New research has investigated the possibility of transferring policy between EU Member States. It studied the outcomes of an EU-funded project that aimed to integrate land use planning and transport management across Europe, and identified barriers to transfer, which included language, differing planning traditions and difficulties in systematically adopting a policy across a nation. The study also highlights a role for EU projects in beginning the process of policy transfer.

Europe could struggle to meet the target set by the renewable energy sector of 25% of electricity produced by solar energy by 2040 because the supply of materials, including rare metals, needed to produce photovoltaics (PV) is unlikely to meet demand. Production rates need to be drastically improved, according to a new study.

The growing complexity of the global food trade network means contamination spreads more efficiently and is more difficult to trace. Increased data capture and sharing is recommended by a new study to help prevent food poisoning outbreaks and allow sources of contamination to be quickly identified.

Renewable energy plays an important role in economic development, according to a recent study which investigated the relationship between economic growth and energy consumption in Europe.

Protecting ecosystems and the services they provide is increasingly thought to be a sustainable and effective approach to help society adapt to climate change. Islands states, at risk from a variety of different threats, including sea level rise, changes in rainfall patterns and ocean acidification, have been among the first to trial this approach. A new study examines measures taken in the Caribbean and highlights the importance of integrating local and external knowledge.

New research has investigated the many ways in which technological transfer occurs for wind power projects in developing countries. These range from trading with developed countries, to local innovation. In India and China, successful transfer was found to depend more on existing capabilities in these countries than international projects, such as the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).

Assessing the potential of new environmental management tools often brings an ‘innovation dilemma’: is it better to stick with what is known to work, or to implement new measures that are potentially more effective, but also more uncertain? Researchers have proposed an approach to deal with these dilemmas, and applied it to the case study of an invasive species programme in the US.

EU integration may have led to more sustainable consumption patterns in new Member States (NMS) during 1995-2007, according to researchers from Lithuania. Their study indicates that, during this period in new Member States, a smaller share of household expenditure was spent on ‘essential’, but more environmentally-damaging items, such as food, drink and housing, and a larger share on ‘luxurious’, but less environmentally damaging, items.

A lack of trust between stakeholders, planners and decision makers in coastal Portugal is obstructing adaptation to climate change plans, finds a new study. The researchers suggest that building trust between stakeholders and coastal managers could lead to improved participation and dialogue for future planning, financing and implementation of coastal adaptation.

A free tool to help coastal managers plan sustainable coastal development is now available online. The decision support system provides up-to-date information and data on subjects such as populations and land use, to support integrated management of coastal areas in the North Sea region affected by climate change, both now and in the future.

The drive to increase renewable energy production can sometimes be at loggerheads with the desire to preserve natural landscapes. In this study, researchers from across Europe assessed the environmental impacts of renewable energies in the Alps, making key recommendations to resolve conflicts between different users of habitats.

Researchers have provided a set of guidelines to help policymakers, designers and operators develop sustainable solutions for energy-storage systems for electricity grids. The guidelines cover a range of energy-storage technologies and grid-integration options.

When broken down, ships can release hazardous substances into the environment. This study investigated the environmental impact of shipbreaking in one of Europe’s few ship recycling yards, based in Portugal. The results reveal large differences between assessment methods and show that environmental impact depends on composition rather than size or class.

Landfill taxes and ‘enhanced waste management’ practices have been introduced to reduce the amount of waste that goes to landfill and to convert waste into useful products. This study investigated the interplay of these two policy options in Belgium, generating findings that could help Europe move towards a resource-efficient, circular economy.

Agri-environment schemes (AES) are widely researched; some important issues, however, remain unstudied. Researchers have investigated some of these issues using a sample of olive growers in southern Spain. Their study reveals the level of monetary incentive needed for farmers to accept an ‘ecological focus area’, and a general unwillingness to participate collectively. These results could help policymakers design more cost-effective AES.

A new study has analysed how to reduce the environmental footprint of EU trade by preferentially importing goods from countries that have greener production processes. The study concludes that the environmental impacts of 200 product groups imported into the EU could be considerably reduced in this way. For example, water consumption caused by these imports could be cut by 72%, and land use by 65%.

