While energy-efficiency gains are needed to lower Europe’s greenhouse gas emissions, low-carbon technologies are also crucial if we are to meet ambitious EU emissions targets in the long term, new comparative research concludes.

Urbanising arable land can have serious economic consequences as a result of the reduction in food production and loss of ecosystem services, according to recent research. The loss of 15 000 ha of productive soils during 2003-2008 on the Emilia-Romagna Plain in Italy cost approximately €19 million in carbon storage, €100 million in wheat production and €270 million in raw materials, the researchers estimate.

Nudges can foster greener public behaviour but they also raise some moral questions, concludes a recent analysis of behaviour-change schemes. How businesses' behaviour is influenced by consumer concerns for the environment is less clear - and may only result in 'greenwash' - the researchers suggest.

Public support grows for wind farms if they are located away from recreational areas and if they are either fully or partly owned by organisations within the local community. In addition, Swedish consumers would accept bigger bills for electricity generated by wind power if the local population were heavily involved in wind farm planning, a recent survey suggests. This article was updated 30.09.14 to correct an error in the cost of the REC scheme.

A framework to value marine and coastal zone ecosystem services, which acknowledges but transcends monetary value, has been proposed by researchers. Using this approach, coastal managers can integrate the different values placed on ecosystem goods and services by various stakeholders to assess how these values affect planning decisions.

The cost of a Mediterranean marine protected area (MPA) network could be cut by over two thirds if countries surrounding the Sea collaborate in its creation. This is the conclusion of a study that explored how the Convention on Biological Diversity’s goals to protect wildlife through MPAs could be met cost-efficiently.

To increase energy efficiency, many countries are encouraging their citizens to make individual energy-saving changes, such as changing the type of light bulbs they use. This study investigated the relationship between understanding of environmental issues and effective energy-saving behaviour and shows that informed citizens are key to successful policy.

Phosphorus is essential for modern agriculture. Supplies are dwindling and markets are concentrated, presenting a serious threat to food security. Tackling this emerging global sustainability risk requires effective governance to ensure phosphorus is available and accessible to farmers worldwide. This study presents a series of phosphorus security indicators to support this goal.

An economic analysis of 14 common categories of waste electric and electronic equipment (WEEE) has highlighted the economic value of bringing e-waste streams into the circular economy. The overall worth is calculated as €2.15 billion to European markets, with a potential rise to €3.67 billion as volumes increase.

Assessment (ERA), each with different goals. The researchers find that overlaps between the three assessments could be combined to create a more comprehensive form of ERA, usable by regulators and environmental decision makers.

Global demand for copper could increase by up to 341% by 2050, and energy use is likely to increase with it — rising to a possible 2.4% of global energy demand in 2050, according to new research. Policy actions to avoid such drastic changes could include improving copper recycling and using renewable technologies.

Mental health and supply problems, such as loss of electricity, were perceived by residents as the most serious impacts of 2013 flooding in Germany, according to new research. The most frequent effect of the flooding on companies was interruption to their business. The researchers say that focusing on impacts that can be measured in financial terms does not fully describe the effects of flooding, and make recommendations for improving flood data collection.

A new analysis of waste recycling systems in Portugal highlights where kerbside (edge of pavement) collection systems could be optimised, to decrease their environmental impact. In this case, researchers found that the kerbside system was less favourable economically and environmentally due to more packaging and more fuel consumption per tonne of waste, compared to a system where recyclable materials are deposited by residents in large containers. But the researchers suggest that measures such as re-usable boxes and efficient collection routes could help to mitigate the impact of kerbside collection. While there is an environmental impact from waste collection, processing and disposal, this study only focused on the collection phase.

Consumers are willing to pay more for food that has been produced via sustainable processes and with a reduced environmental impact. A large-scale US survey, that questioned strawberry consumers on aspects of sustainable food production, suggests that food producers could benefit from increased premiums if product ecolabels were to advertise specific environmental virtues.

A circular economy (CE) is one in which materials retain their value and are reused, minimising waste. Cities and councils could act as CE trailblazers by embedding this approach whenever possible into their public purchase of products, services and works. This study explored different approaches to circular public procurement (CPP), and identified possible opportunities to promote CE via appropriate procurement policy and criteria.

Agri-environmental measures (AEM) are designed to encourage farmers to protect and enhance the environment on their farmland by paying them for the provision of environmental services. This study suggests that AEM would be more effective if payments were targeted to areas under the greatest environmental pressures, such as intensive agricultural regions — to gain maximum environmental benefits.

If you want to mix drinks for a living, don't expect to have a typical family life.

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Gendered expectations in marriage are not just bad for women, they are also bad for men, according to a new study by University of Connecticut (UConn) sociologists.

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Death and mourning were largely considered private matters in the 20th century, with the public remembrances common in previous eras replaced by intimate gatherings behind closed doors in funeral parlors and family homes.

