Unconventional oil and gas development (UOGD), the extraction of hydrocarbons from shale and other low-permeability formations through horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, has bolstered the USA’s domestic energy production and economy. These benefits have been accompanied by public concerns about the industry’s impacts on drinking-water resources, the environment and human health. Here we explore the association between observed groundwater chemistry and documented surface spills from UOGD in the northern Appalachian Basin. Using published data from over 16,000 groundwater samples and high-resolution, physically based groundwater flow and transport modelling, we find that areas with high hydrologic vulnerability to surface spills exhibit a threefold increase in the odds of detecting chemical signatures resembling produced water or deep formation brines in domestic well water, even when accounting for other factors that may explain such chemical imprints. Across our study region, we estimate that over 120,000 people served by domestic wells reside in locations where groundwater is vulnerable to contamination from UOGD activities. Horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing are a core part of the US domestic energy economy, particularly in the Appalachian region. However, surface spills occurring in areas of high hydrologic vulnerability could pose a risk to the drinking-water sources of more than 120,000 local residents.
The petrochemical industry is responsible for 13% of global industrial and 3.5% of total greenhouse gas emissions, yet a globally consistent facility-level emissions inventory is lacking. Here we present a bottom-up assessment of historical, current and prospective emissions from 37,379 production facilities, covering 81 chemicals and 2,043 manufacturing processes. We estimate that petrochemical production emitted 2.0 ± 0.8 GtCO2e in 2023 and this could increase to 3.0 ± 1.2 GtCO2e by 2050 under a business-as-usual scenario. Emissions are highly concentrated, with 53% of 2023 emissions arising from 10% of facilities. Among primary chemicals, ethylene and ammonia were the largest emitters, at 290 ± 50 and 250 ± 50 MtCO2e, respectively, in 2023. Our scenario analysis indicates that decarbonization efforts should prioritize the highest-emitting facilities through efficiency improvements, alternative fuels and feedstocks, alongside broad demand reduction and power grid decarbonization. The analysis provides insights for industry, researchers and policymakers to target effective decarbonization in the petrochemical sector. The petrochemical sector is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, yet a consistent facility-level emissions inventory is missing, hindering effective sectoral decarbonization. This study fills the gap through a bottom-up and detailed assessment of 37,379 facilities globally.
Wastewater treatment, especially nitrogen removal, is a major contributor to global energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, driving the need for more sustainable nitrogen removal technologies. However, the practical application of anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) systems is limited by persistent nitrate accumulation, as efficient cross-feeding between anammox bacteria and denitrifiers is hindered by metabolite diffusion and retention challenges. Here we present a strategy using 3D-bioprinted engineered living materials (ELMs) with spatial confinement to enhance the spatial proximity between core species and retain the metabolites, thereby promoting multifaceted cross-feeding between anammox bacteria and denitrifiers. A sodium alginate/cellulose bioink was designed to print anammox consortia into a defined microstructure with both biocompatibility and mechanical stability. The high cell density within the ELMs enhanced microbial interactions, and spatial confinement activated synergistic metabolic pathways and facilitated the exchange of extracellular polysaccharides, amino acids and cofactors between key microbial taxa. The ELMs achieved a 71.43% reduction in start-up time and enabled complete nitrogen removal (100%) without external organic carbon supplementation, which was validated with real wastewater. This work provides a viable approach for the rapid establishment and enhanced performance of anammox systems, contributing to sustainable and energy-efficient wastewater treatment. Nitrate accumulation limits the sustainability of anammox-based nitrogen removal in wastewater treatment. This study shows that 3D-bioprinted engineered living materials with spatial confinement enable complete nitrogen removal by enhancing cross-feeding between anammox bacteria and denitrifiers.