Solar-powered irrigation that delivers water directly to plant roots could help ensure food security in Africa, say researchers. Their study in the Sudano-Sahel region of West Africa indicated that this irrigation method could increase both household income and nutritional intake, particularly during the dry season.

A new solar-powered desalination technology could help solve water shortage problems without any damage to the environment, according to researchers. They evaluated a prototype model and demonstrated that it could produce up to 12 litres of freshwater a day per m2 of equipment.

Monitors in showers, which display how much water is being used and sound an alarm when a limit is reached, have significantly cut water consumption in household trials. The immediate feedback from the alarm monitor made consumers more aware of their behaviour, which they could then modify.

Only wetland environments with high sediment input from rivers can keep pace with rising sea levels, according to a new study. However, human activity is destroying wetlands’ natural defences, making their survival increasingly unlikely. The researchers call for sustainable management approaches to protect wetlands under future climate change projections.

Desalination plants, powered by wind energy, offer the potential to produce freshwater using a renewable source of energy. A recent study has explored some of the challenges of integrating wind energy with desalination units, and suggests combining wind with other forms of renewable energy, or constructing a system that operates with variable energy input would help overcome problems with wind powered desalination.

Energy production uses large quantities of water and, in turn, water provision requires considerable amounts of energy. A new study has investigated the interconnection between water and energy, the ‘water-energy nexus’, in Spain and found that 5.8% of total electricity consumption is for water-use and 25% of water withdrawals are for energy generation.

Desalination technologies could help alleviate water shortages, but they need to have low environmental impact. A new life-cycle analysis of desalination options for water supply in off-grid areas indicates that a photovoltaic-powered reverse osmosis system has the least environmental impact of the three technologies considered by the study.

A recent study suggests that a shift to more sustainable development, based on ecosystem services, is needed to support human health and wellbeing. Focusing on ecosystem services provided by river catchments, this study recommends that more needs to be done on a practical level to support decision-makers, in a way that recognises the relationships between different types of ecosystem services.

Shellfish harvesting areas in the UK are cleaner, thanks to sewerage improvement schemes over the last decade which have lowered average levels of Escherichia coli in oysters, mussels and other commercially-important species and boosted the shellfish industry’s economic value. Addressing the additional pollution risks from agriculture could further reduce contamination and human health risks.

Around 20% of all species found in a Spanish coastal wetland could be affected by increasingly salty water as seawater intrudes into the groundwater system as a result of groundwater being withdrawn to irrigate crops. This is the conclusion of a recent study which used a Life Cycle Impact Assessment approach to characterise the ecological damage in the wetland as a result of changes in groundwater consumption.

Small, artificial wetlands can reduce river pollution by trapping soil and nutrients swept off agricultural land by rainfall, a recent study finds. The researchers recommend that they are used as a back-up option to soil management measures also designed to reduce runoff into rivers.

Contamination of drinking water in areas close to several fracking sites in the Marcellus and Barnett Shales, USA, is caused by structural problems leading to wells leaking natural gas into aquifers, a new study suggests. The researchers measured trace amounts of chemicals, called noble gases, which formed signatures of the sources of gas contamination in over 130 samples. These findings suggest that, rather than coming from natural sources, such contamination in the area of the investigation is an engineering problem to do with the wells themselves, the researchers say. They stress the importance of ensuring the structural integrity of the wells, which can be done in an affordable manner.

Reducing plastic carrier bag consumption in different EU Member States requires different approaches and combinations of measures, according to a new study. The authors studied consumption and littering levels across Europe in relation to national plastic bag consumption reduction policy options, and found that there is not one specific solution for both of these factors, nor a single solution that can be used in all Member States. They suggest a holistic approach and additional research into consumer or stakeholder behaviour is needed.

Land use changes over the last century in the Mediterranean area may be sparking shifts in weather patterns locally, across Europe, and around the globe, suggests a new study. The findings bring to light new complexities that can be integrated into climate models and predictions.

Small field wetlands are a simple and effective way to reduce soil erosion and nutrient pollution, recent research suggests. The authors adapted Norwegian designs for the UK environment and created a series of small rectangular lakes on the edges of agricultural fields. After three years, the wetlands had prevented tonnes of soil from leaving the land, and helped alleviate some of the nutrient run-off that would have affected neighbouring waterways.

