Tag
Environment
Search
2019
Cities: at the forefront of climate action
For centuries, cities have been laboratories for new progressive ideas. Facing climate change, they can act like pioneers for a sustainable lifestyle.
Recovering water out of thin air
Fog catchers have been providing water to people in dry, mountainous regions for decades. Due to climate change, more regions get drier, pushing the need for this technology.
Solar desalination sees the light of dawn
New solar technologies promise a more sustainable way for water-starved communities to squeeze drinkable water out of the salty seas.
How we can save hydropower
The way we’ve historically generated energy from water is not good for the environment. Here’s how that’s changing.
Circular economy: still a long way to go
Recycling and refurbishment are still rare in Europe’s economies. Platforms like Refurbed offer a first contact to a more sustainable approach.
Four interesting ways to treat industrial wastewater
In the face of large-scale industrial water pollution, technologists are demonstrating the surprising value of wastewater.
5 “green cities” lead the way
Searching for smart and sustainable solutions, they show how to curb energy use, reduce carbon emissions and create more livable spaces.
Using data to make cities greener
As politicians stall when it comes to dealing with climate change on a national level, local data-based projects are trying to reduce carbon emissions on their own doorsteps
Extreme rain: how cities are preparing
Violent rainstorms are already more frequent, and they will only get worse. Europe’s metropolises are working on ways to protect themselves.
2018
Dealing with the plastic scourge
Society is balking at the impact of our collective plastic footprint. But some alternatives are occurring.
Bringing tech to the farm
Technology is helping farmers feed the world. It can also make agriculture more environmentally friendly – for conventional and organic farmers alike.
10 great African innovations
From fintech to health to the environment, clever inventions are improving the lives of millions of people.
How to make threads “green”
French start-up Hopaal has found a way to recycle textiles and even plastic bottles to manufacture environmentally friendly clothing.
Welcome to Silicon Savannah
Kenya is brimming with innovation, hoping to establish a truly circular economy.
Plastics under fire
As environmental pressure increases, industry is responding with innovative products made from organic sources and more responsible use of plastics derived from petroleum.
Making the blue greener
From an environmental standpoint, marine exploitation has been a catastrophe. Innovation is showing the way towards sustainable oceans.
Heating, a major trial
Temperatures in cities need to fall – and fast. But how?
Fighting energy waste in buildings
Buildings accounts for a huge proportion of the world’s energy consumption. Zoom on some innovative solutions to cut the waste.
The concrete challenge
It’s the world’s most ubiquitous construction material – but it comes with a hefty environmental cost.
Amsterdam’s Waterworld
An expert discusses the challenges of creating a major district entirely with floating houses.
2017
Nuclear tombs for the ages
Radiation-eating bacteria could make underground storage of nuclear waste safer.
Energy efficiency: greening the bottom line
Contrary to popular belief, sustainable solutions can be good for business. A look at some of Europe’s most innovative efforts.
“Traffic remains a challenge”
A Danish expert explains his strategy for making urban life sustainable and liveable.
Dealing with a sea of plastic
Polymer packaging makes up most of the world’s marine debris. New biodegradable or edible containers could offer a better solution.
Construction: back to the roots
Wood has seen a slow-paced renaissance since the early 1990s, but ambitious proposals for timber structures now seem to appear.
2016
Buildings that live and breathe
From London to Hamburg to Singapore, architects draw inspiration from living organisms to design energy-efficient buildings.
The circular economy: a boost for growth
How Europe is shifting towards a more sustainable system by reusing, remanufacturing and recycling.
Rock-solid climate solution
A technique for turning CO2 into stone has been pioneered in Iceland, but another kind of immoveable object could prevent large-scale success.
Leaders in smart energy
Throughout Europe, companies large and small are attacking bad habits and wasteful appliances.
Innovation from the East
What if your fuse box could talk to you? Created in the midst of Ukrainian turmoil, Ecoisme can analyse home energy consumption in real time.
Electricity’s bright future
Petrol power helped shape the 20th century, but its decline may define the 21st. So how will the future of urban transport look?
Urban Mobility: is Europe too timid?
There are bright ideas for how to make our cities more fluid, but they won’t do much good unless decision-makers show more vision and courage.
Clearing congestion
It can be difficult to effect behavioural change in large cities, but Stockholm and London have shown that a well-conceived nudge will deliver results.
Bikes are back
Cycling is healthy and good for the environment – so no wonder bicycle use in some European cities has doubled since the early 2000s.
The Vizzualiser
Relying on attractive and informative data visualisations, Craig Mills is on a mission to use hard evidence to bring environmental issues to life.
Extreme scientists on the cutting edge
Six researchers reveal just how far they go to discover some of nature’s deepest secrets or test novel technologies.
2015
Wind turbines without blades
The idea sounds preposterous, but Spanish start-up Vortex Bladeless is convinced that it can win over the sceptics.
Winners and losers of biodiversity
The presence of a single species – Homo sapiens – is having a dramatic impact, allowing some to thrive and pushing others to the brink of extinction.
From plastic waste to homes
Can you clean up litter and house people with one idea? Yes, says an innovative Danish student.
Climate engineering
Prudent plan B or desperate measure?
Too little, too much
To guarantee an uninterrupted flow of electricity, Europe must improve its storage capacity and build a super grid.
A tank full of sunshine
Solar energy won’t fulfil its potential until the storage problem is solved. Here’s how.
The high price of inaction
For more than 40 years – ever since the Great Oil Crisis of 1973 – scientists, governments and media have been warning that the world must reduce its dependence on fuels derived from hydrocarbons. Initially, the main worry was supply – would the world run out of oil and gas before we found alternatives? But by the 1980s, an even greater danger came to the fore: climate change, aggravated by the massive amounts of CO2 being spewed into the atmosphere by oil-derived fuels.
2014
The young man and the sea
Activism in action: a 20-year old takes on the mass of floating plastic garbage.
To frack or not to frack
Can America’s shale-gas revolution be repeated in Europe? The furore over earthquakes and chemicals has obscured more important issues.
It’s food, but not as you know it
From lab-hatched eggs to caterpillar croquettes, the food of the future may not be familiar, but that doesn’t mean it won’t taste good.