California’s trees are dying, and might not be coming back: Wildfires and climbing temperatures have caused a 6.7 percent decline since 1985
The State of California is banking on its forests to help reduce planet-warming carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. But that element of the state’s climate-change solution arsenal may be in jeopardy, as new research from the University of California, Irvine reports that trees in California’s mountain ranges and open spaces are dying from wildfires and […]
How a soil microbe could rev up artificial photosynthesis
Plants rely on a process called carbon fixation — turning carbon dioxide from the air into carbon-rich biomolecules – for their very existence. That’s the whole point of photosynthesis, and a cornerstone of the vast interlocking system that cycles carbon through plants, animals, microbes and the atmosphere to sustain life on Earth. But the carbon […]
Bacteria upcycle carbon waste into valuable chemicals: Engineered bacteria convert captured carbon dioxide into chemicals for fuels, fabric and cosmetics
Researchers engineered a strain of bacteria to break down carbon dioxide (CO2), converting it into commonly used, expensive industrial chemicals. The carbon-negative approach removes CO2 from the atmosphere and bypasses using fossil fuels to generate these chemicals. Bacteria are known for breaking down lactose to make yogurt and sugar to make beer. Now researchers led […]
Liquid fuels from carbon dioxide: Electrocatalyst converts CO2 into multicarbon products
A new electrocatalyst called a-CuTi@Cu converts carbon dioxide (CO2 ) into liquid fuels. As reported by a team of Chinese researchers in the journal Angewandte Chemie, active copper centered on an amorphous copper/titanium alloy produces ethanol, acetone, and n-butanol with high efficiency. Most of our global energy demands are still being met by burning fossil […]