Renewable energy is very much in the limelight these days, as country after country experience how these sources can keep at par with fossil fuels. Various places have shown how renewables are capable of supplying a huge chunk of their electricity demand. Renewables do so much more, though, as a recent study published in the journal Nature Energy now shows. Analyzing the impact of solar and wind energy in the U.S, the paper’s authors focused on how these renewables have saved both lives and money during a nine-year period (from 2007 to 2015). By reducing greenhouse gas emissions, increased dependence in solar and wind energy sources have improved air quality in the U.S., at a rate that varies between region to region.
Continue reading... →In most U.S. households, it’s no big deal to get up in the middle of the night for a drink of water. It happens to many of us, and we don’t give it much of a second thought. Despite some notable recent exceptions, there is an abundance of clean and safe drinking water in this country. But do you really know where your drinking water comes from? Do you know about the infrastructure needed to deliver water to millions of homes each and every day? For many people, the water infrastructure issue came to the forefront during the crisis in Flint, where water from the Flint River was 19 times more corrosive than water from Detroit. The state Department of Environmental Quality violated federal law by not treating the river water with an anti-corrosive agent, according to a class-action law suit. The situation in Flint is one example of the country’s crumbling water infrastructure. Six billion gallons of treated water is lost each day due to leaky pipes, and the American Water Works Association (AWWA) estimates that we need $1 trillion to meet demands over the next 25 years.
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