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Dairy's Methane Challenge: Feed Additives Turn Emissions into Economic Wins
Dairy cows produce substantial methane by burping the products of enteric fermentation occurring in the digestive tract, a key source of agricultural GHG emissions. Innovative feed additives provide an effective mitigation path, reducing methane while opening revenue streams through carbon credits. There are various solutions that help farmers lower their environmental footprint without sacrificing productivity. DSM-Firmenich stands out with its groundbreaking Bovaer, which
1 day ago


Spotlight: Rogue Fitness
Not every company requires a formal sustainability function or a dedicated team to minimize its environmental impact and adhere to sustainable practices. Consider Rogue Fitness which is a manufacturer of fitness equipment including barbells, bumper plates, pull-up and squat racks, kettlebells and everything a functional fitness or home gym could need. Rogue Fitness, with its tight supply chain, high-quality over-engineered products, and proximal customers, is oriented towards
May 19


Next-Gen Batteries: Solving Intermittency and Strengthening Electricity Grid Resilience
Batteries on the electricity grid serve critical purposes to meet the explosive demand for clean and reliable electricity needs. Battery units can be paired with renewables to create an even dispatch of power into the larger electricity grid, achieving 95%+ capacity factors. They can also be used on-site to minimize the need for utility power. Pairing these two technologies mitigates the intermittency issue inherent in renewable power generation. Batteries also provide a te
May 12


Data Centers Meet NIMBYism: Lessons from Wind and Nuclear
Data centers powering the AI boom face rising local opposition, like wind farms and nuclear plants before them. Concerns over noise, visual impact, massive energy and water use, grid strain, and higher electricity costs for residents drive NIMBY resistance in hotspots like Northern Virginia and parts of Texas. Wind projects often spark complaints about landscape alteration and intermittent power, while nuclear faces deep-seated safety and waste fears despite its low-carbon
May 5


Demand Response: Turning Electricity Demand into a Grid Asset
Demand Response (DR) programs are critical mechanisms that allow utility companies to meet electricity demand especially during peak demand windows. At these critical moments, a DR event occurs and the utility will pay participants to shift or stop using electricity. DR assists with both the economic function of the electricity system and supports reliability. Participants can include industrial users that curtail manufacturing processes, commercial users that reduce HVAC and
Apr 28


Behind the Meter Electricity Generation
Behind-the-meter (BTM) electricity production lets businesses generate power on their own side of the utility meter, bypassing traditional grid reliance for greater control and resilience. BTM systems gained fresh momentum as AI-fueled data center demand strained the grid. While small-scale solar added steadily to renewables, the primary surge came from corporate on-site solutions. Data center developers sidestepped years-long interconnection queues by installing generators,
Apr 21


Sustainability of Self-Driving Cars
The sustainability of the transportation sector is bright, especially when considering the proliferation of self-driving vehicles. Although the transition and electrification will take time, resource use to satisfy personal and commercial vehicle transport should plummet. Automated driving will completely reshape the vehicles themselves as driver input is no longer needed. Steering wheels, shifters, and even pedals will become obsolete, reducing resource needs in production
Apr 14


The Environmental Cost of Getting Dressed
The fashion industry is one of the planet's biggest polluters, responsible for 4% of global GHG emissions, and 35% of ocean microplastics. More than half of clothing relies on synthetics like polyester—cheap, fossil-fuel-derived fibers that shed microplastics with every wash. These tiny particles are choking marine ecosystems and entering the food chain. They contaminate seafood, drinking water, and even human blood and organs, raising risks of inflammation, hormonal disrupti
Apr 7


Wood Versus Metal Buildings: Sustainability Pathways Compared
Construction accounts for nearly 40% of global GHG emissions, and the framing materials, typically wood or metal, play an outsized role in that footprint. They have trade-offs between embodied carbon, resource cycles, durability, and long-term environmental performance. Their sustainability stories unfold differently across stages, and the best choice depends on context, data, and lifecycle assessments. Production and embodied carbon sit at the heart of the comparison. Wood
Mar 31


Decarbonizing Steel: The Process and Pathways
Steel manufacturing from raw materials to finished products represents one of the most energy-intensive industrial processes, accounting for 7–8% of GHG emissions. It begins with iron-ore extraction and proceeds through ironmaking, steelmaking, continuous casting, and hot, and sometimes, cold rolling. The final coils, sheets, plates, bars, or structural sections are then transported to downstream manufacturing facilities in various sectors. Iron ore undergoes crushing, grin
Mar 24


