Category Archives: News

Trees in Central Los Angeles Absorb More Carbon Than Previously Thought: Study

Posted on by February 26, 2025

Trees in central Los Angeles absorb much more carbon dioxide than scientists thought. This means they are able to offset a surprising amount of the city’s fossil fuel emissions when the weather is warm and trees are most active.

In a recent study, researchers used densely spaced air-quality sensors to find that vegetation in parts of central LA offset 60 percent of the city’s carbon emissions, especially during the growing season, a press release from University of Southern California (USC) said.

The discovery that urban greenery plays a more substantial role in offsetting LA’s carbon footprint could offer insights to help other cities combat climate change.

“Urban areas are major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, necessitating effective monitoring systems to evaluate mitigation strategies,” the authors of the study wrote. “A dense sensor network, such as the Berkeley Environmental Air-quality & CO2 Observation Network (BEACO2N), offers a unique opportunity to monitor urban emissions at high spatial resolution.”

The first-of-its-kind study by Public Exchange and USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences was able to provide more detail than had been previously available by tracking emissions absorption in real time.

The measurements are some of the most detailed on how air quality is impacted by urban trees. Vegetation in the area absorbed as much as 60 percent of daytime carbon dioxide from fossil fuels during the spring and summer months and roughly 30 percent annually. This ranks LA as a city with one of the highest documented uptake rates of carbon dioxide.

In order to track LA’s carbon in real time, the team launched the Carbon Census array, which involved deployment of a dozen high-resolution BEACO₂N sensors over a 15-by-six-mile area of Mid-City.

The sensors mapped changing carbon concentrations in the air as it moved across the urban landscape. This enabled the researchers to take wind direction and speed, as well as urban density, into account to determine the extent to which local vegetation was offsetting emissions.

“You can think of emissions like passengers on a train,” said lead researcher Will Berelson, a USC Dornsife professor of Earth sciences, environmental studies and spatial sciences, in the press release. “As the wind moves pollution through the city, some gets picked up and some gets dropped off. These sensors let us see that process in real time.”

The study, conducted from July of 2021 to December of the following year, measured carbon dioxide directly, unlike other models that estimate carbon levels based on traffic data, fuel sales and other models that depend on carbon landing on individual sensors.

“One of the study’s biggest surprises was that trees absorb the most CO₂ during summer, despite it being L.A.’s driest season. Satellite imagery shows L.A.’s urban greenery is remarkably verdant in summer, likely due to irrigation, groundwater access from leaky pipes and resilient tree species,” the press release said. “Still, trees can’t keep pace with emissions. As expected, CO₂ levels spiked during rush hour, reinforcing the fact that, while greenery helps, it can’t offset pollution from cars, buildings and industry on its own.”

The findings of the study help inform USC’s Urban Trees Initiative, which is a partnership between the City of Los Angeles, USC and community organizations with a focus on expanding urban greenery where it’s needed most. Identifying areas where trees are absorbing the most carbon could be helpful in guiding future planting efforts.

Building on the success of the study, the USC team added eight more sensors to its network outside the original study area.

“Our goal is to monitor more areas of L.A. to define baseline values of CO2 emission and identify where vegetation is making the biggest impact and where more greenery is needed,” Berelson said.

The fact that urban vegetation only absorbs about one-third of the area’s fossil fuel emissions each year emphasizes the urgent need for improved public transportation, clean energy and broader emissions reductions.

LA has a target of becoming carbon-neutral by 2050. Berelson said that, while the city’s urban greenery gives it a natural boost, reducing the use of fossil fuels is still the most important step in combating climate change.

“Nature is helping us, but we can’t rely on it to do all the work,” Berelson said.

The findings, “Observing Anthropogenic and Biogenic CO2 Emissions in Los Angeles Using a Dense Sensor Network,” were published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.

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‘Superpod’ of More Than 2,000 Dolphins Spotted Frolicking off California Coast

Posted on by February 26, 2025

A “superpod” of more than 2,000 dolphins was spotted off the coast of Monterey Bay, California, over the weekend.

The gathering of cetaceans included Pacific white-sided dolphins, Northern right whale dolphins and light grey baby calves, reported The Guardian.

“Super pods like this are rare, especially of Northern right whale dolphins,” Monterey Bay Whale Watch wrote on its Facebook page, as the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The post specified that the best time to see large groups of dolphins is in winter.

Captain and videographer Even Brodsky with Monterey Bay Whale Watch, a private boat tour company, captured the “mind-blowing” display on video, reported The Guardian. Brodsky was conducting research with two other members of the team at the time of the sighting. Thousands of Risso’s dolphins had recently been spotted by the company in the same area.

