As the global population grows, bio-innovative solutions capable of meeting rising food demand will be critical to sustainably safeguarding the global food supply and mitigating environmental risks. Among the companies contributing to global crop protection efforts is Eden Research, a UK-based developer of sustainable fungicides.
The United States is sitting on a growing mineral supply hidden in plain sight: discarded electronics. Recovering lithium, cobalt, and rare earths from this waste, known as urban mining, could help strengthen the country’s domestic mineral supply, even though recycling these materials is not always as profitable as traditional mining under current market conditions.
Read more in Utility Dive here.
Harvesting from the sea floor is the most environmentally sustainable way to obtain the minerals we need. These nodules can be harvested using specialized, deep-sea vessels. Seabed nodules sit exposed on the ocean floor, allowing collection without significant disruption.
In its most recent foray against offshore wind, the administration announced it would appeal court rulings that allowed five offshore wind projects to proceed despite last December’s blanket construction halt on national security grounds. Yet the Administration’s ongoing actions risk derailing the possibility of reforming our broken permitting system—a downside far greater than allowing five fully permitted wind projects to go forward.
China’s monopoly on rare earth elements is not accidental. The United States, once the world leader in rare earth element production, helped create its own decline as environmental regulations and shifting industrial economics pushed production capacity offshore, allowing an increasingly adversarial nation to gain leverage over materials essential to defense systems and advanced technologies. Reasserting U.S. independence will require rebuilding our domestic supply chain and renewed coordination between government and industry.
Read more in the New York Times here.
Read more in Utility Dive here.
Read more in the New York Times here.
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