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To everything there is a season -- even divorce, new research from University of Washington sociologists concludes.

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For older adults, having more or closer family members in one's social network decreases his or her likelihood of death, but having a larger or closer group of friends does not, finds a new study that will be presented at the 111th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association (ASA).

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Our beliefs about how farm animals are raised can shape our meat-eating experience, according to a new study led by Lisa Feldman Barrett, University Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Northeastern University.

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The first study to investigate how dog brains process speech shows that our best friends in the animal kingdom care about both what we say and how we say it. Dogs, like people, use the left hemisphere to process words, a right hemisphere brain region to process intonation, and praising activates dog's reward center only when both words and intonation match, according to a study in Science.

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An increasing number of US adults are using marijuana, as fewer people perceive the drug as harmful, according to a survey of over 500000 US adults conducted between 2002 and 2014 published in The Lancet Psychiatry. As marijuana has become increasingly potent over the past decade, the authors say that the findings suggest the need for improved education and prevention messages regarding the risks of marijuana.

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Parents who excel at math produce children who excel at math. This is according to a recently released University of Pittsburgh study, which shows a distinct transfer of math skills from parent to child. The study specifically explored intergenerational transmission--the concept of parental influence on an offspring's behavior or psychology--in mathematic capabilities.

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Preliminary findings from a mass participation study have indicated a link between weather conditions - specifically rain and lack of sunshine - and chronic pain.

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A new approach to modelling land use change developed at UBC could help cities and towns better coordinate their land-use planning efforts.

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The expression dog is man's best friend might have more weight in the case of first-year university students suffering from homesickness, according to a new UBC study.

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Personal tracking tools -- technologies that meticulously count our daily steps, map our runs, account for each purchase - fall in and out of favor in users' lives.

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A new study -- the first to look at social media's effect on memory -- suggests posting personal experiences on social media makes those events much easier to recall.

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The first inkling of the potential of the industry came with the appearance of smartphones like Nokia 9000, which found ready acceptance among professionals, entrepreneurs and even enterprises.

53 percent of Indian enterprises were least mature in the adoption of mobility solutions whereas 17 percent of enterprises are adequately mature in their strive to adopt mobility solutions

Canon India’s sales-force application (iCAN) now has mobility features that enable the sales team to attend to sales leads and generate price approval requests on the mobile which are passed onto the managers through a push notification feature.

Both VMware and Citrix have partnered with Samsung around new Galaxy S8 smartphone through the integration of their enterprise mobility solutions with Samsung DeX platform

Dimension Data to help organisations on the enterprise mobility front through a dedicated Apple practice and managed mobility services for iOS

The mobility solution brings till to the consumer in the store and enables closure of the entire billing and payment process where consumers are.

Speed control, road traction, wipers when it rains, maintaining safe distances, collision avoidance, and lane change are some of the prominent features.

Onymos has transformed the art of mobile apps development, where open standards HTML, JavaScript and CSS technologies are made use of, which in turn, cuts down the development time from months to days.

A joint delegation of Microsoft and Veriown Global Holdings met Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh here today to discuss a proposal to launch a pilot project in the state for the promotion of the gadget, to be linked through a tablet, to be provided by the companies for offering services across various sectors, including education and agriculture.

The mobility solution has enabled the enrolment and agreement process online, followed with the customer’s digital signature and the receipt along with a confirmation SMS.

5G will cover more than 20 percent of the global population six years from now, according to the latest Ericsson Mobility Report

Openwave Mobility released predictions for 2018 based on two major pieces of analysis- the mobile video index (MVI) based on live data gathered from over 30 global mobile operators and the NFV Playbook, based on NFV trials and deployments with insight from leading industry analysts.

Udupi-based Robosoft was started in 1996 with Apple as its first customer. It is now evolving beyond mobile app development to add advisory capabilities.

Sonata Software announced that its Unified Enterprise Mobility Platform, Halosys, has been enhanced with additional features that boost optimization and usability

Micromax forays in the race of in-house mobile launcher driven by Machine Learning and AI to enhance the user experience.

In the country, autonomous mobility will probably mean robotic tractors rather than robotic cars, and if tractor maker Escorts has its way, they could get here sooner than thought.

Bharti Airtel has awarded a multi-million-dollar contract to IBM to deploy a blockchain -based pan India network which will allow the telco to protect its 284 million subscribers from pesky calls and messages

A mobile-centric approach and the emergence of new digital platforms fuelling greater adoption of e-commerce has driven reach and growth of MakeMyTrip, the online travel company said in a presentation to investors.

In a freewheeling discussion with ETCIO, Miao Song, Global CIO & Global VP of MARS group emphasized this different Covid-19 challenge which is new for CIOs to tackle and difficult too.

Mashreq bank's preparation for digitization has only helped the bank improve its profits during Coronavirus pandemic while most of its competitors continue to struggle