Today’s Solutions: May 04, 2024

Climate Action

What is Climate Action? Climate Action is humanity's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance our planet's resilience against climate change. From adaptation to mitigation, at The Optimist Daily you will learn about the most recent positive news stories and solutions targeting climate change and other environmental issues.

A rare earth elements magnetic separation loop system at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The equipment is used to extract rare earth elements from brines.

Breakthrough method that rescues lithium from wastewater

Electric vehicles are the future of transport. Electric vehicle sales increase year after year and, in 2019, accounted for 2.6 percent of global car sales. Electric vehicles are an essential change to be made for reducing the number of greenhouse gases and non-renewable resources used by humans, Read More...

man installing solar rooftop panels against bright blue sky

Europe may launch plan requiring solar panels on all public buildings by 2025

Countries are speeding up efforts to transition to 100 percent renewable energy sources, not just for the sake of the climate, but also to build independence from Russian petroleum. Germany accelerated its own schedule to become 100 percent renewable, seeing the danger to its energy sector that Read More...

Aerial view of Lake Tahoe's clear water with pines on the shore

Volunteer scuba divers recover 25,000 pounds of trash from Lake Tahoe

While few other lakes in the United States can compete with Lake Tahoe’s clear waters, the country’s second deepest lake does have a trash problem. To address this, California nonprofit Clean Up the Lake has recently organized a team of scuba divers to remove debris from the lake’s whole Read More...

Scotland Rocket

Orbex rocket prototype makes debut at Scottish Highlands spaceport

While humans are naturally earthbound creatures, we need space travel. Our society, as it is, needs the myriad functions and services our satellites provide, and so far, there’s only one way to get them up there. To that end, space scientists and engineers are constantly innovating ways to make Read More...

United Airlines

Every United Airlines flight out of Amsterdam will use sustainable aviation fuel

A little more than two percent of human-caused, global carbon dioxide emissions come from the aviation industry. Like most other modes of transportation, airlines will have to adapt to the emissions-free future, and infrastructure is developing to accommodate the change. European biorefineries are Read More...

World Food Prize goes to scien

World Food Prize goes to scientist tacking climate change head on

The World Food Prize is a coveted award recognizing people who have increased the quantity, quality, and availability of food for the world. This year's winner is a scientist and former farmer Cynthia Rosenzweig, who plans to donate all her $250,000 winnings to research on climate change and Read More...

NYC E-Bike

How e-bikes are transforming New York City

New transportation technologies literally transform cities. Beyond the obvious construction of subways, the innovation of the automobile gave rise to the prevalence of suburbs, industrial areas outside of cities, and the remodeling of American streets.  We might soon see a similar change in Read More...

Europe’s largest floating so

Europe’s largest floating solar park to open in Portugal this summer

Last month we wrote about Greece unveiling Europe’s largest double-sided solar farm. Now another European country is about to claim a significant achievement in the race towards renewables: building the continent’s largest floating solar park. The solar park will be located in Portugal’s Read More...

Peruvian Amazon

How native stingless bees help maintain the rainforest and local communities

Our appreciation for pollinators has grown exponentially as we learn more about our environments and the importance of even the smallest creatures in the grander scheme of things. However, we still have much to discover about the different species and the specific roles they play. For biologist, Read More...

Green College life

7 tips for sustainable and affordable college life

For our college student readers, you might already be tired of people telling you that you are the future of our society. Well, you are, but you don’t need to wait until you’re out in the workforce to make a difference in the world.  Socially and environmentally conscious behavior can begin Read More...