“Northern right whale dolphins usually travel in groups of 100 to 200 individuals but are sometimes found in groups of up to 3,000. They are occasionally seen in mixed groups with other cetacean species, such as Pacific white-sided dolphins, Risso’s dolphins, and short-finned pilot whales,” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.

Northern right whale dolphins are the only dolphin species in the north Pacific that don’t have dorsal fins. They have been known to leap over 20 feet out of the water.

“They’re all smooth,” Brodsky told The Associated Press. “When they jump, they look like flying eyebrows.”

“We were so excited it was hard to hold in our emotions. We had the biggest grins from ear to ear,” Brodsky said.

Monterey Bay is part of the national marine sanctuary that bears its name. The area south of San Francisco is a popular destination for those looking to catch a glimpse of its spectacular marine wildlife.

“In pods they play, babysit, alert each other to danger like predators, practice courtship, and hunt together. In fact, traveling in a group compensates for their smaller body size,” the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation said.

Marine biologist Colleen Talty with Monterey Bay Whale Watch said people come from all over the world hoping to spot northern right whale dolphins, who fish in the deep underwater canyons of the bay, The Associated Press reported.

Talty said the dolphins may have been clustering to feed, fend off predators or socialize.

“We don’t always see baby dolphins,” Talty said, “so that’s pretty nice.”

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14,000+ Crop Seeds Added to Svalbard Global Seed Vault for Preservation

Posted on by February 26, 2025

More than 14,000 seed samples are headed for the Svalbard Global Seed Vault this week, where they’ll be preserved and protected against climate change, war, and other events that can threaten crops and plant diversity.

The latest addition of 14,022 seed samples come from 21 different genebanks around the world, and the latest deposit will include thousands of samples from countries facing conflict and extreme weather events that can threaten seed genebanks.

Sudan, which is currently undergoing a civil war, deposited 15 samples, including different varieties of sorghum and pearl millet. The deposit will help protect Sudan’s crops, as an ongoing civil war led to the looting and destruction of the country’s seedbank, with more than 17,000 seeds affected. This is the sixth deposit to Svalbard’s Seed Vault by Sudan, which first started depositing seeds here in 2019.

“In Sudan, where conflict has displaced more than eight million people and disrupted agriculture, these seeds represent hope,” said Ali Babikar, director of Sudan’s Agricultural Plant Genetic Resources Conservation and Research Centre (APGRC). “By safeguarding this diversity in Svalbard, we’re preserving options for a resilient, food-secure future, regardless of the challenges we face.” 

The Philippines also made an important deposit to the seed bank to protect its diverse crops from extreme weather events that threaten the country. According to the WorldRiskIndex report, the Philippines ranks No. 1 globally for countries at the highest risk from extreme natural disasters and has previously had its national genebank damaged by typhoons and fires. Climate change has exacerbated these threats. 

As such, the Philippines is making a contribution of important seeds such as eggplant, rice bean, lima bean and sorghum for protection at Svalbard Global Seed Vault.

“In the face of climate change, which we are already feeling with all the extreme weather conditions in the Philippines, it becomes more pressing to duplicate these collections in other gene banks like Svalbard to safeguard [them],” Hidelisa de Chavez, a researcher at the University of the Philippines’ National Plant Genetic Resources Laboratory, told Grist. 

Brazil, which will host COP30 in Belém this year, also made a major contribution of more than 3,000 types of beans, rice and maize. 

Another critical deposit included Mucuna pruriens, or velvet beans, in Malawi’s deposit of legumes, rice, maize, sorghum and other crops. The velvet bean doubles as a nitrogen-fixing fertilizer that can boost maize yields and is popular for medicinal purposes.

“Crop diversity reduces the risk of food crises at local, regional, sub-regional and global levels,” Nolipher Mponya, an agricultural research scientist who works for the government of Malawi, said in a statement. “By conserving crop diversity, we are protecting the future of our foods. We are also maintaining the genes for crop improvement, feed and habitat for pollinators and ensuring the direct and indirect health and economic benefits from these crops.”

This round of deposits also included contributions from Benin, Burundi, Costa Rica, Malaysia, Nigeria, Zambia/Zimbabwe, Cote d’Ivoire, Georgia, Kenya, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden, Thailand and UA Emirates. 

