Earth Wise

Mealworms are widely cultivated beetle larvae that people feed to pets and to wild birds.  But it turns out, they may have an even more valuable purpose:  they can eat plastic and even plastic containing dangerous chemical additives.

Four years ago, researchers at Stanford discovered that mealworms can actually subsist on a diet of various types of plastic.  They found that microorganisms in the worms’ guts actually biodegrade the plastic.  It might be possible to cultivate the worms using unrecyclable plastic, rather than feeding them grains and fruits.   However, there is the issue of whether it would be safe to feed the plastic-eating worms to other animals, given the possibility that harmful chemicals in plastic additives might accumulate in the worms over time.

Recently, the Stanford researchers studied what happens when the worms ingested Styrofoam or polystyrene.  The plastic commonly used for packaging and insulation typically contains a flame retardant called hexabromocyclododecane, or HBCD.  Studies have shown that HBCD can have significant health and environmental impacts, ranging from endocrine disruption to neurotoxicity.

According to the study, mealworms in the experiment excreted about

half of the polystyrene they consumed as tiny, partially degraded fragments and

the other half as carbon dioxide.  With

it, they excreted the HBCD.  Mealworms

fed a steady diet of HBCD-laden polystyrene were as healthy as those eating a

normal diet.  And shrimp fed a steady

diet of the HBCD-ingesting mealworms also had no ill effects.

It is true that the HBCD excreted by the worms still poses a hazard

and must be dealt with in some manner, but mealworms may have a role to play in

dealing with unrecyclable plastics like Styrofoam.

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Stanford researchers show that mealworms can safely consume toxic additive-containing plastic

Photo, posted May 11, 2015, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

The Amazon is the largest tropical rainforest in the world.  It covers an area approximately equal in size to the lower 48 states, and is home to an estimated 10% of the world’s biodiversity and 15% of its freshwater.  These so-called “lungs of the planet” provide many important global ecological services, including carbon storage, and regulating air quality and climate.

Deforestation in the Amazon exploded in the 1970s and remains one of

its biggest threats today.  Since the

1970s, more than 20% of the Amazon rainforest has been cleared.  Cattle ranching, soy and palm plantations,

logging, and climate change are some of the biggest drivers of deforestation.  

Now, according to a new study recently published in the journal Ecology, the regrowth of Amazonian forests following deforestation may happen more slowly than previously thought.  These findings could have significant impacts on climate change predictions as the ability of forest regrowth in the Amazon – so-called secondary forests – may have been overestimated.  The research, which was conducted in Bragança, Brazil and includes two decades of forest monitoring, reveals that climate change and the wider loss of forests could be hampering regrowth.    

After 60 years of regrowth, the research team found that secondary forests only held 40% of the carbon when compared with forests undisturbed by humans.  Secondary forests also take less carbon from the atmosphere during periods of drought, and climate change is increasing the number of drought-years in the Amazon.  (During their 20 years of monitoring, the researchers also found biodiversity levels in secondary forests were only 56% of those seen in undisturbed forests). 

More long-term studies are needed

to better understand the impacts of reforestation efforts.  

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Amazon forest regrowth much slower than previously thought

Photo, posted September 6, 2009, courtesy of Nao Lizuka via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Last December, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management auctioned off lease rights for developing offshore wind in the New England Wind Energy Area.  The auction brought in hundreds of millions of dollars.

Recently, the five New England offshore wind leaseholders – Equinor, Mayflower Wind, Ørsted, Eversource, and Vineyard Wind – jointly submitted a uniform turbine layout proposal to the U.S. Coast Guard.

The five developers joined forces to respond to feedback from key

stakeholders in the region including the fisheries industry, the Coast Guard,

the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and coastal communities.

The proposed layout specifies that wind turbines will be spaced one

nautical mile apart, arranged in east-west rows an north-south columns, and the

rows and columns will be continuous across all New England lease area.  Independent expert analysis confirmed that

this uniform layout would provide for robust navigational safety and

search-and-rescue capability by providing hundreds of transit corridors to

accommodate the region’s vessel traffic.

Vessels up to 400 feet in length can safely operate within the

proposed turbine layout and will allow the region’s many fishing vessels to

follow a wide range of transit paths as they come from many different ports and

head to a variety of fishing grounds.

The New England Wind Energy Area is expected to be able to provide as

much as 8 GW of electricity generation for the states in the region.  Getting approval for this planned layout is

one of multiple steps required before the offshore wind complex becomes a

reality.  Overall, states along the U.S. East Coast are

seeking to procure more than 19,300 MW of offshore wind capacity through 2035

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New England offshore wind developers submit uniform layout proposal to the U.S. Coast Guard

Photo courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Nitrogen dioxide is a prominent air pollutant produced by internal combustion engines burning fossil fuels as well as by a variety of industrial processes.  It is a toxic material associated with a number of respiratory illnesses. 

Researchers at

the University of Manchester in the UK along with an international team of

scientists have developed a new advanced material that can convert nitrogen

dioxide from an exhaust gas stream into useful industrial chemical using only

water and air.

