Air travel contributes 2.5 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions and is often the biggest contributor to an individual’s carbon footprint. To eliminate aviation emissions, Val Miftakhov started ZeroAvia, a company committed to building the world’s first zero-emission 100-person jet that can fly across the Atlantic Ocean by 2030. His planes will run on fuel cells powered by hydrogen.
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Electric vehicles (EVs) are more than just a means of transportation: they’re mobile batteries that store large amounts of power on the road. Because EV batteries are often underutilized by drivers, some of the energy stored in these batteries can be pushed back into the electrical grid through a process known as vehicle-to-grid integration. Vehicle-to-grid integration involves creating EV batteries that are capable of bidirectional charging, meaning they can both receive electricity from and return electricity to the power grid. If electric vehicles were to be adopted on a large scale, they could help supply renewable energy to buildings and homes.
Ever wanted a juicy hamburger, but without the actual beef? A potential alternative is plant-based meat. Plant-based meats are — as the name implies — made from plants. It’s the restructuring and manufacturing of plants to feel and taste like an animal product. As more research and innovation emerges, plant-based meats may become both more popular and bio-friendly.
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Environmental racism typically isn’t taught in high school science classes, and often the socio-political aspects of the climate crisis are left out of environmental science education altogether. One effort to fill this gap is Youth on Root, which supplements existing STEM education with a curriculum kit on environmental justice, a youth-directed conference program that brings California kids together, and an animated explanatory video series.
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Wind turbines are a method of energy conversion. They take one form of energy — kinetic energy from wind — and transform it, through a series of mechanical processes, into electricity. Wind energy is considered renewable because it occurs naturally in the world around us. Earth will never run out of wind.
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The U.S. produces so much waste that this waste can be quantified using Olympic-sized swimming pools as negligible units of measurement.
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Earth Day, which falls on April 22 and is the annual celebration of the birth of the modern environmental movement, began in 1970. It is a day of unity for environmentalists, groups and organizations mobilized around specific environmental issues, and everyone in between. Once focused on more local environmental concerns, now on its 51st anniversary, the meaning of Earth Day is giving way to more organized international concerns of inspiring global action on climate change.
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Many “recyclable” materials are not recycled or even recyclable. While papers and metals are recycled at relatively high rates, recycling rates for plastic are below 10 percent. Most plastics display numerical codes, purporting to denote a standardized and elaborate recycling system. But the system is convoluted, sometimes confusing even recycling facilities and identifying recycling processes that are not used.
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Bioenergy is a form of energy produced through the conversion of biomass. Biomass is living organic matter that contains chemical energy captured during photosynthesis. When burned, biomass releases energy in the form of heat, which can be used to heat buildings or generate electricity. Alternatively, biomass can be converted into fuel or gas to be burned for energy at a later time.
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Agroecology is a science that melds western academics with traditional, indigenous farming knowledge. The goal is to form a cohesive understanding of sustainable agriculture using concepts such as biodiversity and nutrient recycling to create a farm system that functions much like an ecosystem.
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