Seeds at the vault are kept inside custom packages, sealed within boxes and kept at low temperature and moisture levels to prevent damage, even if there’s a power outage. The vault helps maintain backup seeds for countries that may be impacted by climate change, conflict or other disasters that could threaten genebanks.

Svalbard Global Seed Vault’s first deposit of 2025 is its 66th since it began accepting deposits in 2008. It typically collects deposits three times per year (February, June and October) and stores more than 1.3 million seed samples. It is owned by Norway and managed by Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture and Food, the regional NordGen genebank and the international nonprofit Crop Trust. The latest round of deposits was also supported by Biodiversity for Opportunities, Livelihoods, and Development (BOLD).

“The seeds deposited this week represent not just biodiversity, but also the knowledge, culture and resilience of the communities that steward them,” said Stefan Schmitz, executive director of Crop Trust. “We must find a way to protect this crop diversity for generations to come.”

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Glacial Melting Is Accelerating, Driving Sea Level Rise and Depleting Freshwater: Study

Posted on by February 26, 2025

Accelerating glacial melting is causing the world’s oceans to rise year after year and is causing a loss of regional freshwater, new research led by scientists at the University of Zürich shows. 

The world’s glaciers have been losing 273 billion tonnes of ice mass annually, causing oceans to rise by nearly a millimeter per year, which has been accelerating in recent years, the study finds. 

“To put this in perspective, the 273 billion tonnes of ice lost in one single year amounts to what the entire global population consumes in 30 years, assuming three litres per person and day,” lead author Michael Zemp said in a press release.

The researchers also found that the rate at which glaciers are melting is accelerating fairly rapidly. The second half of the period studied (from 2012 to 2023) saw a 36% increase in ice loss compared to the first half.

“For some regions, we’re finding a profound change in how quickly that sea ice is disappearing,” Brian Menounos, one of the study authors, a geography professor at the University of Northern British Columbia whose work focuses on the impacts of climate change in western Canada, told EcoWatch on a video call. “In the lower 48 and western Canada,” he added, “we’ve lost something like 23% of the (glacier) volume since 2000,” he said.

The research was a collaborative effort under the ​​World Glacier Monitoring Service and led by researchers at the University of Zürich. The researchers used the Glacier Mass Balance Intercomparison Exercise (GlaMBIE) to collect and analyze huge amounts of data from multiple sources to determine the rate of glacial melting and sea level rise since 2000.

The scientists used several methods to measure glacial ice loss, from the traditional method of manually comparing the amount of snow that accumulates on top of a glacier against the amount of water melting off of it, to much more advanced methods using satellites. 

Tyler Sutterley, one of the study authors and senior research scientist at the Applied Physics Lab at the University of Washington, explained over email that one method the researchers used was photogrammetry, where they created 3D models of the glaciers over time from repeated satellite photos in a process called photogrammetry.

The researchers also used radar and laser ranging instruments from NASA’s Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellites (ICESat and ICESat-2) and the European Space Agency’s CryoSat-2 missions to “measure changes in surface topography,” in a process called altimetry, Sutterley wrote, the measurements from which were “combined with estimates of the snow density change to estimate the glacier’s total mass change.”

Glaciers in the Chugach Mountains of Alaska: This image, recorded by the Sentinel-2 satellite on 6 Oct. 6, 2017 shows the melting Scott (left), Sheridan (middle), and Childs (right) glaciers feeding lakes and rivers in their forefields. Copernicus Sentinel data 2017

The last technique the researchers used involved measuring changes in Earth’s gravitational field using data from NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and its successor, GRACE-FO, which allowed for the researchers to estimate glacial mass changes over wide areas.

Using each of these methods, the researchers created the “most comprehensive assessment of glacier change to date,” Sutterley wrote.

While the research didn’t delve into the causes behind ice loss, the biggest factors are almost certainly continued greenhouse gas emissions, along with a loss of ice and snow that reflects heat outward to space. With both of these factors increasing, we can expect both glacial melting and sea level rise to continue accelerating, Sutterley told EcoWatch on a video call.

“The Earth is tricky, but with our mountain glaciers, I think overall, they are expected to continue to shrink — in some regions, yes, shrink faster and faster — but overall, the going trend is that we are losing our glaciated regions, and it is happening faster and faster,” he said.

A 2021 study found that over 400 million people globally are vulnerable to sea level rise as sea level encroaches on the world’s coasts.

“Sea level rise affects all of us,” Sutterley said. “Most of the world’s population lives near water, whether it’s rivers or coasts, and so starting to lose coastline, as it moves further inland based on sea level rise, is going to affect a lot of people.”