The material is a metal-organic framework (or MOF) that provides a selective, fully reversible, and repeatable capability to capture nitrogen dioxide.  MOFs are tiny three-dimensional structures that are porous and can trap gases inside as though there were tiny cages.  MOFs have enormous amounts of surface area for their size.  One gram of material can have a surface area as large as a football field.

The material,

named MOF-520, can capture nitrogen dioxide at ambient temperatures and

pressures and even at low concentration and during flow in the presence of

moisture, sulfur dioxide, and carbon dioxide. 

Such conditions are typical of the exhaust of internal combustion

engines. In fact, the process works best at the typical temperature of

automobile exhausts.

Once the

nitrogen oxide is absorbed, treating the material with water in air converts it

into nitric acid and restores the MOF for additional use.  Nitric acid is the basis of a multi-billion

dollar industry with uses including agricultural fertilizers, rocket

propellant, and nylon.  Thus, there is

great potential for recouping the costs of using the MOF technology and even

profiting from it.

It would be

great to convert a toxic pollutant into valuable industrial chemicals.

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Clean air research converts toxic air pollutant into industrial chemical

Photo courtesy of the University of Manchester.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

New research by Ohio State University suggests that adding plants and trees to the landscapes near factories and other pollution sources could reduce air pollution by an average of 27%.  In addition, the study indicates that, in many cases, plants may be a cheaper option for cleaning the air than more technological approaches.

The study looked at public data on air pollution and vegetation on a

county-by-county basis across the lower 48 states. It then calculated what

adding additional trees and plants might cost. 

The calculations included the capacity of current vegetation to mitigate

air pollution as well as the effects that restorative planting might have on

pollution levels.

In 75% of the counties analyzed, it was cheaper to use plants to

mitigate air pollution rather than add technological interventions such as

smokestack scrubbers to the sources of pollution.  The results varied according to the pollution

source.  For example, technology is

cheaper at cleaning the air near industrial boilers than ecosystem

approaches.  For the broad manufacturing

industry, one approach or the other was favorable, depending on the type of

factory.

Adding trees or other plants generally can lower air pollution levels

in both urban and rural areas, although success rates depend on a variety of

factors including how much land is available to grow new plants and current air

quality.

Reducing air pollution is critical to public health.  An estimated 4 in 10 people in the U.S. live

in areas with poor air quality, leading to health issues including asthma, lung

cancer, and heart disease.  The study

shows that nature should be part of the planning process for industry to deal

with air pollution.

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Nature might be better than tech at reducing air pollution

Photo courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

According to a new Trump administration proposal, federal agencies would no longer need to take climate change into account when evaluating infrastructure projects.  The proposed changes to the 50-year-old National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) are aimed at speeding up approvals for highway construction, pipelines, oil and gas leases, and other major infrastructure projects.   

Under NEPA, federal agencies are required to consider how their

proposed actions would affect everything from water quality to wildlife to

greenhouse gas emissions.  They’re also

required to understand how rising seas and other consequences of climate change

might affect a given project.  These

requirements have proven to be an obstacle to projects like the Keystone XL

pipeline, for example. 

According to reporting in the New York Times, the administration also

plans to narrow the range of projects that require environmental review in the

first place.  That could make it more

likely for projects to be approved without having to disclose plans to do

things like cut down trees, discharge waste, or increase air pollution. 

The administration says that the changes would improve the

environmental review and permitting process while ensuring a safe, healthy, and

productive environment. Environmentalists say the proposed changes would weaken

critical safeguards for air, water, and wildlife. 

The proposed changes to NEPA would revise the rules that guide the

implementation of the law, as opposed to amending the act itself.  Once these proposed changes appear in the

federal register, the public will have 60 days to comment on them. 

A decision on whether or not to weaken the nation’s benchmark

environmental law is expected before November.

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Trump Rule Would Exclude Climate Change in Infrastructure Planning

Photo, posted February 23, 2016, courtesy of Lissy Wild via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Wildfires raging across Australia have devastated large swathes of land and prompted one of the largest evacuations in the country’s history.  The fires, which have scorched approximately 20 million acres, have also killed 27 people and affected an estimated one billion animals at the time of this recording. The fire season, though still young, already ranks as among the worst in Australia’s recorded history. 

Away from the flames, millions more in Australia are breathing

unhealthy air as a result of the smoke from these wildfires. Wildfires release

all sorts of dangerous air pollutants, like carbon monoxide and nitrous

oxide.  But wildfires also release fine

particulate matter (more commonly referred to as PM2.5), which can be

transported long distances.  Breathing in

these microscopic particles can lead to respiratory and cardiovascular problems.  High levels of PM2.5 are particularly harmful

to older people, young children, and those with weakened immune systems.  

The Australian capital city of Canberra has been covered in a thick

haze of smoke from nearby wildfires. 

Canberra recorded its worst air quality day on January 2nd, when levels

of PM2.5 spiked to more than 200 micrograms per cubic meter during the worst

hour.

