Comprehensive flood risk management should include household measures, such as improving a home’s stability and relocating heating systems to safe places within the house. According to new research, better communication with householders by authorities on the effectiveness of such measures, and how to implement them, could increase their uptake.

For the first time, abnormal brain development following a Zika infection during pregnancy has been documented experimentally in the offspring of a non-human primate.

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The study, published today in Nature Microbiology, holds promise for a new treatment method against antibiotic-resistant bacteria (commonly known as superbugs).

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Excess nutrients in sea water can cause eutrophication, a major environmental concern. Shellfish species such as mussels can ‘soak up’ some of these nutrients. A recent Swedish study examines the cost-effectiveness of mussel farming in the Baltic Sea as a method of reducing nutrient concentration and compares its potential with other methods of combating eutrophication.

The Large Scale Grazing Systems (LSGS) of the EU are governed by legislation at regional, national and European levels. New research investigates an LSGS in Spain and suggests that the area’s traditional mix of sheep and cereal farming needs improved, better co-ordinated regulatory support to survive.

New research in southern Spain has studied what influences participation in agri-environmental schemes (AES). It indicated that the uptake of schemes that involve a major change in farm practices depends on the farm structure, whereas for schemes with minor changes, individual farmer characteristics play a greater role.

Restoration of upland bog habitats by blocking drainage channels has caused concern among some sheep farmers that this will reduce the quality of grazing areas. However, UK researchers have shown that drainage does not encourage growth of plants favoured by sheep, nor do sheep use drained areas more. Therefore they conclude such restoration measures are unlikely to detrimentally affect sheep grazing.

For people in the UK to eat the recommended 280 grams of fish per week, the country would have to rely on aquaculture and increasingly on imports of both wild and farmed fish from poorer countries, a recent study has revealed. This can have social and environmental implications and the researchers urge governments, particularly in developed countries, to consider nutritional advice in a global context, to minimise the impact of fish exports from poorer countries.

Managing landscapes effectively requires the involvement of a wide variety of stakeholders. The views and interests of these different groups can be effectively integrated by agri-environment 'collaboratives' — a type of bridging organisation which can be found in varying forms in Europe. Using data from Germany and the Netherlands, a study concludes that these groups make important contributions to landscape management, ranging from implementing policy to generating income.

An analysis of European retailers revealed a range of initiatives being undertaken to improve the environmental performance of product supply chains. However, it appears that very large grocery retailers are less proactive than specialist and cooperative retailers, owing to their complex supply chains and tendency to consider consumers responsible for environmental improvements.

The pressures facing Indian manufacturers to ‘green’ their supply chain have been explored by a recent study. Both international and national pressures from government and consumers were found to play an important role in whether a company adopts green supply chain management principles, with pressures varying to some degree depending on the business’s sector and size.

A recent study has analysed risks to European renewable industries from the Chinese supply of critical raw materials. The offshore wind sector was found to be the most vulnerable of the renewable industries to supply risks. EU and industry strategies should be able to deal with these supply risks in the short term, but there are potential long-term risks to solar and wind sectors. The development of alternative technologies less reliant on these raw materials, and methods to recycle these materials is, therefore, a priority.

Risk analysis and technology assessment (RATA) involves assessing the possible human, environmental and societal risks of a novel technology at various stages of the development process. However, best practices for RATA’s successful incorporation into large-scale research programmes are still in development. In a recent study, researchers present a case study of their efforts to bring RATA into practice within a large Dutch nanotechnology consortium. By outlining the procedures and products they developed and reflecting on their experiences, the researchers provide valuable insights for the future integration of RATA in technology development projects. The findings are relevant to stakeholders with an interest in supporting the design of key enabling technologies, including governmental agencies and industrial partners.

A research update on climate change has indicated that many global risks are now assessed as stronger than predicted by the 2007 IPCC Fourth Assessment Report (AR4). The risk of large sea-level rise, extreme weather events and ocean acidification are all thought to be underestimated by the AR4.

New EU-funded research from Finland has indicated that poor communication between producers of energy-efficient housing technologies and potential house-buyers is a major barrier to sustainable housing. It suggests that government bodies can encourage energy-efficiency innovations not only through regulations but also by improving information flow.

The actual carbon footprint of products and services can differ considerably according to how energy used to manufacture the product was generated – for example, whether it was generated by fossil fuel or renewable sources. A recent US study has therefore recommended that differences in regional power supply should be acknowledged by life cycle assessments of products and services.

Renewable technologies could supply 77 per cent of the world demand for energy by 2050, according to a report recently published by the IPCC. However, strong and flexible national and international policies are needed to stimulate investment and encourage accelerated use of renewable energy. The most pessimistic scenarios see the renewables share remaining almost static until mid-century.

Adaptation to climate change in urban regions is a major policy concern. Rather than focus specifically on risk reduction, a new report has reframed the adaptation challenge, giving it a broader focus of increasing an area’s resilience and performance and proposing local-level approaches to leveraging finance for adaptation initiatives.

A recent study from Finland on the carbon footprint of food can help producers and consumers make choices that lower the food chain’s impact on climate change, by highlighting hotspots in the food chain for improvement and revealing food’s overall impact.