Technological Pathways for Small Modular Nuclear Reactors
One of the great hopes for a decarbonized electricity grid is the development and launch of immense numbers of small modular reactors (SMRs). For grid operators, nuclear power is a clean baseload power source, but legacy nuclear technology adds massive increments of power that are difficult to ramp up and down according to changes in demand. SMRs on the other hand can be built, and dispatch power, in small increments. Critically, they require a smaller investment for each add
Mar 17


SAF: Paving the Way for Aviation Decarbonization
Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) is a lower-carbon alternative to conventional jet fuel, produced from renewable or waste feedstocks, while meeting the same technical standards as jet fuel when blended. It requires no modifications to existing engines or fuel infrastructure and can be blended up to 50% with conventional fuel. The synthetic blending component is co-processed or blended at refineries or terminals, then distributed by pipelines, trucks, and airport hydrant system
Mar 10


DFW’s Ozone Problem and the Potential Fixes
Dallas-Fort Worth has poor air quality and 9 local counties are designated as a non-attainment zone under the Clean Air Act, meaning they exceeded limits of pollutants like ozone and are under scrutiny for its PM2.5 levels. The legal thresholds are lowered over time, going from 75 down to 70 ppb over 8 hours from 2008 to 2015. Under the new standard these counties are categorized as ‘serious’, meaning the situation needs to be addressed immediately. These counties, through
Mar 3


Turning the Page on Book Printing
The book printing industry has a very interesting sustainability story, defined by the consumers’ love of tradition, and a new age of technology and reader preferences. With the advent of digital formats, it’s surprising that printing volumes have remained stable and even risen. However, the average time spent reading and the number of books read per year has fallen, showing that readership is more concentrated among an avid group. This smaller group is made of individuals wh
Feb 24


The Rubber Road: Plantations to Auto Plants
Rubber is a critical component of the modern world. From tires in cars and airplanes, to gaskets and seals, to sneaker treads, the material has technical characteristics which make it exceptionally helpful to the global standard of living. However, the 30 million tons needed annually put strain on the natural environment because the product is without a technically equivalent and scalable substitute today. However, there are innovations driving down the impact of this materia
Feb 17


Medicine and Healthcare Sustainability
Healthcare is essential for human well-being, but it exerts significant environmental pressures that contribute to climate change, pollution, and resource depletion. These impacts arise from energy-intensive operations, supply chains, waste generation, and pharmaceuticals. The sector accounts for about 5% of global emissions, and 10% in some developed nations. This footprint exacerbates global challenges and indirectly harms public health, leading to an estimated loss of 388,
Feb 10


Harold Simmons Park in Dallas
The Trinity River flows through the center of the City of Dallas and divides the downtown center from West Dallas, with the riverbanks providing little connection to the greenery, except for a few walking paths and trails. The infrastructure serves to transport vehicles across the river, and it's not built as a place to stay and engage the natural environment. However, that is changing with the Harold Simmons Park Project which broke ground in spring 2025 and is set to be com
Feb 3


TX Storm Review - '21 & '26
In February 2021, Texas and the ERCOT grid were hit with Winter Storm Uri which brought severe freezing temperatures and substantial precipitation, including rain, sleet, snow and ice, and now Texas has passed through another deep freeze this weekend. In 2021, temperatures plunged to -2°F in some areas and killed at least 246 Texans. Electric grid infrastructure was not prepared for an event of this magnitude and length. 75% of the disruptions to service were caused by unplan
Jan 27


Solar PV Maturity Leaves Value in Firming Tech
Our January 6 th article discussed the nature of price declines of emerging energy technologies. After a technology advances out of the initial stages, the theory of experience curves breaks down, and the technology becomes commoditized. The most recent Levelized Cost of Energy analysis from Lazard, demonstrates consistent early-stage declines in solar PV prices, followed by overall stability within a constrained range over the last 10 years. Solar PV pricing history shows
Jan 20


Gas Station Monuments to Include Electricity Pricing
A core challenge of EV adoption is the roll-out of public EV charging infrastructure. To jolt adoption, it’s critical that the process and system of charging is as similar to regular fueling as possible. By siting EV charging infrastructure at existing gas stations, the public is more likely to view ICE and EV vehicles as substitutes. A gas-diesel-electricity fueling station model fits neatly into the public’s mindset about transportation. Monument pricing on the corner sho
Jan 13
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