Smoke has also been fouling Sydney’s air off and on for months, with

PM2.5 readings hitting nearly 400 micrograms per cubic meter last month during

the highest hour of pollution. 

The U.S. EPA has in place an annual PM2.5 standard of 12 micrograms

per cubic meter and a daily (or 24 hour) standard of 35. 

According to the IPCC, southern Australia is expected to see increased

risk of fire as the planet continues to warm. 

Regrettably, this could be the new normal. 

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Millions of Australians Are Choking on Smoke From Wildfires

Photo, posted December 5, 2019, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Solar energy is a nearly unlimited resource, but it is only available to us when the sun is shining.  For solar power to provide for the majority of our energy needs, there needs to be a way to capture the energy from the sun, store it, and release it when we need it.  There are many approaches to storing solar energy, but so far none have provided an ideal solution.

Scientists

at the Chalmers Institute of Technology in Sweden have developed a way to harness solar energy and keep it in reserve so it can be

released on demand in the form of heat—even decades after it was captured. Their

solution combines several innovations, including an energy-trapping molecule, a

storage system, and an energy-storing laminate for windows and textiles.

The energy-trapping molecule is made up of carbon, hydrogen, and

nitrogen.  When hit by sunlight, the

molecule captures the sun’s energy and holds on to it until it is released as

heat by a catalyst.  The specialized

storage unit is claimed to be able to store energy for decades.  The transparent coating that the team

developed also collects solar energy and releases heat.  Using it would reduce the amount of electricity

required for heating buildings.

So far, the team has concentrated on producing heat from stored

solar energy.  It is unclear whether the

technology can be adapted to produce electricity, which would be even more

valuable.  In any event, the team does

not yet have precise cost estimates for its technology, but there are no rare

or expensive elements required, so the economics seem promising.  There is much more work to be done, but this

could be a very important technology for the world’s energy systems.

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An Energy Breakthrough Could Store Solar Power for Decades

Photo courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Gas flaring is the burning off of flammable gas released by pressure relief values during over-pressuring of plant equipment at petroleum refineries, chemical plants, natural gas processing plants, and a variety of oil and gas production plants.  Flaring is also used during plant startups and shutdowns.

A new study by Rice University concludes that reducing gas flaring

would benefit both the environment and the economy. Flaring and venting of gas

in West Texas’s Permian Basin and certain other parts of the U.S. have reached

levels that the intended result of burning gas to allow oil extraction now

looks more like wasting one resource to produce another.

At current rates, enough gas is flared in the Permian Basin to yield

nearly 5 million metric tons of exportable liquid natural gas if it was

captured and liquified.  At these rates,

the wasted gas could fill the largest sized LNG carrier every ten days.  If that liquified natural gas was exported to

China and used in a power plant, it would displace 440,000 metric tons of coal

burned to generate electricity.

Burning natural gas to heat homes, power industrial processes, or generate electricity all emit carbon dioxide, but at least these things also perform valuable functions. Flaring gas produces CO2 as well as other combustion products but doesn’t even do anything useful.  The venting of unburned gas, which also takes place with some frequency, is even worse since it is dumping methane directly into the atmosphere.

Across the U.S., some 14.1 billion cubic meters of natural gas was flared in 2018, equivalent to nearly 9 million metric tons per year of LNG.  In energy terms, that is equivalent to more than one-third of the total LNG volume U.S. firms actually exported that year.

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Reducing gas flaring will benefit economy and environment, says Baker Institute expert

Photo courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Mirror Lake is a popular recreational lake located in the Village of Lake Placid.  It is the most developed lake within the Adirondack Park, which is a publicly protected area that is actually larger than Yellowstone, Yosemite, Glacier, and Grand Canyon National Parks combined.

New research has revealed that road salt runoff into Mirror Lake is

preventing natural water turnover which poses a risk to the balance of its

ecology.  The study, which was published

in Lake and Reservoir Management, found that road salt runoff is

preventing spring mixing of the water column.   

This creates more anoxic water conditions, meaning there is less oxygen

in the water, and limits the ability of the habitat to support the native lake

trout. 

Mirror Lake is the first lake in the Adirondack Park to show an

interruption in lake turnover due to road salt. 

Many lakes in northern climes experience so-called “dimictic turnover”,

which is a natural process where wind and less stratified water conditions of

spring and fall allow mixing of the water column that redistribute oxygen and

nutrients throughout the lake.  High

levels of surface-water chloride introduced into the lake from road salt runoff

inhibit the mixing of the water column.

The lack of mixing and oxygenation is bad news for fish species such

as lake trout, which require cold, oxygenated water to survive.  It may also put the lake at a greater risk of

algal blooms.

Mirror Lake is small, surrounded by concentrated development, and

receives the direct discharge of stormwater. 

So, it is particularly vulnerable to road salt contamination.  Other lakes elsewhere in New York may

experience similar conditions.  The

researchers are confident that natural turnover conditions could be restored to

the lake if road salt application in the watershed is reduced.

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Road salt pollutes lake in one of the largest US protected areas, new study shows

Photo, posted January 5, 2018, courtesy of MTA of the State of NY via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.