Balarajan, B., & Mossburg, C. (2023, December 20). California wastewater to be recycled into tap water, according to new regulations. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/20/us/wastewater-california-regulations-board/index.html

California has found a new way to develop drinking water; Instead of toilet or shower wastewater going into the Pacific Ocean or getting used for farmland, it’ll be recycled for humans to drink. After the board had a unanimous vote, they got approval for new regulations which made California the second state to recycle wastewater into drinking water. Due to weather conditions getting warmer with climate change, just in 2023, more than 97% of California has been in severe drought which is the worst on record.  Many were against having to drink “toilet to tap” water, but researchers said that regulations are key to public trust and protecting public health. California has suffered decades of drought and it’s affecting residents and their access to clean water, so this recycling of water will be extremely helpful.

It’s very interesting getting to see how our world is adapting to circumstances after California has been in a drought for so long, researchers found something groundbreaking about recycling water from dirty water to clean, drinking water. This will improve our world knowing we won’t have that dependency on finding more water, but rather just being able to recycle the water continually. I’m interested in finding out more about how we can recycle other resources in our world to further improve global warming.

Gelles, D., Plumer, B., Tankersley, J., Ewing, J., Dominguez, L., & Popovich, N. (2023, August 13). The Clean Energy Future is arriving faster than you think. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/08/12/climate/clean-energy-us-fossil-fuels.html

About 20 years ago, any sort of renewable energy source such as solar panels, wind turbines, and battery-powered vehicles, seemed to be viewed as “niche technologies” and too expensive to which they were overlooked. Present day, however, wind and solar power are breaking records, and renewables are now expected to overtake coal as the world’s largest source of electricity. Our planet is experiencing some of the highest temperatures on record (some areas have even become incompatible with human life), and our government is finally taking action to slow down the increase of global warming by putting trillions of dollars into clean energy. Luckily, many researchers, engineers, and entrepreneurs around the world have tried to improve the damage done by climate change and governments have invested plenty of money into renewable energy sources, so we’re now seeing a rapid drop in costs for solar energy, wind power, and batteries. 

I’m glad to see there are improvements made by our government to help with our dying planet, but I think it’s gotten so bad that we’re only now making an impact even though we should’ve started many years ago. I guess it’s still important that we’re starting sooner rather than later, but changes should’ve been made a while back. I think it’s also crucial that prices for these renewable energy sources are decreasing because then it causes people to use them more if they’re more accessible. I wonder what our world will be like in 20 years; will nothing change or will we see a large difference in the energy sources we are using.

WIener-Bronner, D. (2023, June 21). Lab-grown meat is cleared for sale in the United States | CNN business. CNN Edition. https://edition.cnn.com/2023/06/21/business/cultivated-meat-us-approval/index.html

Upside Foods and Good Meat are two companies that have created cultivated meat, also known as lab-grown meat. They advertise their new product for two major reasons; 1. It’s meat without slaughter so there’s less damage to animals and 2. Without the need for animal agriculture, it can then decrease greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere. Meat production has become a large component of climate change due to deforestation and loss of biodiversity and the factories they’re slaughtered in most of the time emit greenhouse gasses. Lab-grown meat endured an inspection to assess a firm’s food safety system issued by the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service. As this cultivated meat continues to spread throughout the United States and possibly to the rest of the world, it’ll be a large step toward a more sustainable world and have a large effect on global warming.

I knew how detrimental the meat industry is and how if people became vegan or at least decreased the amount of meat they were consuming, that would largely impact greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere. That being said, it’s really important that they made this invention and that it got approved and is going widespread because it could be a good transition for meat-eaters to change to eating lab-made meat or not eating meat at all. This makes me want to find lab-grown meat and see what it tastes like knowing I’d be saving the planet one bite at a time. 

Duffy, C. (2023, July 27). AC is hard on the planet. this building has a sustainable solution – CNN.  https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/27/tech/geothermal-building-nyc-extreme-heat-mission-ahead/index.html

Studies show that in mid-July in Brooklyn, New York, temperatures reach high in the 90s while underground stays fairly in the 50s. 1 Java Street will soon be the biggest residential building with a “geothermal” heating and cooling system in the country. This method is a more environmentally friendly version of an HVAC system that doesn’t include “traditional AC units and natural gas” for the building to receive heat or AC. Geothermal plumbing is essentially sending water from a building into the ground below so on warmer days, the underground temperature will reduce any water from the building to help cool the buildings down and on cold days, it’ll be able to warm up the cold water to help with heating. This system is going to release about 55% less carbon and achieve net zero greenhouse emissions as more experts are trying to implement new solutions that’ll keep buildings cool while making them eco-safe. 

I thought this was an innovative idea to utilize the cool temperatures from underground to create an eco-friendly AC and heating system. It’s interesting to see what inventors will create using our Earth to combat climate change. They did say this was going to be an extremely expensive project, but I feel as though this system is worth every penny. The article brought up a good point that once investors invest in geothermal and companies support the creation of the technology, prices will eventually decrease, and it’ll become cost-efficient. They are already seeing rapid growth in this neighborhood and are thinking about spreading this system throughout the rest of the country. 

Chang, A., & Bradsher, K. (2023, May 16). Can the World Make an Electric Car Battery Without China? The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/05/16/business/china-ev-battery.html?searchResultPosition=34

China is much more advanced than the rest of the world; they just created an electric car battery that is sustainable for the environment. China continues to create such sophisticated inventions that it wouldn’t be possible to live without that country since the rest of the world may take decades to catch up to their intelligence. The battery assembly is complex and technical, but creates such a difference in the world if something made to help the environment is sustainable in its processing too. 

