Happy Friday!

From scientific discoveries to activist wins, here are the latest news stories showcasing the people taking on climate change and nature loss.

🧪 The machine that mimics photosynthesis  

A new device can pull carbon dioxide from the air and turn it into a sustainable fuel for creating clean chemicals. While other forms of carbon capture store the carbon underground, this machine – powered by the clean energy of the sun – harnesses it for practical purposes in a circular, fossil-fuel free process. If scaled, the device could also allow people in remote locations to generate their own fuel for transport. 

“We can build a circular, sustainable economy – if we have the political will to do it.”

🏢 Low-carbon cement is here

Look outside your window, and chances are you’ll see plenty of concrete. But the material that makes up so much of our world also takes a huge toll on it – cement, a key ingredient of concrete, is responsible for up to 9% of global emissions. Finally, the race to implement low-carbon cement has hit its stride, with a new highway in Minneapolis and a skyscraper in Manhattan recently built using a far more sustainable alternative that’s just as effective and cost-competitive. The low-carbon cement is created by swapping out limestone, which releases carbon as it breaks down, for CO2-free rocks like granite or zeolite.

🦜 How solar farms can boost biodiversity

It’s likely that most of the UK’s future solar farms will be situated on agricultural land, raising some concerns about their effect on bird species that are already disappearing. But researchers have now found that as long as solar farms are managed with nature in mind, they can be home to almost three times as many birds as arable land. All it takes for solar farms to support biodiversity is having a mix of different habitats, with hedgerows, no grass cutting and no grazing sheep.

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