Location matters: Balancing renewable energy and biodiversity in Norway
How can Norway provide new renewable energy sources to meet future needs while still protecting its natural environment, and the plants and animals that live there?
Faculty of Engineering (IV)
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Nearly half of every T-shirt goes to waste before you even buy it
The global consumption of clothing is enormous. However, a significant portion of the textile fibres is lost before the garments even reach the market.
The impact of microplastics on ocean carbon uptake
Marine microplastics affect algae’s ability to grow and photosynthesize. Researchers have now calculated what impact this has on the greenhouse effect and the ocean’s ability to absorb carbon dioxide.
Express ferries: from climate culprits to green champions
High-speed passenger vessels with diesel engines are currently the least environmentally friendly form of passenger transport – but they do not have to be.
Europe’s power grid has a big drought problem
Europe’s droughts are challenging its clean energy ambitions — with considerable social and environmental costs. There’s a solution – but it’s not quite what you might expect.
Is it possible to cut CO2 emissions from European agriculture by 40 per cent?
Research shows that allowing natural vegetation to grow back in mountainous areas and on steep slopes and moving production to more fertile areas will both reduce climate emissions and increase biodiversity.
Can desert sand be used to build houses and roads?
The globe may be running out of sand suitable for concrete. Researchers are therefore testing a possible solution for using desert sand as a material.
How storm surges could impact your workplace
Businesses along the Norwegian coastline are becoming increasingly vulnerable to storm surges and flooding. Researchers have now created digital maps that show who is most at risk.
This little trout died of decompression sickness – a sign of hydropower’s hidden problem
Hundreds of Norwegian hydropower plants threaten fish and bottom-dwelling animals by exposing them to water that is oversaturated with air. The danger increases with wilder, wetter weather and more flooding. The solution may be to use sound in a new way.
Can we tap the ocean’s power to capture carbon?
The oceans have to play a role in helping humanity remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to curb dangerous climate warming. But are we ready to scale up the technologies that will do the job?
Want to cut your carbon footprint? Move out of your house
There’s no getting around it: downsizing the kind of housing you live in is the best thing you can do for the environment.
If you can hear your neighbour snoring, there’s something wrong with the building you live in
Does it sound like the guy in the apartment above you keeps dragging a sack of potatoes across his room? It’s not his fault –the building you live is not sufficiently soundproofed.
Making it easier to recycle your house
A new method makes it possible to gain an extensive overview of the materials in our homes. It could be an important step toward a more circular economy.
Fully possible to make residential construction more environmentally friendly
Greenhouse gas emissions from residential construction in West Asia and North Africa can be significantly reduced.
The Nansen Legacy: Uncovering the secrets of the Barents Sea
Fridtjof Nansen travelled the polar regions as both an explorer and a scientist. Ten research institutions followed in Nansen’s footsteps in a collaborative investigation of the Barents Sea. Their 6-year effort has now been documented in a new book.
Protecting Iceland’s towns from lava flows – with dirt
It had been dormant for 800 years, but in March 2021, the Fagradalsfjall volcano in Iceland came to life. While the eruption was ongoing, large-scale field experiments were conducted to build defensive earthen barriers aimed at slowing down the molten lava flow.
The future of marine operations: Robots that organize themselves
Autonomous robots that organize themselves are the next step in working in and studying the ocean.
COVID-19: five years since lockdown – what has Norway learned?
How did COVID-19 impact Norway and our lives? Researchers know a lot about what changed, and about what remained exactly the same afterwards.
Are lifetimes of big appliances really shrinking?
The lifetime of some Norwegian appliances, like washing machines and ovens, has in fact decreased over the last decades, a new study says. But the reason is most probably due to consumer preferences and not because of “planned obsolescence.”
Better offshore wind solutions
Constructing offshore wind turbines is both costly and challenging, but researchers are working to make offshore wind more profitable and secure.
Making the world’s fastest skis
They won’t feature at this year’s World Championships in Trondheim, but NTNU researchers believe the world’s fastest and most flexible cross-country skis will be ready for the 2027 World Championships in Falun.
It’s a short distance to a policy for buildings that strengthens the climate issue
Greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting for buildings is an effective tool for achieving climate targets. The requirements must now be followed up with policy in Norway as well.
Why is it so hard to bring clean cookers to Africa?
Despite decades of innovation, more than a billion people in sub-Saharan Africa still don’t have access to clean cooking. Low-tech, affordable cookers exist, yet firewood remains the go-to fuel. Why?
New findings could lead to better treatment for blood cancer
A rare type of blood cancer called chronic myelogenous leukaemia could benefit from new research that can help identify which medicine will work best.