Your life depends on these rare raw materials
The green transition is impossible without a few relatively unknown substances. Find out more about the raw materials we cannot manage without – and why we have to act smart with them.
Faculty of Engineering (IV)
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Ammonia may hold key to greener combustion
One way to reduce flight shame may lie in a ring of flames. And in the gas that’s generated in an outhouse.
NTNU cools down CERN
CERN’s two Large Hadron Colliders detectors to get a climate-friendly cooling system upgrade.
Non-native jellyfish and shellfish can spread via plastic trash
Francesca Verones has been awarded a prestigious grant by the European Research Council of EUR 1 million to study how people affect the oceans.
Predicted skewed waves – and found them
He solved a 127-year-old physics problem on paper and proved that off-centred boat wakes could exist. Five years later, practical experiments proved him right.
Fewer cows, more trees and bioenergy
Combatting global warming will require major changes in land use, a new climate change report says. One important change could be decreasing the amount of land used to produce livestock — which means that people would have to eat less meat.
Giving ferries wings to optimize wave power
The boat wings started as an unfinished idea in Eirik Bøckmann’s head. Now they’re being mounted on a ferry in the Faroe Islands.
Well-meaning climate measures can make matters worse
Lifestyle changes can reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and help protect nature. While some actions offer great potential, some aren’t as effective as we think and may even require more land and water, such as shifting to renewable energy.
Bringing industry back home
Some Norwegian companies have moved industrial production home from low-cost countries. Could reshoring become a trend?
Gas instead of coal is 50% better for the climate
We can do a lot to save the climate by switching from coal to natural gas. And we can shelve concerns about the negative climate impact of methane emissions from gas production, say researchers.
New drones check ships for cracks and rust
Inspecting ship tanks and storage spaces underwater is a challenging task for humans. A start-up company that originated at NTNU is manufacturing autonomous drones that can take over the job – and do it more cheaply.
Finding ways to use less salt on snowy roads
It’s springtime in much of the northern hemisphere, although spring snowstorms are still possible. When that happens, salt trucks and ploughs help make roads safe. But road salt can be bad for the environment, and can rust cars, bicycles and other metal. New research shows that salt use can be safely — and substantially — cut in certain circumstances.
EU consumption results in high carbon emissions from tropical deforestation
A sixth of all emissions resulting from the typical diet of an EU citizen can be directly linked to deforestation of tropical forests. Two new studies shed light on this impact, by combining satellite imagery of the rainforest, global land use statistics and data of international trade patterns.
A first glimpse deep beneath an ultraslow-spreading mid-ocean ridge
For the first time ever, researchers have been able to peek deep into the mantle of the Earth under an ultraslow mid-ocean ridge, where they have been able to observe mantle melting and growth of the Earth’s crust.
Ocean life in 3-D: Mapping phytoplankton with a smart AUV
Phytoplankton form the base of the marine food chain but are notoriously difficult for scientists to account for — a little like trying to identify and count motes of dust in the air. A truly independent underwater vehicle shows it can do the job.
Could Trondheim be Norway’s new seabed mining capital?
Stavanger is Norway’s oil capital. Trondheim could become the country’s capital for seabed mining. It will be an important contribution to the UN’s climate goals.
We know more about the moon than the ocean floor
NTNU researchers are delving deep to investigate the seabed and opportunities for deep sea mining to extract precious metals that lie several thousand metres deep.
Secrets of a traditional Norwegian Christmas sausage
Making sausages is not just a question of good ingredients and skill. There’s a little science involved, too. Professor Trygve Magne Eikevik makes his own sausages, and is willing to share his technique and his recipes, especially for Norwegian Christmas sausage.
Many valuable minerals on Norway’s seabed
Recent estimates indicate significant quantities of copper, zinc, silver and gold corresponding to a value of NOK 430 billion.