Water


American Chemistry Council's Tips for A Green Holiday Season

Move over, white Christmas, and make way for a "green" holiday. Here are a few tips that can make your holidays more environmentally friendly, courtesy of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world's largest scientific society, and the ACS Green Chemistry Institute.

NREL Licenses Technology to Increase Solar Cell Efficiency

The U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) recently announced that Natcore Technology Inc. has been granted a patent license agreement to develop a line of black silicon products.

Switchgrass as Bioenergy Feedstock

Scientists examined current knowledge about the potential contributions of bioenergy production from switchgrass to limit greenhouse gas emissions.

New EPA Air Quality Rules Outweigh Costs and Provide Major Health and Environmental Benefits

A report by researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health provides an expanded review of six new air quality regulations proposed or recently adopted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA).

Iowa State Engineers Study How Hills Nearby Turbines Affect Wind Energy Production

Iowa State engineers are using wind tunnel tests to study the effects of hilly terrain and turbine placement on power production.

Coal Waste Could Provide Eco-friendly Option to Cement

Concrete is the most common construction material used globally, accounting for 70 percent of all construction materials. Though concrete has advantages such as easy application and high availability, it has major disadvantages when considering sustainability.

EPA Issues First National Standards for Mercury Pollution from Power Plants

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, the first national standards to protect American families from power plant emissions of mercury and toxic air pollution like arsenic, acid gas, nickel, selenium and cyanide.

Fuel Reduction Likely to Increase Carbon Emissions

Forest thinning to help prevent or reduce severe wildfire will release more carbon to the atmosphere than any amount saved by successful fire prevention, a new study concludes.



Climate Sensitivity Greater Than Previously Believed

Many of the particles in the atmosphere are produced by the natural world, and it is possible that plants have in recent decades reduced the effects of the greenhouse gases to which human activity has given rise.

Self-healing Electronics Could Work Longer, Reduce Waste

When one tiny circuit within an integrated chip cracks or fails, the whole chip – or even the whole device – is a loss. But what if it could fix itself, and fix itself so fast that the user never knew there was a problem?

Researchers Develop Cheaper Method of Manufacturing Fuel Cells

Researchers at Aalto University in Finland have developed a new and significantly cheaper method of manufacturing fuel cells.

Researchers Outline World's Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture

Researchers from the University of Southampton have contributed to a major international United Nation's (UN) report into the current status of the world's land and water resources for food and agriculture.

Satellites Can Help To Grow The Perfect Grape

A little water is needed to make wine, but how do you know when enough is enough? A new service by ESA GrapeLook aims to help solve the watering dilemma.

Research Reveals New Data-driven Methods for Understanding Climate Change

Using statistical analysis methods to examine rainfall extremes in India, a team of researchers has made a discovery that resolves an ongoing debate in published findings and offers new insights; research that will appear in the February 2012 journal Nature Climate Change.

Would You Eat Green Rice?

Rice consumers worldwide can now look forward to eating "green" rice with the launch of an initiative that will set environmentally sustainable and socially responsible rice production management standards.

What are the Prospects for Sustaining High-quality Groundwater?

Intensive agriculture practices developed during the past century have helped improve food security for many people but have also added to nitrate pollution in surface and groundwaters.

Report Identifies Health, Environmental Issues and Best Practices

A number of health and environmental issues and related risks need to be addressed when considering whether to lift the almost 30-year moratorium on uranium mining in Virginia, says a new report from the National Research Council, the operating arm of the National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Engineering.

Air Pollution Levels from Deepwater Horizon Spill Similar to Large Urban Area

The amount of air pollutants in the atmospheric plume generated by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill was similar to a large city according to a new NOAA-led study published today in a special issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Wine Grapevines and Native Plants Blend Well For The Environment

Grapevines and native plants are a fine blend for the environment, suggests a team of researchers led by a plant ecologist at the University of California, Davis.

'Fingerprinting' Method Tracks Mercury Emissions From Coal-fired Power Plant

For the first time, the chemical "fingerprints" of the element mercury have been used by University of Michigan researchers to directly link environmental pollution to a specific coal-burning power plant.