Considering China owns most of the cobalt mines in Congo, they are able to make the common type of battery, but also they have the most mining for lithium for a battery’s electric charge. This battery is complicated to form; to create one, cathode and anode materials are connected to thin sheets of metal which are about ⅕ the thickness of a human hair. Afterward, the batteries are stacked with separators, then moistened with electrolytes, and finally, rolled up. The entire process of creating the electrical car battery must be made in a room that minimizes air particles and moisture for it to work properly and efficiently. I think it’s important to take into account how China has advanced and how our world wouldn’t have created such change without them. This electrical car battery isn’t something that the rest of the world would be able to make for decades, so we should continue with China’s inventions. 

Climate-friendly air conditioning inspired by termites. (2023, July 6). ScienceDaily. Retrieved August 21, 2023, from https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/07/230706124549.htm

At Lund University in Sweden, new research was made inspired by termites. They discovered a new system for future buildings that achieves the same effect as traditional climate control, except this has a greater energy efficiency and it’s without its carbon dioxide footprint. Termite mounds have an advanced ventilation system that creates air circulation throughout the structure while can help regulating temperature and humidity. The interior of termite mounds consists of thousands of interconnected channels, tunnels, and air chambers that capture wind energy so they can breathe which is what the study focuses on. 

Many sensors and regulating devices are placed in a climate-adaptive building envelope through miniaturization (making something small), durability/sustainability, and cost reduction. This creates a regulation of the indoor climate and control factors that include temperature and humidity; this is all done without relying on large fans and heating and air conditioning systems. The mechanisms are dependent on being able to create complex internal geometries all of which is only possible through the process of 3D printing. I thought it was interesting how they were able to derive this climate control device from the idea of how termites live. They are two completely different topics, but somehow have the same concept. This is an issue we should all be discussing considering how much it can control the climate sustainably as temperatures continue to rise due to climate change. 

Sustainable plastic made more compostable. (2023, August 4). ScienceDaily. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/08/230804161748.htm

‌A team at Michigan State University, led by Rafael Auras, made a bio-based polymer blend that is able to be compostable in both home and industrial settings. In the U.S., less than 10% of plastic waste is recycled meaning there’s so much leftover waste. This bulk of plastic waste ends up in the trash which then creates economic, environmental, and even health concerns around the world. This blend though, is all-natural as it’s made with water, carbon dioxide, and lactic acid. Sustainable, compostable plastic would change the world as plastic creates large hazards in our world. 

Considering there’s so much waste, with this creation, you’re able to develop biodegradable and compostable products which is perfect as our world undergoes continuous climate change patterns. We’d be able to divert much of that waste while reducing the amount that normally goes into a landfill. For efficient plastic recycling, plastics wouldn’t need to be cleaned of food contaminants as it’s made for the compost bin. This would be a major benefit since recycling facilities are usually spending time, water, and energy to clean dirty plastic waste. I think this article has a simple solution that many people would enjoy as it barely affects their lives but makes a large impact on our world. Having plastic that is compostable wouldn’t endanger animal life, species life, and just in general, our planet.  

Device makes hydrogen from sunlight with record efficiency: New standard for green hydrogen technology set by Rice U. engineers. (2023, July 20). ScienceDaily. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/07/230720124624.htm

Aditya Mohite, a chemical and biomolecular engineer, created a device that turns sunlight into hydrogen. The device uses an anticorrosion barrier to insulate the semiconductor from water while not impeding the transfer of electrons. It is known as a photoelectrochemical cell due to its ability to absorb light, convert it into electricity, and use electricity to power a chemical reaction that occurs together. The device is known for its high efficiency as it achieved a 20.8% solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency in a study in Nature Communications. 

This device includes two layers to the barrier, one of which blocks the water, and the other to make electrical contact between the perovskite layers and the protective layer. The results of this device are extraordinary; without solar concentration, it has the highest efficiency for photoelectrochemical cells and overall the best for halide perovskite semiconductors. With more time and more technology, they’d be able to make further improvements that could change the future of solar fuel as humans would be able to convert fossil fuels to solar fuels. I think this issue is a little complicated to understand, but I think it would make such a large difference to our world and overall create an impact on how we handle climate change. More people should definitely take the time to understand this device and how it works as a benefit. 

Williams, K. (2023, February 21). In Search for Sustainable Materials, Developers Turn to Hemp. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/21/business/hemp-construction-buildings.html?searchResultPosition=8

Industrial hemp is a type of plant specifically used as a construction material and is becoming increasingly popular as it is better for the environment. It all began in Paris when the Pierre Chevet Sports Hall was made entirely of hemp blocks and shocked everyone as they believed it would just be the beginning of hemp-made buildings. Hemp can be made in three forms; the first is in block form which is what the Sports Hall was made of, the other is hempcrete, made of lime, hemp fibers, and a chemical binder, and lastly hemp panels.

Researchers have discovered that though hemp is more expensive than regular construction materials, there are a lot of advantages that are beneficial to the environment. For instance, to create hemp blocks, there isn’t much skill required for assembly which means fewer workers are needed. It’s also faster to build since there are no cement joints or drying time in the proceeds of making hemp blocks. They also don’t take up as much space because insulation and finishing layers aren’t necessary, so there’s more space for use. I believe with so many advantages to using hemp as the construction material, the cost wouldn’t be much of an issue since it’s worth it for improving the environment. I also think more light should be shed on this idea because I’m confident that not a lot of people know about this solution, but would be very helpful for future buildings.