“There’s regions in the South Pacific that live on low-lying islands, and it’s going to take a massive humanitarian effort to deal with what is going to be a humanitarian crisis as we start losing places that are habitable just due to sea level rise,” he said. 

“Glaciers are one of the key metrics of climate change,” Sutterley said. “If you look at the big picture, you zoom out and you look at the tens of thousands of glaciers altogether, there you get a picture that is related to the energy balance of the planet, and where this energy is going. It’s going into the ocean. It’s melting ice, it’s heating our soils. And so having this broad view gives you this look on where this is going [and] what’s the cost.”

“We will directly notice the melting of these glaciers. Because they are located where many people live, it will affect drinking water supplies, in particular in South America and Asia. And the risk of flooding after the melt season also poses a danger,” Bert Wouters, one of the researchers and associate professor of geoscience and remote sensing at Delft University of Technology, wrote in a press release. 

Menounos said that the research will likely continue in the future with a successor to the GLaMBIE project.

“The next steps are for the collaborators of GlaMBIE, 1.0, if you want to call it that, to reach out to the community and propose a follow-up study. And that will take several years for people to get together, to meet at conferences, have workshops, and really sort of dive into perhaps things or aspects that we didn’t have time or we didn’t have data to look at specific regions or look at try to reduce biases in some regions.”

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New Low-Cost Beehive Sensors Could Help Save Honeybee Colonies

Posted on by February 25, 2025

Increased pesticide use, habitat loss and climate change have been contributing to a decades-long decline in global honeybee numbers.

Now, a computer science team from University of California, Riverside (UCR), has come up with an innovative way to help. They developed a sensor-based technology with the potential to revolutionize commercial beekeeping, reduce colony losses and cut labor costs.

“Honeybees, as natural crop pollinators, play a significant role in biodiversity and food production for human civilization. Bees actively regulate hive temperature (homeostasis) to maintain a colony’s proper functionality. Deviations from usual thermoregulation behavior due to external stressors (e.g., extreme environmental temperature, parasites, pesticide exposure, etc.) indicate an impending colony collapse,” the authors of the paper wrote. “Anticipating such threats by forecasting hive temperature and finding changes in temperature patterns would allow beekeepers to take early preventive measures and avoid critical issues.”

The Electronic Bee-Veterinarian (EBV) uses forecasting models and inexpensive heat sensors to predict when temperatures in a hive could reach dangerous levels, a press release from UCR said.

The system gives beekeepers remote early warnings so that they can take preventive action before colonies collapse during extreme cold or hot weather, or when bees aren’t able to regulate the temperature of their hives due to pesticide exposure, food shortages, disease or other stressors.

“We convert the temperature to a factor that we are calling the health factor, which gives an estimate of how strong the bees are on a scale from zero to one,” said lead author of the paper Shamima Hossain, a computer science Ph.D. student at UCR, in the press release.

The technology uses a simple metric, with “one” indicating that the bees are at their strongest, allowing beekeepers to quickly assess hive health.

UCR entomology professor Boris Baer thinks EBV could revolutionize beekeeping — an essential practice to large sectors of agriculture throughout the world.

More than 80 crops are pollinated by honeybees, and the essential pollinators contribute approximately $29 billion each year to agriculture in the United States. But factors like pesticide exposure, parasites, habitat loss and climate change have contributed to the decline of bee populations.

“Over the last year, the U.S. lost over 55% of its honeybee colonies,” said Baer, citing data collected by Project Apis m., which monitors U.S. beehive losses. “We are experiencing a major collapse of bee populations, and that is extremely worrying because about one-third of what we eat depends on bees.”

Right now beekeepers use manual inspections and their own judgment to detect issues, which often leads to delayed interventions. Baer said EBV could predict conditions days ahead of time, providing them with real-time insights and significantly reducing labor costs.

“People have dreamed of these sensors for a very long time,” Baer emphasized. “What I like here is that this system is fully integrated into the hive setup that beekeepers already use.”

Baer explained that honeybees maintain an internal hive temperature of between 91.4 and 96.8 degrees Fahrenheit to assure colony survival and proper brood development. Among the first indicators of a threat to hive health are fluctuations in temperature.

The EBV model feeds temperature data collected from sensors inside the hive into an algorithm that can then predict hive conditions several days ahead of time.

EBV was used to analyze data from up to 25 hives at the UCR apiary. It proved its effectiveness by detecting conditions requiring beekeeper intervention.