Irrigation unintentionally delivers reactive nitrogen to croplands via nitrate-rich water, yet this input is rarely quantified and remains largely absent from nitrogen budgets and fertilization policies. Here we compile over 1,300 field observations and upscale them using machine learning to quantify the nitrogen delivered through irrigation and map its contribution across irrigated croplands for 2010–2019. While the median input was 19 kg N ha−1 yr−1, 10% of observations exceeded 100 kg N ha−1 yr−1. Globally, we estimate that irrigation supplied 14 Tg N yr−1, equivalent to 13% of synthetic fertilizers used on croplands. Important clusters appear in regions with intensive irrigation and high nitrogen inputs, indicating that irrigation represents a substantial but underused nitrogen source. Our findings expose an overlooked component of agricultural nitrogen budgets that can reduce fertilizer overuse, improve nitrogen-use efficiency and promote nitrogen circularity in irrigated croplands. Irrigation is typically overlooked as a source of reactive nitrogen to cropland. However, nitrate-rich irrigation water constitutes a substantial portion of the global agricultural nitrogen budget that should be accounted for in fertilizer application and irrigation strategies.
People living in poverty depend directly on local ecosystems for food and income, yet the coastal dimension of this poverty–environment nexus remains poorly understood. We examine seagrass-associated fishing and household poverty using household socio-economic data from 156 Indo-Pacific communities, linked to estimates of seagrass-proximate populations. Fishing households were consistently poorer than non-fishers, and seagrass-dependent households earned ~23% less than other fishers. Complete seagrass dependence was concentrated among lower-income households, with each additional purchasing-power-adjusted dollar per day associated with a 5.5% lower likelihood of exclusive seagrass dependence. Scaled across the Indo-Pacific, these patterns suggest at least 18 million people in poverty may use seagrass meadows while fishing, including 6.5 million who depend on seagrass as their only fishing habitat. These results make visible a population of millions that depend on seagrass, underscoring the need for management that identifies dependents, protects legitimate access and addresses land-based threats that undermine livelihood security. The livelihood of people in poor coastal areas depends directly on local ecosystems, but such reliance is not well documented. With data from across 156 Indo-Pacific communities, this study examines the relationship between seagrass-associated fishing and household poverty.
Indonesia’s energy and food security policy priorities include achieving a biodiesel fuel blending ratio of 50% (B50) and self-sufficiency in rice production through the development of nationally planned food estates. However, these initiatives pose substantial challenges, including the threats of mass deforestation, land conversion and emissions, as well as competition between food and energy crops. Here we assess the potential land-use and emissions implications of meeting Indonesia’s ambitious biodiesel targets and rice production goals. Using an improved high-resolution land cover map, multicriteria evaluation and production scenario modelling, we analyse the spatial trade-offs between forest conservation, food security and biofuel expansion. Our findings indicate that achieving the biodiesel B50 target by 2030 will require extensive land conversion, including 4.85–8.55 million hectares of land, while efforts to achieve rice self-sufficiency could convert up to 2.3 million hectares, with notable overlap between food and energy production zones. Associated emissions—360–3,753 MtCO2e for oil palm and 509–1,297 MtCO2e for rice—could surpass historic emissions events, undermining Indonesia’s climate commitments. This research underscores the need for more integrated land-use planning balancing economic development with environmental sustainability and calls for enhanced policy frameworks that mitigate trade-offs between food and energy production. Balancing food and energy security is a key priority for Indonesia, but the associated land conversion could induce deforestation. This study examines how best to optimize energy security (biodiesel blend ratios of 50%) and food security (rice cropping) given land constraints and current policy.
The circular economy (CE) is widely viewed as a key global lever for sustainable resource use. However, CE conceptualizations have focused mostly on high resource use in the Global North, largely neglecting the drivers, solutions and enablers of circularity in the socio-economic contexts of the Global South. Here, based on a systematic review of 183 peer-reviewed articles, we assess how CE manifests in the Global South. We find circular solutions to be considerably more bottom-up, centring around community-level and often informal practices rather than the top-down, policy and industrially driven activities that dominate the Global North-informed CE literature. CE motivations similarly differ, being primarily rooted in socio-economic needs and cultural practices rather than environmental concerns. Finally, CE enablers are often based on socially and technically adaptive approaches rather than technological innovation. These differences reveal that inclusive circular pathways for sustainable development depend strongly on context, suggesting the need for more flexible and empirically grounded CE concepts. Circular economy concepts are largely shaped by Global North contexts of resource overuse in industrialized economies. A review of 183 studies in low- and lower-middle-income countries reveals how circular solutions in the Global South are driven by socio-economic needs and community-level, informal practices.
