the dice have already been thrown in this contest of renewables … Read more
Energy policy: don’t just choose low-carbon – create a new energy system
A recent article in Nature Energy confirms what we might have surmised already: renewable sources are much better at creating a low-carbon energy future than nuclear power. They do need … Read more
Plastic recycling: urgent, but a major problem
Suddenly, articles on plastic recycling pop up everywhere. Spurred on the one hand by continued growth in plastics production; and on the other hand by the ever growing problem of … Read more
New technology for drinking-water production
Researchers at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, have developed a new technology for drinking-water production. They use metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) that remove ions dissolved in salt or brackish water, producing … Read more
Energy autarky more difficult than expected
The Dutch Wadden islands aimed to attain energy autarky in 2020. They fail to reach that target. For in order to do this, energy production and consumption don’t just need … Read more
Battery technology in fast development
Much excitement in the universe of battery technology. Battery storage is rapidly growing world-wide, important for the energy transition. Batteries are improving and their costs are falling, all the time. … Read more
Scale issues in the energy transition
The energy transition has progressed quite a bit. To the extent that we can predict the outcome: renewable energy sources will win. But the real problems are surfacing now. The … Read more
Methane pyrolysis turns a grey resource into a green one
Bio is in. Chemistry is out. Green is in. Grey is out. And the Netherlands (my home country) should rid itself from its dependence on natural gas. These are popular … Read more
Renewable energy imports
It its latest report, Boston-based Lux Research investigates a global and sustainable energy infrastructure. Can areas with high energy demand but not endowed with much domestic wind and solar energy … Read more
Corona pandemic and energy transition
Will the corona pandemic speed up the energy transition? The question is much debated. Those who would like to accelerate the transition seem to have the upper hand, if we … Read more
Manifesto ‘Waltzing with Nature’
Biobased Press published its manifesto ‘Waltzing with Nature’ on May 1, 2020. In this manifesto, we testify to the importance of science for solving mankind’s major global problems. Like … Read more
Sustainability is crucial for success, says Lux Research
Reductions in resource use, emissions, and waste production are key strategies for corporate success. Sustainability is crucial, says Lux Research, a Boston-based technology development and advisory company. Sustainability is crucial … Read more
Sustainable farming: a few development pathways
Recently, Knowable Magazine devoted an article to the question how far conventional agriculture is on the way to becoming more sustainable. The problem is: conventional agriculture pollutes too much (fertilizer … Read more
Insects: now it’s the time to cherish our little friends
The decline of insects has been well established now. It concerns both their abundance and their diversity, and spans all continents. If they decline even more, we will run into … Read more
Could reforestation stop climate change?
A publication in Science last year triggered a debate: can we stop climate change by planting billions of trees? These trees would capture CO2 and in so doing, save the … Read more
Global warming: businessmen and central bankers come to the rescue
Figures on global 2019 climate have come in and global warming does not seem to slow down. Many new records were set, like that on ocean water temperatures. That 2019 … Read more
The energy transition is a digital transition too
By the end of last year, Dutch Rathenau Institute produced a thought-provoking report on the energy transition (in Dutch). We need artificial intelligence, sensors and other data applications in the … Read more
Carbon storage in the soil
The Conversation, that invaluable source of balanced information, ran an article on carbon storage in the soil. Potentially, one of our main instruments for controlling the rise of CO2 concentrations … Read more
We will never be able to control nature perfectly
When researchers discovered the CRISPR-Cas mechanism, it was looked upon as the perfect instrument for genetic modification (GM). But it appears to have its flaws. Flaws that might be inherent … Read more
Naturally! Of course. How nature never stops surprising us
When talking of technology, many people nowadays have ICT in mind. But then they neglect the major steps forward taken by the life sciences: all chemical and biological knowledge of … Read more
Don’t just reduce emissions, create a circular economy as well
Last month, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation completed a series of reports on climate change with a strong message. Don’t just reduce emissions; restructure the economy as well, from a once-through … Read more
Use more plastics, says Michael Carus, but responsibly
Michael Carus, managing director of the German nova-Institute, has stirred up the plastics debate. While plastic waste is piling up and the seas get filled with plastic soup, Carus makes … Read more
Antibiotics resistance, do ants have the solution?
Most of the time we don’t realise it, but there is an antibiotic crisis going on. Our present families of antibiotics become less effective, and each year many people die … Read more
Pesticide resistance, a growing problem
Pesticide resistance is a brand new phenomenon, historically speaking. It was first reported in 1914, just a century ago. A result of chemical, and later biotechnological methods of pest control. … Read more
Methane emissions may threaten Paris climate agreement
Over the past ten years, the methane level in the atmosphere has risen to unexpected highs. Methane gas, CH4, is a 25 times times more potent greenhouse gas than carbon … Read more
Improve sustainability without damaging the brand
The past World Bio Markets Conference in Amsterdam proved an interesting happening, not so much because of what was said, but more explicitly because of what was not dealt with. … Read more
Compromise, often a solution rather than a liability
Solutions for global problems tend to become part of a compromise, says Huub de Groot. He is a professor in biophysical organic chemistry at Leiden University and works, among others, … Read more
From energy transition to precision economy
As the debate on the energy transition heats up, stakeholders now retreat on their original positions, after a phase in which they politely listened to each other. Some call for … Read more
Corporate science-based sustainability targets
World Wildlife Fund and plant-based food and drink producer Alpro published a report on how companies can reduce their environmental footprints. They go beyond general sustainability principles and address more … Read more
Climate change: trees to the rescue
Bringing nature back into cities, in the form of trees, can help fight global warming. Climate change is the challenge of the century. The last UN Environment Emissions Gap Report … Read more
Climate discussion lacks sense of urgency
The urgency of effective political action on the energy transition lies close to my heart. We should reduce the use of fossil fuels at the shortest notice possible. I feel … Read more
The long lead times of wind turbines
It may take a long time before wind turbines will actually generate energy, even in a ‘technical landscape’, as our editor Paul Reinshagen called the Dutch province of Flevoland, an … Read more
Insects are in decline, around the world. How worried should we be?
Widely reported studies this year and last led to headlines globally of an ‘insect Armageddon.’ The real story of insects is more nuanced — but probably just as unsettling. This … Read more