“When I looked at the dashboard and saw the health factor dropped below an empirical threshold, I contacted our apiary manager,” Hossain said. “When we went to check the hive, we found that there was actually something wrong, and they were able to take action to manage the situation.”

UCR electrical and computer engineering associate professor Hyoseung Kim explained that keeping costs at less than $50 per hive was a big priority.

“There are commercial sensors available, but they are too expensive,” Kim explained. “We decided to create a very cheap device using off-the-shelf components so that beekeepers can afford it.”

The researchers have begun the next phase of developing automated climate controls that beekeepers can install in hives to respond to EBV’s predictions by automatically adjusting hive temperature.

“Right now, we can only issue warnings,” Hossain said. “But in the next phase, we are working on designing a system that can automatically heat or cool the hive when needed.”

The paper, “Principled Mining, Forecasting and Monitoring of Honeybee Time Series with EBV+,” was published in the journal ACM Transactions on Knowledge Discovery from Data.

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Greenpeace Faces $300 Million Lawsuit That Puts the Longtime Environmental Nonprofit at Risk of Bankruptcy

Posted on by February 25, 2025

Greenpeace is being sued by Energy Transfer, a Dallas-based company that is accusing the longtime environmentalist group of having disrupted its business with protests near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation almost a decade ago.

The trial began Monday in North Dakota, and, if successful, the lawsuit could bankrupt the nonprofit.

Filed in state court, legal action accuses Greenpeace of an “unlawful and violent scheme to cause financial harm to Energy Transfer, physical harm to its employees and infrastructure, and to disrupt and prevent Energy Transfer’s construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline,” reported BBC News.

Environmental activists said the claims are meant to suppress freedom of speech and establish a disturbing precedent for protest groups, The New York Times reported.

Greenpeace, they said, was there to support Native Americans, who led the demonstrations.

“This trial is a critical test of the future of the First Amendment, both freedom of speech and peaceful protest under the Trump administration and beyond,” Sushma Raman, Greenpeace’s interim director, said on Thursday.

Greenpeace said Energy Transfer is seeking $300 million in damages — 10 times the nonprofit’s annual budget. Greenpeace International and the Greenpeace fund were named as co-defendants in the case.

The trial is expected to last five weeks in Mandan, North Dakota, state court. Many people are questioning whether Greenpeace can persuade a jury in the conservative state.

Approval of the Dakota Access Pipeline in 2016 led to protests by Native Americans who said the 1,170-mile crude oil pipeline would encroach on their sacred lands and pose a risk to the water supply.

Thousands came from all over the country to express their opposition to the pipeline, which stretches from North Dakota to Illinois. For months an encampment was set up near the reservation, while Tribal leaders sued to block it.

Police and security confronted protestors on many occasions, during which time Energy Transfer claimed their equipment was damaged and their financing prospects were harmed. Final approvals remain pending for the pipeline, though it is now in operation.

Energy Transfer filed a lawsuit in federal court against a broader group of defendants in 2017. The action, which alleged violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, was dismissed. A similar complaint was filed in state court.

The most recent version of the litigation accuses Greenpeace of trespass, conspiracy, defamation and tortious business interference. The lawsuit says Greenpeace spread misinformation, inciting the protests and seriously damaging the company’s ability to do business.

Lawyer for Greenpeace Deepa Padmanabha said the environmental nonprofit was not central to protest efforts, though it supported them and helped train those present in nonviolent direct action.

Padmanabha said Energy Transfer’s trespass claims specifically sought to impose “collective protest liability” on Greenpeace, a claim that has the potential to make any group responsible for the acts of all others present.

Greenpeace said it “could face financial ruin, ending over 50 years of environmental activism,” reported BBC News.

“For more than 50 years, Greenpeace has exercised our right to peacefully protest and expose environmental harm — even when that means exposing powerful people and companies. That is the soul of Greenpeace. With this $300 million lawsuit, Energy Transfer has weaponized the U.S. legal system in an attempt to silence us at a time when our voices are needed most,” Greenpeace said on its website. “If enough of us speak out, we can stop this abusive lawsuit, protect Greenpeace, and defend free speech.”

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Solar and Battery Storage Expected to Lead New Electricity Generation Capacity for 2025: EIA

Posted on by February 25, 2025

The U.S. Energy Information Administration has released predictions for 2025 in its latest Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory report. The organization announced that new utility-scale electric-generating capacity in the U.S. will reach 63 gigawatts (GW), led by additions to solar and battery capacity.

The latest report noted that in 2024, utility-scale solar capacity made up 61% of capacity additions in 2024, and this year, there will be about 32.5 GW added. 