Hunting is a major driver of global species extinctions, yet the spatial footprint and temporal trends of this threat are lacking at the global scale, limiting our ability to achieve international policy targets. Here we present standardized global maps of hunting probability across the tropics, based on a machine-learning algorithm trained on 2,463 hunted and non-hunted tropical sites, spatially and temporally matched to ecological and socioeconomic predictors. We estimate that the spatial footprint of hunting extends across the entire pantropical zone, with distinct hotspots of high predicted hunting occurrence probability in the Indomalayan realm (for example, China, Sri Lanka, western India), the Brazilian Atlantic Forest and parts of West Africa. Refuges from hunting persist in remote areas of interior Borneo, Papua New Guinea, Central Africa and the western Amazon. Enhanced human accessibility has facilitated the geographic expansion of hunting from 2000 to 2015, most notably in regions historically considered undisturbed and remote such as the Amazon basin, and in areas already facing high pressure such as China and Indonesia. Spatiotemporal dynamics also varied among realms. Our standardized spatiotemporal assessment provides a blueprint to inform conservation, supporting targeted management actions and informed policy interventions to mitigate hunting impacts. Hunting wildlife for food and trade purposes (for example, pets, ornaments) can contribute to species extinctions, warranting informed policy and interventions to curb overexploitation. Towards such goals, the authors here estimate the spatial footprint of hunting probability across the global tropics.
Transitioning high-efficiency perovskite solar cells from laboratory scale to industrial production requires scalable fabrication under ambient conditions without sacrificing performance or durability. Here we report ambient-air, blade-coated perovskite solar cells and modules that achieve power conversion efficiencies of 26.6% (26.5% certified) and 23.2%, respectively. These devices demonstrate exceptional stability, retaining 99.8% of their initial power conversion efficiency after 1,200 hours of continuous light soaking. This breakthrough is enabled by a hole-transporting co-polymer, PNCC, which synergistically integrates triarylamine and carbazole phosphonic acid units. Comprehensive spectroscopic, spectrometric and morphological analyses reveal the mechanisms underlying PNCC’s superior functionality. Furthermore, leveraging PNCC’s high conductivity and morphological uniformity, we demonstrate monolithic perovskite–silicon tandem cells with a certified efficiency of 33.0%. This work establishes a benchmark for ambient-processed, stable photovoltaics, providing a viable, scalable pathway towards sustainable solar energy harvesting. Practical application of perovskite solar cells requires scalable fabrication in ambient environments. Here the authors introduce PNCC, a hole-transport co-polymer that enables ambient-fabricated devices to achieve certified efficiencies of 33.0% in tandem cells and 23.2% in modules.
The extensive mining and processing of copper (Cu) generate substantial amounts of wastewater containing Cu. The toxicity of these streams and the rapidly growing global demand for copper underscore the urgent need for reliable Cu recovery strategies. Conventional approaches suffer from low Cu extraction efficiency, poor selectivity and the formation of low-value Cu products. Here we describe a sulfur (S)-mediated electrochemical strategy for efficient Cu recovery from wastewater with the co-generation of electricity. Leveraging the reversible S → Cu2S conversion, the S electrode acts as a redox mediator, achieving high Cu extraction capacity, excellent Cu2+ selectivity and robust reusability. By coupling with a sacrificial iron electrode, a two-chamber device enables continuous Cu extraction from wastewater while simultaneously producing electricity. The extracted Cu2+ is subsequently recovered in a secondary deposition cell, yielding high-value metallic Cu. A flow-type cell demonstrates stable operation with real wastewater over ~250 h with a cumulative electricity output of 1.00 kWh m−2 and Cu recovery of 2.02 kg m−2. Life cycle assessment and life cycle costing indicate favourable environmental and economic performance, thus highlighting the strong potential of the system for scalable deployment. As the global demand for copper continues to grow, large volumes of industrial copper-containing wastewater pose substantial risks to the environment and human health. Here the authors present a strategy for recovering metallic copper from waste streams while simultaneously generating electricity.
