Research articles

Assessing electricity consumption in green-certified buildings using high-frequency hourly data shows that such buildings reduce energy demand particularly during peak times, which has additional environmental and economic benefits.

Human and animal faeces simultaneously threaten global health and provide resources for recovery. This study presents the first global-scale analysis of recoverable faeces from 2003 projected to 2030 and of associated burdens. Production from domestic animals is about four times that of humans, emphasizing the need for better onsite management.

China’s coal-dominated power system is a source of carbon emissions, local air pollution and water stress. This study presents three power system development scenarios that run until 2030 in China, where coal strategies are optimized under current environmental regulations and varying prices for air pollutant emissions and water.

Wet biowaste from food processing and animal manure can be converted into biocrude oil using HTL. In this study, the authors combined distillation and esterification to upgrade biocrude into diesel blendstock and performed engine tests using it.

This study spatially maps the economic value of some major ecosystem services provided by the Brazilian Amazon. It also estimates changes in these values under scenarios of degradation and low-impact logging.

Biofuels, produced from grass, algae and other organisms alive today, supplement fuels produced through geological processes. This study finds that moderate intensification of prairie perennial plants can optimize benefits of the resultant biofuels, including soil carbon, greenhouse gas benefits and fuel production.

Cryptocurrency mining requires extensive energy consumption for computers to verify the blockchain and generate new currency. This analysis compares several cryptocurrencies and metals in terms of the amount of energy needed to create one US dollar of value, as well as the carbon emissions that may be directly attributable to cryptocurrency mining.

Provision of electricity in sub-Saharan Africa is often affected by outages leading to increased use of backup diesel generators. In this study, the authors estimate the air emissions, consumer costs and fossil energy consumption resulting from the use of such generators.

The net environmental costs of rare earths production in China, the largest producer, are estimated to be almost US$15 billion. Scenarios show that the largest reduction in environmental impact can be achieved by tackling illegal mining.

Village chickens are commonplace among smallholder communities, but mortality is high. This study compares two regions in Ethiopia and finds that unique adaptations, including traits and parasite burdens, reflect distinct gene pools likely shaped by human-driven selection. Results suggest sustainable interventions for village chickens should be locally tailored.

Most wildlife lives outside protected areas, creating potential conflicts with humans. This study assesses potential trade-offs between wildlife and livestock management in an East African savanna, finding potential ecological and economic benefits from integrating the two.

Machine learning using big data can enhance environmental law monitoring. Applied to the US Clean Water Act, such methods can help public agencies to increase the likelihood of inspecting non-compliant facilities up to sevenfold.

Measures to adapt coastal areas to tsunamis risk creating greater vulnerabilities owing to a false sense of security. Hard-adaptive projects like seawalls must be considered within an assessment of human behaviour and feedback loops.

High-yield farming systems have the potential to spare non-farmed land for other uses (such as nature conservation), but raise concerns about their other environmental impacts (such as greenhouse gas emissions and soil erosion). This study argues such impacts should be measured per unit of production and shows that viewed this way, some land-efficient systems have less impact than lower-yielding alternatives.

Understanding the sources of particulate matter responsible for extreme air pollution and climate change is critical for designing adequate policies to protect the wellbeing of citizens. This study shows that extraordinary levels of particulate matter with diameter smaller than 1 µm were observed in Dublin in November 2016 and January 2017 and can be attributed to emissions from residential burning of peat and wood, often promoted as ‘slow renewables’.

Focusing on China’s six natural gas sources and three end-use gas-forcoalsubstitution strategies in 2020, this study shows that, except for coal-based synthetic gas, replacement of coalwith gas usually has air–carbon–water co-benefits, although with air–water trade-offs in the magnitude ofimprovement.

Cobalt is used in rechargeable batteries, and half the world’s supply comes from one district in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This study assesses the sustainability of artisanal mining there, finding much higher levels of cobalt in blood and urine of community members and especially of children.

Designing interventions to address water scarcity under climate change is challenging given the large uncertainties in projected water availability. In this study, changes in the uncertainty range of anticipated water scarcity conditions are identified, and a general decision-making framework to support policy decisions is developed.

Footprint analysis of how much water is embedded in food consumption in France, Germany and the United Kingdom finds geographical differences in water footprints and projects how different diets could affect water conservation.

An econometric modelling analysis shows that eliminating tariffs in key inputs for renewable energy production can have a significant impact on reducing carbon emissions in Europe.