In total, new solar projects in 2025 are expected to make up more than 50% of the planned added utility-scale electric generation for 2025. Combined with planned battery storage capacity, the share is 81% of total capacity additions.

Last year, Texas and Florida led the country in new solar additions. This year, Texas will again lead with 11.6 GW of planned new utility-scale solar capacity, followed by California with 2.9 GW. Indiana, Arizona, Michigan, Florida and New York will each add at least 1 GW, totaling about 7.8 GW of new solar capacity across these five states.

In October 2024, EIA reported that battery storage capacity was expanding rapidly in the U.S., and that trend is also expected to continue into 2025. According to the latest report, U.S. battery storage capacity increased by 10.3 GW last year and could reach a record high if the planned 18.2 GW of battery storage capacity begins operations this year.

“This growth highlights the importance of battery storage when used with renewable energy, helping to balance supply and demand and improve grid stability,” EIA explained. “Energy storage systems are not primary electricity sources, meaning the technology does not create electricity from a fuel or natural resource. Instead, they store electricity that has already been created from an electricity generator or the electric power grid, which makes energy storage systems secondary sources of electricity.”

According to the report, wind capacity is expected to increase slightly after a decline in 2024. Last year, wind capacity additions reached 5.1 GW, the lowest amount since 2014, but new wind capacity is expected to reach 7.7 GW this year. This is primarily because of two major offshore projects, including the 800 megawatt (MW) Vineyard Wind 1 in Massachusetts and the Revolution Wind project, with 715 MW capacity, in Rhode Island. Texas, Wyoming and Massachusetts are expected to lead wind capacity additions for 2025.

While renewables are set to take a large share of new utility-scale electricity generation capacity for 2025, fossil fuel-based capacity retirements are simultaneously expected to decline this year. EIA reported that 8.1 GW of coal-fired electricity generation capacity is expected to retire this year, up from the 4 GW retired in 2024. Petroleum power plants, which make up less than 3% of total electric-generating capacity in the U.S., is expected to retire 1.6 GW.

Natural gas retirements are expected to reach 2.6 GW and will primarily include retirement of the less-efficient, simple-cycle natural gas turbine power plants. However, 4.4 GW of newly added natural gas capacity — including half from less-efficient plants and 36% from more-efficient, combined-cycle plants — is planned for 2025.

Although the report of renewables leading the way for new utility-scale electricity generation for 2025 is hopeful, concerns remain over how renewable energy will fare with challenges from the current administration. Already, officials have sued over inaccessible Inflation Reduction Act funding, some of which was dedicated to renewable energy projects. 

As Utility Dive reported, investors have also become cautious, potentially because of uncertainty with how clean energy will fare with the current administration along with high interest rates. Still, there have been investments in energy storage, and larger solar projects (those above 1 MW) actually saw a 21% increase in funding for 2024 compared to 2023.

“That says more about solar as an asset class. A mature asset class that is an attractive investment,” Raj Prabhu, CEO and co-founder of Mercom Capital Group, told Utility Dive.

“I see much more aggressive forecasting when it comes to energy storage installations in 2025,” Prabhu added. “So growth is a little faster in energy storage, and they are key to a lot of energy deals right now.”

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Antioxidants in Fruits, Veggies and Nuts May Counteract Harmful Reproductive Impacts of Microplastics, Scientists Find

Posted on by February 25, 2025

The antioxidants that make fruits and vegetables so colorful have been found to potentially counteract some of the worst effects of microplastics on the reproductive system.

The powerful antioxidants could even be used to develop future treatments, according to new research.

“The accumulation of [microplastics/nanoplastics] contaminants across ecosystems raises significant concerns for human health due to their potential dispersion within the human body through respiratory, integumentary, and digestive systems,” the authors of the study wrote. “[T]here is evidence suggesting that they could disrupt the endocrine system, exert influence on fertility, and impair embryonic development.”

The researchers focused on the reproductive toxicity of microplastics and anthocyanins — plant compounds found in fruits, vegetables and nuts. They discovered that anthocyanins likely protect against a host of microplastics-induced reductions in estrogen and testosterone, decreased sperm counts and lower sperm quality, impacts on hormones, damage to ovaries and erectile dysfunction, reported The Guardian.

