‘Big Beautiful Bill’ will have Americans paying higher prices for dirtier energy

The new federal law favors energy technologies that are already profitable and increase global warming over cleaner approaches that could use the investment support.

Daniel Cohan, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rice University • conversation
July 9, 2025 ~9 min

How the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ positions US energy to be more costly for consumers and the climate

Some technologies could rapidly cut emissions, while others do little to fight climate change. The House bill favors the latter while nixing support for the former.

Daniel Cohan, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rice University • conversation
June 10, 2025 ~10 min


How seaweed is a powerful, yet surprising, climate solution

A chance encounter on a rocky seashore led one professor to invent autonomous robotics that can harvest the power of seaweed.

Mike Allen, Associate Professor of Single Cell Genomics, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter • conversation
May 30, 2025 ~6 min

How a toxic seaweed choking Caribbean beaches could become a valuable resource

The sargassum problem is just one of many creeping slow onset events that is being exacerbated by climate change.

Emma Tompkins, Professor of Geography, Environment & Development, University of Southampton • conversation
May 15, 2025 ~7 min

Microbes can colonize space, produce drugs and create energy − researchers are simulating their inner workings to harness how

Using digital blueprints of the metabolism of microbes, scientists can simulate expensive and time-intensive experiments set in space, power plants and farm fields.

Blaise Manga Enuh, Postdoctoral Research Associate in Microbial Genomics and Systems Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison • conversation
Jan. 6, 2025 ~8 min

Meet the microbes that transform toxic carbon monoxide into valuable biofuel

The world is full of microbes, and many of them like the taste of waste. Some carbon monoxide-loving microbes can be harnessed to transform waste into valuable biofuel.

Maximilienne Toetie Allaart, Postdoctoral Researcher in Gut Microbiome Research, University of Tübingen • conversation
Oct. 7, 2024 ~6 min

Are Biofuels a Clean Source of Energy?

VOA Learning English • voa
Sept. 8, 2023 ~5 min

Mystery solved: Why switchgrass takes the summer off

Switchgrass takes a break during the summer. Solving the puzzle of why could help it realize its full potential as a low-cost biofuel crop.

Michigan State • futurity
Jan. 30, 2023 ~8 min


A shrinking fraction of the world's major crops goes to feed the hungry, with more used for nonfood purposes

A new study finds that by 2030, less than one-third of the world’s major crop harvests will go directly to feed people.

Deepak Ray, Senior Scientist, University of Minnesota • conversation
May 13, 2022 ~6 min

Allowing E15 fuel year-round won't increase sales very much, but it's a symbolic victory for corn ethanol advocates

Allowing the sale of gasoline that’s 15% ethanol year-round won’t have much impact on gas prices, but recent research shows that growing corn for fuel affects the climate – for the worse.

Aaron Smith, Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California, Davis • conversation
May 5, 2022 ~9 min

/

3