Removing toxic yet valuable copper from industrial wastewater usually consumes energy and leaves low-value sludge behind. Now, a sulfur electrode is shown to selectively pluck copper from real effluent and recover it for reuse, turning a costly cleanup into a source of high-purity metal.
Soil-borne microbiomes harbour vital genetic resources, encompassing gene richness and dissimilarity, an indicator of the degree of diversity and distinctiveness exhibited by the gene repertoire of the soil microbiome. These genetic resources underlie key microbial traits and enzyme profiles that support terrestrial ecosystem functioning, including nutrient cycling, plant productivity and soil health. Despite their importance, global patterns and protection status of such resources remain poorly resolved. Here we compile 1,609 soil metagenomes to map global patterns of microbial functional gene richness and dissimilarity. Hotspots of gene dissimilarity concentrate in tropical regions, whereas gene richness hotspots are more widely distributed. Areas combining both high richness and dissimilarity are rare, covering only 5.5% of the terrestrial surface of the Earth, while drylands emerge as prominent hotspots for microbial traits and enzyme profiles. Fewer than 25% of hotspots for soil microbial genetic resources fall within designated protected areas. Notably, the global patterns of soil microbial functional profiles are largely decoupled from those of bacterial and fungal taxonomic diversity, suggesting that taxon-based conservation policies may not adequately safeguard belowground genetic resources. Our work provides an actionable baseline to integrate soil microbial genetic resources into global biodiversity targets and protected-area planning. Soil microbiomes harbour diverse genetic resources that underpin their capacity to provide crucial ecosystem services (for example, nutrient cycling). Here the authors map global hotspots of soil microbial genetic resources from 1,609 soil metagenomes to inform actionable targets for their protection.
Dry forests are disappearing due to agricultural expansion and logging, driven by consumption abroad. The European Union deforestation regulation, which will come into force at the end of 2026, targets this problem by requiring imports into the European Union to be produced in compliance with the forest protection laws of their countries of origin. We analysed the implementation of forest protection laws in the Chaco Province of Argentina between 2009 and 2024 using diverse information sources, including 15,042 georeferenced forest-use permits and 127,632 wood-transport guides issued to agricultural and wood producers. We uncover six mechanisms by which public and private actors relaxed the provincial forest zoning law to circumvent the minimum standards of the national Argentine Forest Protection law, thereby expanding the areas where wood or agricultural commodities could be produced in compliance with transnational anti-deforestation policies. To prevent these maladaptive responses from producing regions, importing countries should demand products that cause zero gross deforestation. Dry forests, such as the Argentine Chaco, are protected by a mix of local and foreign policies. However, strategies to relax local forest zoning laws circumvent dry forest protection, increasing pressure on foreign policies to move towards zero gross deforestation.
To effectively contribute to the mitigation of climate change, individuals require accurate representations of the greenhouse gas emissions related to climate actions across life domains. Although this carbon competence is generally low, the related psychological barriers remain largely unexplored, and few attempts have been made to improve it. Here we investigate how heuristic and motivated reasoning processes relate to mitigation potential estimates and evaluate corrective interventions. Across three preregistered studies (ntotal = 2,924) we show that low- to medium-impact actions are more frequently adopted than higher-impact actions, and that knowledge about the differential impact of climate actions is limited. Our data suggest that inaccuracies are driven by individuals consistently relying on the availability heuristic and motivated reasoning to form their judgements. To address this, we identify perceived behavioural costs and social prevalence as reasonable proxies of the actual impact of a broad range of climate actions. Leveraging this insight in two corrective boosting interventions and informing about the most impactful climate actions only partly improved impact estimates, with considerable variations across individuals. Accounting for heterogeneity through tailored interventions appears crucial to overcome pervasive psychological barriers to carbon competence on a large scale. The psychological processes obstructing carbon competence—the acquisition of knowledge about the relative mitigation potential of different actions—are not well known. This study investigates the psychological barriers to developing carbon competence and explores interventions to overcome them.
