Earth

Scientists have identified about 2 million animal species on this planet, but there could be another 10 million yet to be discovered, according to a report by Arizona State University biologist Quentin Wheeler and 39 fellow researchers in the March edition of Systematics and Biodiversity.

Meeting U.S. goals for biofuels will require new land-use and incentive policies.

Recycling of consumer electronics products increased by 53% from 2010 to 2011, netting 460 million pounds of discarded gadgets, reports the Consumer Electronics Association. The number of electronics drop-off sites across the United States also increased, from 5,000 to 7,500.

Solar panels, wind turbines, and other renewable-energy options aren’t as sustainable as you may think, according to Ozzie Zehner, University of California-Berkeley visiting scholar. In his new book Green Illusions: The Dirty Secrets of Clean Energy and the Future of Environmentalism (University of Nebraska Press, 2012), he cautions against placing too much faith in “clean energy.”

By Tsvi Bisk

As costs decline and sophistication increases, smart materials could help unlock limits to growth.

Climate change may mean more pesticide pollution, a German study warns.

China’s electric cars may be causing more harm than the gas-powered cars they are increasingly replacing, warns a new study by engineers at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.