Antioxidants in fruits and flowers seem to counteract harmful effects of microplastics, study shows

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— The Guardian (@theguardian.com) February 24, 2025 at 11:08 AM

“The search for natural compounds to counteract these harmful effects is ongoing, with anthocyanins emerging as a promising candidate,” the authors wrote in the study. “These compounds may exert antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, mitigate oxidative damage, and improve the function of steroid receptors such as androgen and ERs, which are crucial in maintaining reproductive health. The modulation of these receptors by anthocyanins may help restore hormonal balance, reduce cellular stress, and protect reproductive organs from plastic-induced damage.”

Microplastics are tiny plastic pieces produced when larger plastics break down. The dangerous particles contain an array of chemicals, many of which — such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), phthalates, BPA and heavy metals — present serious health risks.

Microplastics have made their way into the human body through the food chain and have been found to have the ability to cross brain and placental barriers. They have also been associated with increased inflammation, risk of cancer and heart attack and can alter the essential gut microbiome.

The ubiquitous particles have been discovered in breast milk, ovarian tissue, testicles, semen, placentas and fetuses.

By safeguarding the blood-testis barrier and stopping microplastics from making their way into bodily tissues, some of the plant compounds have been demonstrated to improve sperm count and spermatogenesis, a crucial step in sperm development.

Impacts on women’s fertility could be helped by the seeming ability of anthocyanins to protect hormone receptors against plastic chemicals like phthalates, bisphenol and cadmium — chemicals that can cause hormonal responses or mimic hormones.

“Plants offer a wealth of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds that can counteract these harmful effects. Among these, anthocyanins, natural colorants responsible for the vibrant hues of fruits and flowers, exhibit a wide range of biological activities, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-neoplastic properties. Moreover, anthocyanins can modulate sex hormone levels and alleviate reproductive toxicity,” the authors wrote.

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Countries Meet in Rome for Second COP16 Biodiversity Conference

Posted on by February 24, 2025

Countries are meeting in Rome this week for the United Nations 16th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP16), where they will attempt to devise a strategy on how to generate $200 billion annually for the preservation of the planet’s biodiversity.

The main goal of the February 25 to 27 meeting is to review nations’ progress in carrying out their commitments under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF), which includes targets such as protecting 30 percent of the planet’s land and oceans by the end of the decade. 

Oscar Soria, co-CEO of The Common Initiative, an NGO think tank that focuses on global environmental and economic policy, said nations must rise above political tensions to focus on financing biodiversity, The Global and Mail reported.

“This could be a historic moment, if they choose ambition,” Soria said. “The question is whether they will fight for the future like gladiators or let this opportunity slip away.”

After KMGBF was established in 2022, countries met in Cali, Colombia, last October to discuss the details of how to finance it.

However, while the Cali Fund was established for the collection of company profits derived from nature’s genetic data, negotiators at the first COP16 weren’t able to agree on how the funds should be managed or who else should contribute.

“The Global Biodiversity Framework is more than just a set of aspirations – it’s our blueprint for a more sustainable and equitable future – one that prioritises nature’s integral value to our everyday lives. We cannot afford to let this slip through our fingers. The last thing the world needs right now is more roadblocks stunting the critical progress needed on global environmental commitments,” said Kirsten Schuijt, director general of WWF International, in a press release from WWF.

According to WWF, since 1970, the number of vertebrates in the wild has plummeted 73 percent.

At the close of COP16 in Cali, countries had committed only $163 million of the $30 billion per year that was being sought by 2030. It is not expected that there will be significant public finance pledges in Rome, but observers would like more transparency about how much is being paid by whom to support biodiversity, reported The Globe and Mail.

“Parties are expected to complete a crucial step by finalizing the monitoring framework agreed upon at COP 15. The monitoring framework is essential to the implementation of the KMGBF because it provides the common yardsticks that Parties will use to measure progress against the 23 targets,” a UN press release said. “On [Planning, Monitoring, Reporting and Review], Parties are expected to make important decisions on how progress in the implementation of the KMGBF will be reviewed at COP17 as part of the planned global stocktake.”

One of the toughest challenges is figuring out how to get richer European and other countries to give money to help poorer nations when the willingness to give low-interest loans or grants has been falling during a wider cost-of-living crisis, The Globe and Mail reported.

Though the United States is not a participant in COP16, recent Trump administration policy shifts could have an effect on other countries’ willingness to pledge funds and support pro-nature policies.

Poorer nations put the blame for most of the world’s biodiversity loss on companies and countries in the Global North, saying they should pay the lion’s share of the costs. Meanwhile, rich countries like those in Europe want to see sovereign wealth funds, countries in the Gulf States and other growing middle-income nations contribute more.