Algal blooms, caused by excessive microalgae growth, threaten water quality, aquatic ecosystems and human health by releasing cyanotoxins and unpleasant odours. Conventional algae elimination methods, including the use of copper sulfate algaecides, are chemically intensive and environmentally unsustainable. This study introduces an innovative filtration system featuring a zero-valent copper microporous filter (CuMF), offering a sustainable solution for aquaculture systems susceptible to algal blooms and associated harmful by-products. The CuMF achieves 100% algae retention while maintaining an ultrahigh water permeability (11,700 l m−2 h−1 bar−1), markedly outperforming conventional polymeric filters. Furthermore, the CuMF facilitates spontaneous Cu(III) generation for selective oxidation of extracellular organic matter via interfacial electron transfer while preserving algal cells for resource recovery. In aquaculture systems impacted by harmful algal proliferation, this filtration system delivers long-term stability, high-concentration algal biomass recovery, and efficient removal of algal toxins, odorous compounds, micropollutants, antibiotic resistance genes, and viruses, enabling closed-loop water reuse. Techno-economic analysis and life-cycle assessment validate the feasibility of CuMF, with a 64.8% reduction in economic costs and a 77.5–97.2% decrease in environmental impacts across 21 categories, compared with using algaecides. These findings position the CuMF as an innovative and environmentally sustainable solution for mitigating algal blooms and advancing resource-efficient, circular aquaculture. Algal blooms severely threaten water safety, but conventional algae elimination methods are chemical-intense. This study presents a zero-valent copper microporous filter capable of removing algal cells and other harmful pollutants from aquaculture water without chemical input.
The Planetary Boundaries framework shows that humanity is veering outside the conditions that safeguard the continued health and well-being of society. Setting safe and just limits for novel entities, specifically anthropogenic chemicals and materials, has been difficult because of their sheer number and diverse characteristics, hampering effective management. To inspire future work, we present a conceptual framework comprising three interconnected pillars, considering both well-known novel entities and ‘unknown knowns and known unknowns’. This framework is intended to assess boundaries and chart transformation pathways towards societal systems that benefit from novel entities while minimizing pressures on ecosystems and human health. The uncontrolled production and release of human-made substances, or novel entities, has substantial environmental consequences. Here the authors propose a framework for assessing the long-term safety and environmental impacts of these novel entities that accounts for their vast number, diversity and complex interactions.
Post-growth refers to approaches prioritizing human well-being and ecological sustainability over gross domestic product expansion as a primary objective of economic policy. While it is widely discussed in the global north and generally targeted at high-income countries, its relevance to China remains underexplored and largely absent from academic discourse. This Perspective discusses China’s position in a possible global post-growth transition and explores convergence and difference between post-growth principles and development priorities in China. We consider how China’s concepts of ‘high-quality development’ and ‘ecological civilization’ could integrate post-growth principles, and vice versa. Understanding China’s context is crucial for a collaborative, effective approach to sustainability and global equity. Post-growth debates largely ignore China, despite its key position in the world economy, leaving a gap in sustainability discourse. This Perspective examines China’s role in a post-growth transition, comparing post-growth principles with China’s development model.
Developing indicators, and the methodologies behind them, should make space for participatory approaches if we are to shape interventions equitably and effectively, argues Dilek Fraisl.
A major, yet largely unrecognized, source of plastic waste is absorbent hygiene products, which include child diapers, adult incontinence products and period products. These products contain substantial amounts of plastic, are materially complex and are socially engrained in essential hygiene and healthcare practices. Here we analyse the research priorities to create sustainable systems for absorbent hygiene product provision. The analysis is global and interdisciplinary in scope, addressing nuances in high- and low-income settings, and bringing together behaviour, material, technology, policy and economic challenges. We identify important opportunities for scientists to help avert the unfolding absorbent hygiene product crisis. Absorbent hygiene products (AHPs) — child diapers, adult incontinence products and period products — are a major source of plastic waste. This Perspective highlights the materials and societal complexity of AHP waste and identifies opportunities for scientists to help address the unfolding AHP crisis.