Increasing population, overconsumption and technological development have depleted many of the world’s natural resources, with profound impacts on the environment. This study applies the concept of criticality, which determines whether a resource may become a limiting factor to future development, to water.

Constructed wetlands can remove disease-causing bacteria from wastewater, but their performance is highly dependent on the systems they use, a new study shows. Researchers reviewed results from a wide range of studies on constructed wetlands and found that combining different approaches increased removal of bacteria. However, further research and improvement of wetland systems is required to produce water that is safe for reuse.

“Gaming traffic has increased by 50% in the last few weeks, with doubling of traffic in video streaming and collaborative work apps like Skype, Teams and Zoom,” said Ivo Ivanov, CEO of DE-CIX International, which runs an internet exchange in Mumbai.

The video-conferencing app has seen a global usage during the coronavirus lockdowns.

Direct messages on the desktop have been in the works for a while now.

With the microblogging site emerging as a key platform for information dissemination, many central banks are active on Twitter, especially in these times of economic uncertainties amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Sharing more details of the same, an official Spokesman said that as per the latest MHA Guidelines, activities in a region shall be allowed based on the risk profiling of the region/districts into Red (Hotspots), Orange, and Green zones. ​​In the Orange zone IT/ITES would be allowed to carry out their activities with staff strength of 50 percent.

"All standalone (single) shops, neighborhood (colony) shops and shops in residential complexes are permitted to remain open in urban areas, without any distinction of essential and non-essential," the ministry of home affairs said in a notification on Friday.

Amazon Web Services (AWS), the Cloud arm of retail giant Amazon has announced the third availability zone in its Mumbai Cloud Region.

Intensive irrigation of agricultural land in a Mediterranean water basin is altering the habitats of associated wetlands and changing the balance of the bird population living there, according to a recent study.

Wealthier, more populated regions of Europe are more likely to have greater numbers of invasive alien species, according to researchers. A new study has indicated that human factors are more influential in encouraging alien invasions than the climate or whether the species are introduced to an island or a mainland region.

Pollination of intensively farmed, flowering crops could affect the pollination of wild plants in neighbouring fields, according to a study by German researchers. In their one-year study, they found fewer bees visited wild plants that are close to oilseed rape fields, although the longer-term picture is less clear. The researchers warn that increasing cultivation of biofuel crops could possibly reduce wild flower populations.

While the ecological impact of shale gas exploration and extraction on groundwater has received considerable attention, the implications for surface water and terrestrial ecosystems is often overlooked, according to a new US study. Although more data are needed, preliminary results suggest that regulations based on proximity to surface water could be necessary to protect valuable ecosystems.

High Nature Value (HNV) farmland is agricultural land that supports biodiversity and can be identified by its environmentally sound farming practices. New research on bird biodiversity on French HNV farmland has concluded that conservation of HNV farmland is important as well as conserving areas that were previously HNV and have undergone recent agricultural intensification.

New research has outlined a four-step approach to multipurpose wetland creation or restoration: clarifying the objectives, defining the scale and analysing possible conflicts, before finally defining a strategy.

The way in which agricultural land is managed can cause environmental changes that affect biodiversity and the services provided by ecosystems. A new study suggests agri-environmental schemes that focus on restoring common weeds, such as thistles, buttercups and clover, could have wide-ranging benefits as these plants appear to help stabilise the supportive links between different species found in farmlands.

Converting grassland to arable land can reduce the diversity of nematodes, predatory mites, earthworms and enchytraeid worms in the soil, according to a study by Dutch researchers. However, they found that restoring arable land to grassland did not fully restore the diversity of these four groups during the course of the four-year study.

Falling levels of insect pollination are causing declining yields of important agricultural crops. However, new research from South Africa now indicates that planting small patches of native flowers in agricultural fields can be a profitable and sustainable method of increasing pollination and yield.

Constructed wetlands can regulate stormwater flows and improve water quality, helping humans to adapt to a changing climate. New research has now shown that, if carefully designed, they can also be used for climate change mitigation by storing carbon, while also providing biodiversity and cultural ecosystem services.