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Germany, Environment
When recycling equates with quality raw materials
When recycling equates with quality raw materials
Twenty five years ago, the German chemist Michael Braungart developed a new approach to recycling, now called "Cradle to Cradle" or "C2C" after the book, Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, which he and the American architect William McDonough published in 2002.
Closing the water cycle
Closing the water cycle
Clean freshwater faces various threats such as increasing demand by population growth, pollution and changes in the hydrological cycle due to climate change.
Ralf Otterpohl: a second life for unsuspected nutrient-rich waste
Ralf Otterpohl: a second life for unsuspected nutrient-rich waste
Every day cities in Europe discard a useful nutrient-rich resource that could be used to grow crops. Ironically, we treat and process human wastes while we mine non-renewable phosphate and potassium and we consume fossil fuel to make nitrogen fertiliser.
Sheltering rising population from storm water
Sheltering rising population from storm water
Storm water is a critical consideration in managing urban water , as it influences the risks of flooding. Unfortunately, a global rise in urban population means that water management in urban areas is now under strain.
Jorge Marx Gómez: Putting environmental performance into practice
Jorge Marx Gómez: Putting environmental performance into practice
Jorge Marx Gómez is professor and chair of business information systems at the Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg , Germany. He was the scientific manager of the EU-funded project OEPI , completed in 2012.
Troubled Danube’s waters, not up to standards yet
Troubled Danube’s waters, not up to standards yet
There are 19 countries in the catchment area of Danube River. The extensive use of water resources in that area has not been without consequences on its water quality. Let alone on the riverside’s biodiversity and environment.
Could gamification enhance biodiversity decision making tools?
Could gamification enhance biodiversity decision making tools?
Making decision that may affect the environment is not that simple. For example, if a EU policy maker believes that biofuels can reduce CO 2 emissions.
Climate proof sea defences with a green twist
Climate proof sea defences with a green twist
Coastal areas offer great challenges when balancing the need to protect natural habitats, with the requirement of human and economic activities . Dikes, for example, may not constitute the solutions of the future.
User awareness key to effective energy monitoring
User awareness key to effective energy monitoring
Energy efficiency has become a key objective in the current context of increasing energy demand, decreasing resources and global warming. Key to efficient energy savings, however, are users' awareness and behaviour.
How soon could car seats enter the 3D comfort zone?
How soon could car seats enter the 3D comfort zone?
Vehicles seats are normally made of polyurethane foam, a thick material that is expensive to recycle and ends up in dumping sites or being incinerated.
Strong resistance to making people think green
Strong resistance to making people think green
How can policymakers change the way people think? This is what the InContext project, funded by the EU, hopes to answer. Leading European research institutions in the fields of transition, behaviour and sustainable development are trying to create a manual for change.
Sustainability in the brewery
Sustainability in the brewery
Making food and drink production for more than 500 million people more eco-friendly is a key policy in Europe. About 99% of all agro-food companies in the European Union are small and medium size enterprises (SME).
Greener milk: how to make cow’s nitrogen intake efficient
Greener milk: how to make cow’s nitrogen intake efficient
The amount of nitrogen that is excreted by livestock is directly proportional to the amount it is fed . This is according to Chris Reynolds a researcher in nutritional physiology of ruminants  at  the University of Reading , UK.
Purifying sludge through oxygen-based digestion
Purifying sludge through oxygen-based digestion
Dealing with sludge is one of the biggest issues of waste water treatment.
Nanosilver in textiles – friend or foe?
Nanosilver in textiles – friend or foe?
Silver has been used as biocide for medical purposes since the 1930s. Today nanometric size silver particles are used to prevent unpleasant odour caused by bacteria in sport shirts or socks .
Dragonflies, as climate change indicators
Dragonflies, as climate change indicators
With climate change, flora and fauna shift their seasonal inner clock.  For example, fruit tree blossom earlier than previous years.
On the heels of eels
On the heels of eels
Nobody knows the underlying biological mechanisms of the European eels migration . Thanks to an EU-funded research project called eeliad , now about toreach completion, biologists have revealed some of its secrets, including a better understanding of its biology and migration route.
The big picture is the greener picture
The big picture is the greener picture
The building sector has become much greener. To get such credentials it has adopted methods borrowed from other industries, such as life cycle analysis ( LCA ), which looks at the environmental impact of a building at every stage from its creation to its decommissioning.
Rescuing Swiss Heritage
Rescuing Swiss Heritage
Scientists, monument preservationists and craftsmen aim at ensuring conservation of the region’s architectural heritage also by optimising energy efficiency.
Metals rush in domestic waste
Metals rush in domestic waste
Non-ferrous metals are increasingly in demand because of the electronics industry. "They are used in LED’s, computers, smartphones; this is a much bigger business now," says Kate Hornsby , Waste in Social Environment manager at the Technical University Aachen , Germany.
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