A New Home for Sustainability Robotics

The world is currently facing significant environmental challenges and complex demands related to infrastructure and natural ecosystems. To address these issues, viable solutions that are both...

Snail-Inspired Robot Could Scoop Ocean Microplastics

Inspired by a small and slow snail, scientists have developed a robot prototype that may one day scoop up microplastics from the surfaces of oceans, seas, and lakes.

My Opinion: Industrial Symbiosis Is Good for the Environment and for the Pocketbook

Efficiency can be multiplied when companies use innovative methods to cooperate with each other.

Bringing Circular Economy for Plastics One Step Closer to Reality

The chemical process can essentially vaporize plastics that currently dominate the waste stream and turn them into hydrocarbon building blocks for new plastics.

Wastewater Treatment and Remediation

This technology could be incorporated into water treatment systems at various stages including water treatment, effluent polishing, resource reclamation, resource recycling, gray water treatment, etc.

Pulling Carbon Dioxide Out of the Air

The team plans to integrate such CO2-capturing materials with its earlier porous sponge platform, which has been developed to remove environmental toxins including oil, phosphates, and microplastics.

Biden-Harris Administration Invests $54 Million to Expand Clean Transportation Across American Communities

The Communities Taking Charge funding opportunity extends access to electrification opportunities beyond existing Joint Office–supported programs to more communities across America. Funding is available to academic, non-profit, for-profit, and government entities for planning, demonstration, and/or deployment projects that drive innovation in equitable clean transportation.

Snail-Inspired Robot Could Scoop Ocean Microplastics

Inspired by a small and slow snail, scientists have developed a robot prototype that may one day scoop up microplastics from the surfaces of oceans, seas, and lakes.

How Much Do You Know About Sustainability?

With the increasing threat of climate change, efforts must be stepped up to ensure development today does not negatively affect future generations. How much do you know about sustainability? Find out with this quiz.

A Green Approach to Reducing Flood Impacts

Penn State researchers are exploring green stormwater infrastructure to manage severe urban flooding and pollution. They are studying ways to improve the existing green stormwater infrastructure in Lancaster, PA, as a pilot project for other cities as well.

Megawatt Electrical Motor Could Help Electrify Aviation

Aerospace engineers designed a 1-megawatt electrical motor that is a stepping stone toward electrifying the largest aircraft.

Turning Plastic Waste into a Valuable Soil Additive

Researchers have moved a step closer to finding a use for the hundreds of millions of tons of plastic waste produced every year that often winds up clogging streams and rivers and polluting our oceans.

Bioelectronic Devices Enable Real-Time Sensing

If a chemical spill in a river goes unnoticed for 20 minutes, it might be too late to remediate. Living bioelectronic sensors developed at Rice University can help.

Scrubbing Carbon Dioxide from Power Plant Smokestacks

Aluminum formate (ALF) has a talent for separating carbon dioxide from the other gases that commonly fly out of the smokestacks of coal-fired power plants.

Smart Microrobots Walk Autonomously

A collaborative effort has installed electronic “brains” on solar-powered robots that are 100 to 250 micrometers in size — smaller than an ant’s head — so that they can walk autonomously without...

Smart Grid for Stable, Reliable Electricity Supply

The largest ever simulation of its kind, modeled on the Texas power grid, concluded that consumers stand to save about 15 percent on their annual electric bills by partnering with...

3D-Printed Graphene Aerogels for Water Treatment

The aerogels safely remove contaminants from water without releasing any problematic chemical residue.

Cleaner Water Through Corn

Activated carbon made from corn stover filters 98 percent of a pollutant from water.

Chemistry Discovery Could Remove Micropollutants from the Environment

This approach could result in developing chemical sensors that are sensitive at a very low level to a specific chemical in the environment.

Microgrids are a Key to Grid Resiliency

The aging energy grid is being pushed to the breaking point. Power outages from extreme weather alone cost anywhere from $2 billion to $77 billion per year. And some isolated communities still rely on...

Water Purification System Engineered from Wood

The eco-friendly process removes heavy metals, dyes, and other pollutants.

2021 Create the Future Design Contest: Sustainable Technologies/Future Energy Category Winner — Multifunctional Bionanocomposite Fruit Coatings

The invention could capture the potential of the edible packaging market.

A New Use for Leftover Eggs: Preserving Produce

A micron-thick coating, made largely from leftover eggs, can extend the shelf life of the fruits and vegetables in your refrigerator.

Microbe Turns Waste into Industrial Chemical

The method could be applied to carbon waste streams.

Method Turns Discarded Plastic into Surfactants

The chemical process turns plastic into biodegradable chemicals for surfactants and detergents.

Pre-Treatment Solution for Water Recovery

The solution increases water recovery, prevents mineral scaling, and cuts the volume of brines in half.

Desalination Process Removes Toxic Metals

The desalination method produces clean water while, at the same time, potentially capturing valuable metals such as gold.