Organisms that produce synthetic fuel and suck carbon out of the air are just some of the possibilities of ‘engineering biology’ – if policymakers can shepherd the industry towards success.
Biofuels are heralded as a climate-friendly replacement of fossil fuels, but encouraging people to drive less and shift to other modes of transport would cut more emissions.
Ultra long-haul flights make it possible to go Sydney to London non-stop. But does the world need them, given they are more polluting and less efficient?
Allowing the sale of gasoline that’s 15% ethanol year-round won’t have much impact on gas prices, but recent research shows that growing corn for fuel affects the climate – for the worse.
The US has required motor fuels to contain 10% biofuels since 2005. As this program nears a key milestone in 2022, farm advocates want to expand it while critics want to pare it back or repeal it.
The hidden costs of industrial food production include immense health and environmental impacts. These include millions of deaths, climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss.
How do we ensure solutions to climate change doesn’t make biodiversity loss worse? Fifty of the world’s leading researchers on biodiversity and climate have sought to answer this question.
A complete switch to biofuels is neither feasible nor desirable, but they could replace some fossil fuels in transport and heating. If biofuels are produced from waste products, that’s even better.
Diane Kim, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences; Ignacio Navarrete, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, dan Jessica Dutton, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Making biofuels from crops grown on land poses trade-offs between food and fuel. A new study looks offshore.
We analysed what the world’s top 58 airlines – such as American Airlines, British Airways and Qantas – are doing about climate change. Even the best airlines are not doing anywhere near enough.
Many current and former US military leaders call climate change a serious national security threat, but few of them mention the Defense Department’s big carbon footprint.