Secrets of the deep sea
As researchers succeed in tagging oceanic predators, they discover new facts about the deep sea. Many animals dive very deep, even to where light doesn’t penetrate anymore. It’s indescribable, what … Read more
Curbing plastics production
The Conversation informed us about the negotiations on a global pact on plastic. A penultimate round of negotiations recently ended in Ottawa – the last stage will take place later … Read more
Alternative proteins
Alternative proteins receive more attention. Meaning: proteins not from animal origin. Like vegetal products, and fermentation and artificial meat and fish. Much progress is being made. Major growth On change.inc, … Read more
Seaweed products for a sustainable food chain
On this site, we devoted attention several times to seaweed and seaweed products. Developed among others by The Seaweed Company, an enterprise located in Ireland, Morocco, India and the Netherlands. … Read more
Bioeconomy needs circularity
This week, World Bio Market Insights ran an interesting article about bioeconomy and circularity. These are both required for building sustainability into value chains; but they are not identical. Both … Read more
Sustainable agriculture and weed management
This month, Genetic Literacy Project contained an article by its editor, Jon Entine, on sustainable agriculture and its relationship to the use of glyphosate. Interesting to read. With a view … Read more
Water scarcity
Water scarcity is becoming an urgent problem in more regions of the world. This presses on industrial facilities, for instance. Many of them need to reduce their water consumption – … Read more
PFAS problem, solved at last?
PFAS is a generic term for a large group of fluor containing organic chemicals. They are being used as water repellents, like in non-stick pans, paper and coatings, packing materials … Read more
Toward a global treaty on plastic pollution
Knowable Magazine ran an interesting article by Nicola Jones on a forthcoming treaty on plastic pollution. This would tackle the vast amounts of plastic waste discharged to the environment. It … Read more
Local network required against grid congestion
Pressure on the electricity grid is rising all the time, because of increasing local production: solar and wind energy. An increasing number of companies needs to wait for a connection. … Read more
PHAs: why does it take so long?
Paques Biomaterials, producer of PHAs (polyhydroxyalkanoates), has obtained a subsidy of € 14 million in order to commercialize its technology. The development of this material called Caleyda® will take place … Read more
A dangerous new phase in climate change?
Is the Earth entering a new and more dangerous phase in climate change? Where global heating will accelerate instead of slow down? This may be the case, says Jack Marley … Read more
The many uses of carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is a powerful greenhouse gas. But we can put it to good use as well. Putting CO2 to good use may even reduce the burden of preventing its … Read more
Ecoboard: use of agricultural wastes
Boards made from agricultural wastes, are they achievable? Often, mdf and chipboard are made from wood. But Ecoboard has a different approach: it uses agricultural wastes. Boards are a wonderful … Read more
Bacteriophages, we need them
This week, the Dutch magazine Sciencelink ran an article written by Marysa van den Berg on an important new development in disease control. The use of bacteriophages, viruses that kill … Read more
The surprise of flash hydrogen
Hydrogen is at our disposal, so it seems, in many colours: black, grey, green, blue, turquoise, purple, aquamarine, pink, red, blue, yellow, orange, white, … [1, 2, 7]. Some colours … Read more
Local grid optimization
The electricity grid is being overburdened fast. Local production, mainly through solar and wind energy, produces an uneven distribution of demand and supply across the grid. Leading to the need … Read more
Towards zero plastic waste in 2050
Plastic consumption is still rising. Versatile compounds! But plastic recycling isn’t well organized. Therefore, the mountain of plastic waste is still growing. The world needs to find a solution to … Read more
Phosphorus depletion
Phosphorus is essential for life on Earth, says Chris Slootweg on his profile page of the University of Amsterdam. It is an essential element in global agriculture. It plays a … Read more
Eggs without the chicken
Recently, the Dutch site change.inc devoted attention to progress in the production of artificial eggs. Consisting of a number of compounds that approach the natural egg. But then of course, … Read more
Climate protection by innovations in food and agro
At the time of writing, COP28 is still underway. There are serious doubts as to whether the conference will be a success. But it has put agriculture on the stage … Read more
Food without agriculture, dream or opportunity?
In a previous article, we wondered if the world will continue to produce food in sufficient quantities. What would prevent that? Population growth, increasing meat consumption, climate change, water scarcity … Read more
Food security under threat
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 … Read more
The dangers of resistance to antibiotics
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 … Read more
Wind turbines, bats and birds
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 … Read more
Resistance to antibiotics
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 … Read more
Victims of the green energy boom, the Rempang case
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 … Read more
World Energy Outlook 2023: we need to develop renewables even faster
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 … Read more
Protix: insects for food and feed
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 … Read more
The protein challenge
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 … Read more
Towards a solution of the manure problem
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 … Read more
Ammonia emissions, the problem
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 … Read more
Solar and wind energy revisited
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 … Read more
Towards a sustainable grid
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 … Read more
RCI: do not release any fossil-based CO2 beyond 2050
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 … Read more
Plastic eating microorganisms
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 … Read more
Permanent innovation
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 … Read more
Energy forecasts
Already in our 2016 energy forecasts, we foresaw a much more favourable development of renewable energy than authoritative organizations: energy companies, the oil industry and international bodies like the IEA. … Read more
Direct air capture of CO2: dangerous nonsense
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 … Read more
Carbon capture and utilization (CCU)
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 … Read more
Life is still a black box
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 … Read more
Antimicrobial resistance
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 … Read more
Probiotic building design
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 … Read more
Digitisation and energy transition
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 … Read more
Precision fermentation
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 … Read more
Micro technology
In nature, energy is free and always in ample supply. The sun delivers an energy flow to our planet of which we only use a few percent. Nature can perform … Read more
Timber construction, major opportunities
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 … Read more
Cultured meat, maybe coming soon
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 … Read more
Plastic waste: agreement is just the start
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 … Read more
The microbial food revolution
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. … Read more