Technology – Climate360 News

14Jan

By Climate 360 NewsNo Comments

Economy, Energy, Loyola Marymount University, Technology

Lithium: Not as clean as we thought

By Alex Kim All Electric Ford F-150 Truck at LA Car Show, 2021. Photographed by James Turner. While electric cars reduce fossil fuel emissions once they are on the road, the production of the lithium-ion batteries that power them causes more displacement and CO2 emissions than the production of regular gas-powered cars. Disposal of the batteries at the end of their life cycle is also a growing concern. “There are carbon dioxide and other greenhouse emissions that come with the process of extraction,” said Zeke Hausfather, a scientist at climate research nonprofit Berkeley Earth told Climate360. “[It's] not like CO2 comes out of the lithium, but it does take energy to mine things — today many of those systems involve emitting CO2.”&nbs...

Cryptocurrency mining has a huge carbon footprint. Here’s what experts think we should do about it.

5Aug

By Climate 360 NewsNo Comments

Louisiana State University, Technology

Cryptocurrency mining has a huge carbon footprint. Here’s what experts think we should do about it.

By Domenic Purdy As currencies like bitcoin and dogecoin make digital currency as valid a form of payment as the U.S. dollar and euro, experts seek new environmentally-friendly solutions to the massive amounts of energy cryptocurrency consumes. Cryptocurrencies are digital currency that are not subject to a central authority that regulates the currency’s value like Federal Reserve for the U.S. dollar or the European Central Bank for the euro. Despite fluctuating market values that are more volatile than most nationally backed currencies, cryptocurrency has taken a foothold in the financial world. The most popular cryptocurrency, bitcoin, has a combined market value of $653 billion U.S. dollars—equivalent to 1.8% of the combined value of the world's money supply, according ...

How to build in a flood-prone city: a lesson from the Netherlands

26Jul

By Climate 360 NewsNo Comments

Community, Louisiana State University, Policy, Technology

How to build in a flood-prone city: a lesson from the Netherlands

Map of the Army Corps of Engineers' proposed storm surge barrier in Charleston, South Carolina. Courtesy of Waggonner & Ball Architecture/Environment. By Sami Beekman, Nicole Nguyen BATON ROUGE, LA – What do New Orleans, Louisiana, and Charleston, South Carolina, have in common? The foundation of both southern cities’ modern infrastructure was built on marsh land in the 19th and 20th centuries. Through a combination of turn-of-the-century drainage systems, the shoring-up of levees, the filling of creeks and marshes, and other changes to the topography of the land through urban development, each city was designed to exist on stretches of land that were engineered into existence. Around 1900, municipal drainage systems allowed New Orleans to spread onto former mar...

LSU activists developing hydroponic farming system to battle food insecurity in Baton Rouge

21Jul

By Climate 360 NewsNo Comments

Community, Louisiana State University, Science, Technology

LSU activists developing hydroponic farming system to battle food insecurity in Baton Rouge

By Domenic Purdy BATON ROUGE, LA — Louisiana State University activists are developing a hydroponic farming system to combat food insecurity in Baton Rouge. The project is in its early stages and is titled the Amical Cabral Project—named after an African agricultural engineer from Guinea-Bissau. In coordination with LSU’s Ag Center, biological engineering senior Soheil Saneei, founder of the Baton Rouge political organization Cooperation Rouge, is exploring sustainable solutions for feeding the community. Climate change will make feeding the world’s growing population more difficult by drying out once arable land and increasing extreme weather that damages crops. Hydroponics has been considered an adaptation to this problem since it doesn’t require soil. Hydroponic ...

No soil? No problem: Hydroponic farming could help combat climate change and food insecurity

7Jul

By Climate 360 NewsNo Comments

Louisiana State University, Science, Technology

No soil? No problem: Hydroponic farming could help combat climate change and food insecurity

A hydroponic system being used to grow livestock feed for British Columbia and Alberta, Canada. This project was conducted and funded by the Food and Agriculture Institute at the University of the Fraser Valley in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada. Photo Courtesy of Lenore Newman By Domenic Purdy As the world population nears 10 billion by 2050, overall food demand is expected to increase by over 50%, according to the World Resources Institute. Climate change will make feeding that population more difficult in some regions. Increased heat stress, rainfall intensity, flooding and drought could reduce crop yields and leave once arable land unusable, leading to food insecurity, according to the Environmental Protection Agenc...

Living on the edge: NASA centers and military operations at risk of sea-level rise

25Jun

By Climate 360 NewsNo Comments

Louisiana State University, Technology

Living on the edge: NASA centers and military operations at risk of sea-level rise

NASA's Wallops Flight Facility is a rocket launch site located on Wallops Island, Virginia. Photo by NASA/Wallops on Flickr. By Ava Borskey BATON ROUGE, LA — Amid the densely populated cities and tourist-scattered beaches of the U.S. coast, you’ll find a trillion-dollar economy home to science, technology and military operations.  As the Earth continues to warm and sea-levels rise, vital infrastructure along the coast, like NASA operation centers and military bases, will have to adapt to the impacts of a changing climate. “If you look at where Wallops is based, you look at Kennedy Space Center and even NASA Langley, we are on the coast,” said Laura Rogers, an associate program manager for NASA’s Applied Sciences Program. “We're at that front edge of where we're goin...

LSU researchers are building a one-of-a-kind quantum device to increase solar cell efficiency

14Jun

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Energy, Louisiana State University, Technology

LSU researchers are building a one-of-a-kind quantum device to increase solar cell efficiency

By Josh Archote This piece was originally published on March 15, 2021, by The Reveille. Dr. Chenglong You works with a quantum simulator on Mar. 11, 2021 in a Nicholson Hall basement lab. Courtesy of Matthew Perschall. LSU researchers are building a quantum simulator to study how light interacts with different materials in solar cells to increase their efficiency. LSU Physics professor Omar Magana-Loaiza and postdoctoral researcher Chenglong You received a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to build a one-of-a-kind quantum device. Their research could help scientists find better materials to build solar cells and make them more efficient. The sun emits light made up of speeding photons that travel to the Earth, and solar cells convert the energy of those ph...

Re-engineering photosynthesis: How two LSU biology professors hope to feed the world’s growing population

14Jun

By Climate 360 NewsNo Comments

Louisiana State University, Technology

Re-engineering photosynthesis: How two LSU biology professors hope to feed the world’s growing population

By Josh Archote This piece was originally published on November 27, 2020, by The Reveille. In 2016, biology professor Paul South tested his shortcut on plants that allows them to use their energy when they're taking in carbon dioxide. Courtesy of Paul South. By 2050, the world population is expected to increase to nearly 10 billion people. Consequently, overall food demand is projected to increase over 50%, according to the World Resources Institute. Meanwhile, climate change will result in an increasingly inhospitable climate for agriculture by reducing the amount of arable land and water availability, as well as the increased prevalence of extreme weather such as droughts, heatwaves and flooding. As more people populate the earth, significant amounts of ar...