Climate Change and Environment

Better supply, fewer emissions: An EU-funded smart grid demonstrator set up in New Delhi aims to improve grid resilience and electricity supply security while also increasing the integration of renewable energy sources into the grid.

In October 2020, the Results Pack Social Sciences and Humanities in Energy Research featured PROSEU, a project that empowered ordinary citizens to play a key role in Europe’s transition to clean energy. Did it succeed in helping European prosumers – people who produce and consume their own renewable energy – become main actors in this transition?

As digital technologies transform the energy sector, users can more easily manage and control their appliances and systems. However, there are many solutions and standards to choose from, and not all of these can be combined and work together seamlessly. This complicates consumers’ lives, and it is a barrier to a more rapid uptake of smart appliances and services.

Study reveals that a full-scale nuclear war between the two superpowers would lead to global famine and kill billions.

After initial backing for their new wave energy technologies, two developers are validating performance with tank testing and simulation.

New data on the distribution and area of kelp forests in the Nordic region provides a reference point for assessing large-scale changes in the future.

How will corals in the depths of the oceans fare in the future? Evidence from the last major global warming event thousands of years ago gives scientists a hint.

An EU-backed study claims that climate change will raise wheat prices and hit yield harder in certain areas around the world.

Thanks to an EU-funded initiative’s engagement strategy, nearly 100 young volunteers got rid of over 1 000 kg of litter from two beaches on the Caribbean island of Saint Martin.

A new study analyses how self-reinforcing mechanisms called cognitive lock-ins impede change, reducing the possibility of farmers adopting crop diversification.

What will hamper the sustainable management of European fisheries in the future? An EU-backed survey investigates fishery stakeholder views.

Workshops and surveys are just two of the tools the AquaVitae project is using to boost production of abalone, algae and oysters in the Atlantic Ocean.

Weather extremes are becoming more common. A recent study looks into the reasons why risk management is usually ineffective when dealing with a second more hazardous event, and takes home lessons from two success stories.

One step closer to cleaner oceans: An EU-backed project has tested its autonomous underwater litter collection system in the murky coastal waters of the Port of Hamburg, Germany.

A new study has shown that China’s massive population shift to urban areas has had a positive impact on the country’s carbon stocks. This means that urbanisation could play a role in reducing CO2 emissions.

Do people reconsider their opinions based on new information or to gain social acceptance? A new study shows how the brain distinguishes between different types of social influence when we change our mind.

In October 2020, the Results Pack Social Sciences and Humanities in Energy Research featured SMARTEES, a project that explored the concept of social energy innovations and how they evolve over time. We find out that the results fed into a novel digital tool to improve policy design and decision-making.

An EU-funded study looks at mortality in 2 rural areas in the United Kingdom during temperature extremes over a 38-year period.

According to a new study, most of Europe’s cities are getting denser thanks to higher immigration rates and reduced land take for housing.

EU-backed researchers make food safety training fun. Their online cooking game increases consumer awareness of safe food handling while training them to engage in risk-reducing behaviour.