Beneath the earth’s surface, just below the soil layer, there’s hard, solid bedrock. When this subsurface rock is of marine sedimentary origin, it harbors relatively large quantities of nitrogen from millennia of accumulated dead plant and animal matter. Cracks within the bedrock allow groundwater, oxygen, and roots to percolate, which physically and chemically breakdown…
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EESA climate experts are exploring how wetland emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, are evolving with climate change. Their new research, published today in the journal Nature Communications, examines the degree to which intra- and inter- seasonal changes in air and soil temperatures influence the amount of methane (CH4) released into the atmosphere by…
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EESA climate scientists contributed to the stunning discovery that lightning strikes will increase by 100% this century above the Arctic Circle, where lightning is practically unheard of, due to climate warming. A paper published today in the journal Nature Climate Change describes how such an increase in lightning will drive further warming and wildfires across…
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The alteration of bentonite buffer under high temperature is a critical research question for the disposal of high-level radioactive waste. Researchers at Berkeley Lab have actively participated with international colleagues in the “HotBENT” project, the centerpiece of which is long-term evaluation of bentonite buffer heated at 175-200 oC at the Grimsel Test Site in Switzerland.…
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Xiaoqin Wu, Sara Gushgari-Doyle, and Mon Oo Yee from Romy Chakraborty’s group in EESA’s Ecology Department and the Department of Biological Engineering at MIT have published a paper in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology describing a study they hope will advance cultivation and isolation strategies for recovering diverse, uncultivable, and novel microorganisms from Earth’s…
Read MoreNigel Quinn leads the HydroEcological Engineering Advanced Decision Support research group (HEADS) which specializes in the development of environmental decision support systems to improve understanding and find solutions to complex water resources and water quality problems in California and worldwide. In January, Nigel was awarded life membership in the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). This…
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ALTEMIS scientists and students participated in the Waste Management Symposia (WMS), held virtually March 8-12, by sharing their research findings at the annual conference established in 1974 to foster global innovation and collaboration in the management of radioactive waste and related contamination. The ALTEMIS project – funded by the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of…
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Seventeen projects have been selected to receive up to $46 million in funding from the University of Utah as part of the DOE’s Frontier Observatory for Geothermal Energy (FORGE) for cutting-edge, domestic, and carbon-free geothermal research. EESA will lead one of those projects, with David Alumbaugh as lead PI, and will participate in a second…
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On 11 February, the United Nations, Berkeley Lab, and other organizations worldwide marked the 6th annual International Day of Women and Girls in Science. The day focuses on the reality that science and gender equality are both vital for the achievement of international development goals, such as climate change mitigation. Susan Hubbard, Associate Laboratory Director…
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Scientists in the Energy Geosciences Division are contributing to research sponsored by the DOE Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO) investigating the potential extraction of lithium, rare earth elements, and other critical minerals that are dissolved constituents of hot geothermal brines that are used to produce electricity. Far more information is currently needed, for instance, about…
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