Even “modest” action to limit climate change could help prevent the most extreme water-shortage scenarios facing Asia by the year 2050, according to a new study led by MIT researchers.

A diverse mix of species improves the stability and fuel-oil yield of algal biofuel systems, as well as their resistance to invasion by outsiders, according to the findings of a federally funded outdoor study by University of Michigan researchers.

For decades, biologists have believed a key enzyme in plants had one function—produce amino acids, which are vital to plant survival and also essential to human diets.

Human activity greatly impacts the natural chemistry of the largest river in North America — the Mississippi River. In a new, large-scale study, LSU geologists have identified a unique chemical signature in the river.

During high school, Prosper Nyovanie had to alter his daily and nightly schedules to accommodate the frequent power outages that swept cities across Zimbabwe.

Almost a third of the natural gas fuelling UK homes and businesses could be replaced by hydrogen, a carbon free fuel, without requiring any changes to the nation’s boilers and ovens, a pioneering study by Swansea University researchers has shown.

Whether it’s French fries on the menu or an entire deep-fried turkey, disposing of used cooking oil can be a headache. Only a small amount of it can be composted, and dumping the rest down the drain can result in blocked pipes.

The Canadian government announced it will spend $4.5 billion ($3.5 billion USD) to buy the beleaguered Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project. The expansion plan — which would triple the volume of oil being carried from Alberta’s tar sands to an export terminal near Vancouver, from 300,000 barrels a day to 890,000 — has faced years of fierce opposition from environmentalists and some indigenous groups.

When you think of Facebook and “hot air,” a stream of pointless online chatter might be what comes to mind. But the company will soon be putting its literal hot air — the waste heat pumped out by one of its data centers — to good environmental use. That center, in Odense, Denmark, plans to channel its waste heat to warm nearly 7,000 homes when it opens in 2020.

The cost of building new nuclear power plants is nearly 20 per cent higher than expected due to delays, a new analysis has found.

A new analysis of the history of nuclear power plant projects shows since 2010 delays have contributed 18 per cent the costs.