“At least US$20 billion per year was promised to developing countries by 2025, as well as action on identifying and redirecting US$500 billion in harmful subsidies to nature. Crucial to all funding is ensuring Indigenous Peoples and local communities receive direct access to funds to continue their role as custodians of the world’s biodiversity. We’re already in 2025 – these commitments must be honoured,” said Guido Broekhoven, head of policy research and development at WWF.

In the face of reluctance to donate money as grants, there is rising pressure to add funding from other sources, such as domestic resources, the private sector and lending through development banks.

Countries at COP16 in Rome will also discuss ways to divert an estimated $500 billion that is spent annually on subsidies and other funding incentives for projects that hurt the environment into activities that are nature-friendly.

Where to house any raised funds is also an issue, with the potential to create a new fund or for nations to use an existing one, such as the Global Environment Facility (GEF)-run Global Biodiversity Framework Fund.

Europe is fine with GEF managing any funds, but others, such as Brazil and Democratic Republic of Congo, have argued for a new system over which they would potentially have more of a voice.

“Countries must come to Rome committed to having constructive dialogues and with a genuine political will to find the best way forward on finance. Biodiversity loss will have far-reaching consequences that humanity is yet to even fully grasp. Countries have no option but to work together to lay a strong, just, and well-resourced path to reaching our shared biodiversity goals, because the road to 2030 must be built together – or we risk never reaching it at all,” Schuijt said.

The post Countries Meet in Rome for Second COP16 Biodiversity Conference appeared first on EcoWatch.

Canada to Build One of the Largest Urban Solar Power Plant Projects in North America

Posted on by February 24, 2025

A new, utility-scale solar power plant proposed for a 1,600-acre site in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada is expected to be one of the largest urban solar power projects in all of North America.

The 325 megawatt (MW) Saamis Solar Park proposal was recently sold to Medicine Hat, as Mother Jones reported. The project, developed by DP Energy, is slated for a brownfield site with otherwise limited development potential, as it contains a capped phosphogypsum stack. 

As explained by the Center for Biological Diversity, phosphogypsum is a radioactive substance leftover from the processing of phosphate ore into phosphoric acid, which is a common fertilizer ingredient. Leftover phosphogypsum is often disposed of by stacking the waste, then covering it with soil to minimize radon exposure, as phosphogypsum can form radon as it decays.

“Not only is it a productive use of a large area of contaminated land with limited development potential, it now also has the potential to contribute to the city’s energy transition to clean, renewable power,” Damian Bettles, DP Energy’s North America head of development, told Canada’s National Observer.

Irish firm DP Energy sells north America’s largest urban solar project to Medicine Hat

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— Business Post (@businesspost.bsky.social) February 18, 2025 at 8:50 AM

In addition to redeveloping a brownfield site, the Saamis project takes advantage of the sunniest city in Canada. According to a city marketing campaign Move to Medicine Hat, the city has an average of 330 sunny days per year. By comparison, that’s more than each of the top 10 sunniest cities in the U.S., as reported by MSN.

The project was first approved for development rights for the proposed site in 2017 and received the development permit in 2021, Energy Global reported. Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) approved construction and operation in 2024 and recently approved the sale from DP Energy to the city of Medicine Hat.

The project is now ready to begin construction, and Medicine Hat is seeking approval to launch the project in phases, starting with adding 75 MW.

DP Energy reported that the project will include more than 600,000 solar panels, fixed and tilt panel racks, inverter and transformer stations, an electrical collection system, access roads, and a substation to connect the plant to the Alberta Interconnected Electric System (AIES).

Once completed, the 325 MW project is expected to meet peak energy demand for much of the city, including industrial facilities, commercial buildings and the homes of 65,000 residents. In total, the project could offset about 350,000 tons of carbon emissions per year, Energy Global reported.

As Medicine Hat News reported, the project will be among the biggest urban solar sites in North America, following behind the Copper Mountain Solar Facility, located in Boulder City, Nevada, which has an 802 MW capacity. In Alberta, the project will trail behind the Travers Solar Project, with 465 MW capacity, which is not an urban solar plant but is located in Vulcan County and has the highest solar energy production capacity in Canada.

Moving forward, the city may consider adding battery storage, additional solar and wind projects to further the clean energy transition.

“Overall we are looking for proven technologies that can provide affordable power to our rate base and our own internal carbon compliance,” Travis Tuchscherer, director of energy marketing and business analysis, told Canada’s National Observer.

The post Canada to Build One of the Largest Urban Solar Power Plant Projects in North America appeared first on EcoWatch.