Connecting Europe and North Africa with a single, long-distance electricity ‘supergrid’ is technically possible and the cheapest option available to meet Europe’s renewable energy targets, according to new research. However, significant political challenges, such as minimising the perception of risk and attracting sufficient investment, need to be overcome.

For thousands of years, vast amounts of methane – a potent greenhouse gas – have been stored in frozen deposits on land and under the ocean in the Arctic. A new study has found that rapidly rising temperatures are accelerating the release of methane by thawing subsea ‘permafrost’, releasing nearly 8 million tonnes into the atmosphere each year and potentially increasing global warming.

Regulators should establish a process to consider the full lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of electric vehicles, according to a new US study. This would help ensure that vehicle emissions regulations are placed on a sound scientific basis, manufacturers continue to improve the efficiency of electric vehicles, and the full benefit of regulations to limit GHG emissions from vehicles are realised, say the researchers.

Spanish medical and public health researchers have found no clear evidence for increased heavy metal levels in adults living near a recently-built urban solid waste incinerator over two years of operation. Concentrations of lead, chromium and mercury in blood and urine samples taken around the plant were not significantly higher than for populations who lived further away.

A recent international analysis of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) management has indicated that current practices will not be able to deal with future increases in WEEE. It calls for rapid, co-ordinated and bold responses that are both technical and non-technical to deal with this ever-increasing global issue.

Globally, up to 27% of all steel and 33% of all aluminium could potentially be reused, according to research. Significant barriers to reuse, such as component incompatibility between products and metal corrosion, must first be addressed if these reuse figures are to be achieved.

A recent survey of Dutch mobile phone owners has identified why some consumers buy refurbished mobile phones while others buy new ones. Some consumers perceived refurbished phones to be inferior, which was a major barrier to their purchase. The study’s authors make a number of recommendations to increase consumer uptake of refurbished mobile phones, including promoting the financial and environmental benefits and offering warranties.

A 2013 study has estimated the costs of upgrading existing ship recycling facilities to more environmentally friendly, and regulatory compliant, standards. The research focuses on alternatives to the ‘beaching’ method of shipbreaking, widely criticised for its environmental impact and safety record.

A study has evaluated three types of media campaign conducted by a large UK supermarket to encourage shoppers to reduce their food waste. These used social media, an e-newsletter and a print/digital magazine, respectively. Although they all appeared to lead to reductions in food waste to some extent, similar behavioural changes were also seen for customers who had not participated in any of the campaigns.

Researchers have examined environmental and economic impacts of supermarket food waste in a new study. Bread and meat products made the largest contribution to the environmental footprint of the supermarket assessed. Alternative waste strategies, such as using bread waste as animal feed, have the potential to reduce these impacts.

The development of future recycling technologies must be informed by data about products and materials that will enter the waste stream, but such forecasts are subject to a high level of uncertainty. In this study, researchers have proposed a methodology for predicting emerging waste materials, applying it to silicon-based photovoltaic (PV) panels. The findings show that closed-loop recycling — when post-consumer waste is recycled to make new products — of PV panel materials could mitigate up to 0.2% of the annual environmental impact of Flanders1, Belgium, if suitable technology was developed.

Aeration technologies designed to help landfill waste break down faster need to be refined in order to reduce pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and the long-term costs associated with landfill. This is according to a recent review of landfill aeration, which outlines some of the different systems currently available and highlights the need for better monitoring and sharing of data.

Polarised light forms the basis of many technologies, such as computer monitors. However, current approaches for making polarised light are inefficient, as they produce more than is ultimately used or needed. Researchers may now have found a way to directly produce polarised light using tiny nanostructures, called quantum dots, opening the way for more energy-efficient technologies.

Shortages of indium, a key metal found in thin-film solar cells, could limit their large-scale deployment in the future. A new study has outlined four ways that indium supplies could be increased to meet future demand. For example, indium could be extracted more efficiently from zinc ores, or historic wastes containing indium could be processed to extract the element.

‘Climate-smart agriculture’ aims to sustainably increase agricultural production and increase resilience to climate change. One aspect focuses on climate-smart technologies. This study interviewed users and producers of these technologies, highlighting barriers to adoption and possible means of overcoming them, including increasing awareness, user-focused design and changes to policy.

Electricity consumption fell by 22–27% in low-income households participating in an energy-efficiency programme in Cyprus, France, Malta and Spain, reports a new study. Participants were provided with a range of tools and information to help them curb their energy use, including smart meters and customised reports. The results confirm the value of tailoring information to specific demographic groups.

Indium, a unique metal, is in short supply worldwide and is not recycled at the end of its life (EoL). Indium is used in a wide range of technologies, causing regions across the world that are reliant on its import — such as Europe — to be concerned about security of supply. Primary sources of indium are thought to be sufficient for medium-term needs, but with growing demand comes growing concern over long-term supply. A new study has conducted a material flow analysis and examined secondary sources of indium within European ‘urban mines’ and in-use stocks (IUS) of indium products, identifying these as potential sources of 500 tonnes of indium — if it were recycled at EoL.

Amid the covid 19 crisis, the Global Inhouse Centre of Canadian financial services company, Sun Life Financial Asia Service Centre India, is baselining projects that can be accelerated, re-scoped and deferred.

The rental car service has tweaked its model to support emergency services during the lockdown and is gearing up its IT infrastructure for the post-Covid surge in demand.