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Environment

Lactips ecofriendly biodegradable packaging film
environment | industry
07 May 2018

Not so fantastic single-use plastic to get an eco-friendly makeover

Milk-based edible food packaging and ready-meal trays made from wood could help reduce the pervasiveness of single-use plastic, a major cause of environmental pollution adversely affecting wildlife, habitats and human health.

Encapsulating enzymes in detergents and fabric softeners can make them reusable. Image credit - Pixabay/ wilhei, licensed under CC0
environment
02 May 2018

Eco detergents – for greener whites in the airing cupboard

‘Clean’ and ‘soft’ are words strongly associated with washing products and fabric softeners, and soon they are set to be described as ‘green’ too with less chemical waste and longer-lasting action.

Microplastics are considered the most common form of marine litter. Image credit - Nils Ally, licensed under Creative Commons 3.0
environment | health
23 April 2018

Sticky tape and simulations help assess microplastic risk

Tiny pieces of plastic, now ubiquitous in the marine environment, have long been a cause of concern for their ability to absorb toxic substances and potentially penetrate the food chain. Now scientists are beginning to understand the level of threat posed to life, by gauging the extent of marine accumulation and tracking the movement of these contaminants.

Digital communication between ships could help optimise shipping routes and reduce fuel consumption. Image credit - B.S. Halpern (T. Hengl; D. Groll) / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
environment | transport
18 April 2018

Electric ferries and joined-up shipping to turn sea travel green

Electric ferries and digital communication between ships could help in the quest to decarbonise maritime transport, a sector which is often perceived as being the green option but could still do much to lower its environmental footprint.

Aquaculture and fish farms must adapt to the changing sea conditions of climate change. Image credit - Ferit Rad from Mersin University
environment | agriculture
09 April 2018

Europe must sea food in a new way thanks to warming waters

Aquaculture, or fish farming, is one of the world's fastest growing food sectors, providing about half of all the fish we eat. As it stands, climate change is altering our ocean’s environment, causing the seawater to become warmer and impacting the marine  ecosystems profoundly. How will these changes affect marine species, consumers and industries that rely on them?

Recycling food waste to use as animal feed and turning manure into green fertilizers can lead to lower environmental impacts from food production. Image credit - pxhere/1271653, licensed under CC0 Public Domain
environment | agriculture
05 April 2018

Turning food waste into animal feed could take a chunk out of livestock emissions

Using European plant and dairy waste as an alternative to soy-based animal feed could see a big drop in agricultural emissions and prevent deforestation.

It is estimated that more than 150 million tonnes of plastics have already accumulated in the world's oceans. Image credit - Pxhere/ 1060974, licensed under CC0 Public Domain
environment
03 April 2018

Garbage-collecting aqua drones and jellyfish filters for cleaner oceans

A Roomba-like ocean trash collector modelled on a whale shark and a microplastic filter made from jellyfish slime could prevent litter from entering our oceans and help tackle a growing problem that poses threats to wildlife, deters tourists and impacts on coastal economies.

Light pollution can be problematic for animals like the Cory's shearwater. Image credit - Airam Rodríguez (Estación Biológica de Doñana CSIC), licensed under CC BY 4.0
environment
27 March 2018

Light pollution is altering plant and animal behaviour

You could call it fatal attraction. Drawn by artificial lights in our brightening night-time world, animals find their lives in peril.

More than 700,000 hectares of land in the EU were destroyed by forest fires between January and September 2017. Image credit – CC0 Public Domain
environment | ict
20 March 2018

Swarming drones could help fight Europe's megafires

Swarms of firefighting drones could one day be deployed to tackle hugely destructive megafires that are becoming increasingly frequent in the Mediterranean region because of climate change, arson and poor landscape management.

New research aims at making climate change prediction more accurate. Image credit - Pixabay/ jodylehigh, licensed under Creative Commons CC0
environment
15 March 2018

Climate sensitivity - reducing the uncertainty of uncertainty

Global warming is a reality – but just how bad will it be? A study published in January 2018 claims to halve the uncertainty around how much our planet's temperature will change in response to rising carbon dioxide (CO2) levels, potentially giving governments more confidence to prepare for the future.

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