-
To Get Off Fossil fuels, America Is Going to Need a Lot More Electricians
To cut greenhouse gas emissions on pace with the best available science, the United States must prepare for a monumental increase in electricity use. Burning fossil fuels to heat homes and get around isn’t compatible with keeping the planet at a livable temperature. Appliances that can be powered by clean electricity already exist to meet all of these needs. The problem is, most houses aren’t wired to handle the load from electric heating, cooking, and clothes dryers, along with solar panels and vehicle chargers. And a shortage of skilled labor could derail efforts to “electrify everything.”
-
-
Biosecurity for Food Security
Biosecurity is a fundamental enabler for a country’s’ food security, a critical but often overlooked element of national security, and it is time for it to be treated accordingly.
-
-
An Electric Grid that Thinks Ahead
The reliability of the power rid depends on utility operators who have developed control systems and fail-safes to keep the power flowing. PNNL researchers point toward a smart grid that includes machine learning and artificial intelligence inputs, but with human expertise in the loop.
-
-
U.S. Water Reservoirs Are Shrinking and Becoming Less Reliable, New Study Finds
Major water reservoirs across the continental United States are experiencing longer, more severe, and more variable periods of low storage than several decades ago, a new study reports. The problems are most severe in the western and central United States, but reservoirs in the eastern and southeastern United States are not immune.
-
-
No Power, No Operator, No Problem: Simulating Nuclear Reactors to Explore Next-Generation Nuclear Safety Systems
To create safe and efficient nuclear reactors, designers and regulators need reliable data consistent with real-world observation. Data generated at the facility validates computational models and guides the design of nuclear reactors.
-
-
Urban Street Networks and Building Density Shape Severity of Floods
Cities around the globe are experiencing increased flooding due to the compounding effects of stronger storms in a warming climate and urban growth. Researchers’ new analytical model can assess neighborhood-level hazards globally.
-
-
Despite Recent Water Supply Improvement, More Cuts Expected for Colorado River, Feds Say
After Lake Mead hit an all-time low two years ago, the Colorado River’s water supply is in a much better position this summer, but it hasn’t improved enough to prevent further cuts this year.
-
-
Could We Use Volcanoes to Make Electricity?
It is challenging, but tapping into the Earth’s natural heat can create a renewable, reliable and clean source of energy. As technology improves, more places around the world will turn to geothermal energy to light up people’s lives. Volcanoes are reminders of a great powerhouse deep underground that’s waiting to be harnessed.
-
-
How the Marshall Fire Sparked a Political Transformation in Colorado
After the fire destroyed his town in 2021, a state rep took on insurance companies, mortgage lenders, and landlords — and beat them all.
-
-
How Back-to-Back Hurricanes Set Off a Year of Compounding Disasters for One City − and Alarm Bells About Risks in a Warming World
Climate change will bring new weather patterns that are beyond emergency managers’ current playbooks, which are filled with protocols honed by past experience. The capacity to adapt will be essential when those playbooks can’t handle compounding disasters that few had imagined.
-
-
Stuck Bridges, Buckling Roads − Extreme Heat Is Wreaking Havoc on America’s Aging Infrastructure
Summer 2024’s record heat is creating problems for transportation infrastructure, from roads to rails. It doesn’t help that the worsening heat is hitting a U.S. infrastructure system that’s already in trouble.
-
-
Hybrid System Would Create New ‘Backbone’ for Internet in Space
A new NATO-funded effort seeks to make the internet less vulnerable by rerouting its flow of information to space in the event that the underwater cables that transmit the world’s communications are attacked or accidentally severed.
-
-
Reviving the Los Angeles River: Engineering Alongside Nature and Society
Reviving the LA River is a prime example of a large-scale infrastructure project that requires engineers to work alongside nature and society. A revived LA River can again serve as habitat for native vegetation and wildlife, improve water quality, aid water management, and contribute to cultural renewal.
-
-
Venezuela: The Rise and Fall of a Petrostate
Venezuela’s ongoing descent into economic and political chaos is a cautionary tale of the dangerous influence that resource wealth can have on developing countries.
-
-
Venezuelan Crisis Has Negatively Affected Country's Internet
“Modern services cannot run properly,” researcher says. New study examines Venezuela’s connectivity landscape over the past decade. Due to the crisis, Venezuela’s Internet infrastructure has deteriorated. Researchers found Internet speeds in Venezuela are approximately 10% of the regional average.
-
The long view
Water Wars: A Historic Agreement Between Mexico and US Is Ramping Up Border Tension
As climate change drives rising temperatures and changes in rainfall, Mexico and the US are in the middle of a conflict over water, putting an additional strain on their relationship. Partly due to constant droughts, Mexico has struggled to maintain its water deliveries for much of the last 25 years, deliveries to which it is obligated by a 1944 water-sharing agreement between the two countries.
Trump Is Fast-Tracking New Coal Mines — Even When They Don’t Make Economic Sense
In Appalachian Tennessee, mines shut down and couldn’t pay their debts. Now a new one is opening under the guise of an “energy emergency.”
Smaller Nuclear Reactors Spark Renewed Interest in a Once-Shunned Energy Source
In the past two years, half the states have taken action to promote nuclear power, from creating nuclear task forces to integrating nuclear into long-term energy plans.
Keeping the Lights on with Nuclear Waste: Radiochemistry Transforms Nuclear Waste into Strategic Materials
How UNLV radiochemistry is pioneering the future of energy in the Southwest by salvaging strategic materials from nuclear dumps –and making it safe.
Model Predicts Long-Term Effects of Nuclear Waste on Underground Disposal Systems
The simulations matched results from an underground lab experiment in Switzerland, suggesting modeling could be used to validate the safety of nuclear disposal sites.