Sustainability & environment

Image of an electric vehicle lithium-ion battery pack.

Berkeley engineer Gerbrand Ceder leads new consortium to make batteries for EVs more sustainable

09/13/23 — Berkeley Lab: Breakthrough battery technology could ramp up domestic supply chain of critical minerals driving clean energy transition

Berkeley engineers partner with Siemens Energy on $3.7M DOE project to explore direct air capture for carbon sequestration

09/07/23 — Nationwide project intends to advance research in climate change mitigation

Can we talk to whales?

09/06/23 The New Yorker — The New Yorker: Berkeley engineer Shafi Goldwasser explores how artificial intelligence may allow us to speak to other species

Photo of various coral species living in the ocean.

Cryotechnology developed by Berkeley engineers unlocks new approach to coral preservation

08/23/23 — Smithsonian: Successfully cooling and thawing coral fragments key to global conservation milestone for vanishing coral reefs

Volunteer surveying homes destroyed by wildfire in Lahaina, Hawaii.

Why deadly fire risks are multiplying

08/21/23 — Washington Post: Large wildfires are happening more often because the hazards that trigger them — dry conditions, strong winds, plenty of stuff to burn — are becoming more common, says Michael Gollner, head of Berkeley's Fire Research Lab

Photo illustration of fog on steel nanoengineered mesh used for harvesting and purifying water droplets.

Scientists develop parallel method for fog harvesting and water treatment

08/17/23 — Nanoengineered meshes powered by sunlight work continuously to collect water and remove pollutants

Image of smokestacks emitting vapor into the air.

Study finds racial gap in air quality may persist under Biden program

07/25/23 — Berkeley News: Berkeley researchers point to administration’s decision not to include racial demographics in a new tool that will be used to evaluate proposed regulations or policies

Collage of stormy sky raining down zeros and ones, a weather prediction model and a satellite dish.

‘Nowcasting’ model enables forecasting of extreme precipitation

07/12/23 — AI tool for analyzing short-term weather conditions may help save lives

Photo of Gridscope mounted to a power pole in a snowy, mountainous area. (Photo courtesy Gridware)

CITRIS Foundry alumni innovate for a more sustainable world

06/01/23 — CITRIS: Startups founded by Berkeley engineers work to combat climate change, improve energy efficiency and develop more sustainable solutions

New Berkeley Engineer magazine is here

05/24/23 — Spring 2023 issue delves into topics ranging from sustainability to aerospace to health and aging

Photo illustration of how stake-based sensors could measure gases in the soil

Raising the stakes

05/17/23 — To identify climate-friendly farming practices for biofuel crops, scientists are devising a tracking system that uses inexpensive printed sensors.

Man in blue lab jacket and gloves mixing ingredients in a lab

Keep it cool

05/17/23 — Ionocaloric cooling, a new method developed by Berkeley engineers, could help phase out HFC refrigerants that emit greenhouse gases.

Researchers reveal the ‘hidden’ costs of drinkable water

05/04/23 — Successful water treatment technologies require a deeper understanding of users’ challenges

Illustration depicting a three-sectioned recycling sign surrounding a scene of two recycling bins with recyclables at varying states of decay.

A Day in the Half-Life podcast: Reimagining plastics

04/18/23 Berkeley Lab — Berkeley Lab: UC Berkeley materials science and engineering professor Ting Xu discusses developing smarter materials that avoid the pitfalls of 20th century plastics

Photo of farm machine harvesting miscanthus, a quickly-growing grass that can be used as a bioenergy crop or harvested, salted and buried to sequester the carbon it took in from the atmosphere.

To more effectively sequester biomass and carbon, just add salt

04/11/23 — Salting and burying biomass crops in dry landfills could economically capture greenhouse gases for thousands of years

Image of heteropolymers designed to mimic the properties of natural proteins.

Berkeley engineers develop synthetic polymers that mimic the body’s natural proteins

03/20/23 — Alternative polymers work as well as real proteins and are easier to synthesize, a possible game-changer for biomedical applications

Energized for real-world impact

01/25/23 — Founded by Berkeley Engineering alumni, Gridware uses sensors to tackle the threat of wildfires

Graphic collage depicting an air conditioning unit, the earth, a spilled salt container, an arm spraying an aerosol can and various ions and arrows in front of an orange and blue gradient background.

Scientists develop a cool new method of refrigeration

01/04/23 — Berkeley Lab: Berkeley engineers Drew Lilley and Ravi Prasher hope ionocaloric cooling can someday replace current refrigerants and provide safe, efficient cooling and heating for homes

Community members from Bolinas, California, play an evacuation-simulation board game

Researchers to help reduce wildfire risk with dynamic modeling, serious games

12/20/22 — CITRIS: With a $2.5 million NSF grant, an interdisciplinary UC team led by civil engineering professor Kenichi Soga is partnering with Bay Area communities to help residents respond to natural disasters more quickly — and more safely.

Photo illustration of the process for converting carbon dioxide into solar fuels

To battle climate change, scientists tap into carbon-hungry microorganisms for clues

11/30/22 — Berkeley Lab: Scientists led by Peidong Yang have developed a nature-inspired technique for converting carbon dioxide into solar fuels