Better solar cells are just some of the sustainability solutions UBC Chemistry graduate students are investigating--with help from Mountain Equipment Co-op.

It can power a massive submarine or a 10-speed bike light, and the power source can be derived from pig manure.

This versatile device is a hydrogen fuel cell, powered by the most abundant element on earth and key to technologies that UBC plans to demonstrate as part of the BC Hydrogen Highway™ project.

What caused two recent spikes in grain prices? Are we facing a global food crisis? Graduate students enrolled in the new Master of Food and Resource Economics (MFRE) at the Faculty of Land and Food Systems will probe these and other real world issues when the program launches this fall.

When most of us think of air pollution, images of factories belching smoke or vehicles leaving behind a cloud of soot often come to mind.

Such conditions led to historical episodes of deadly air pollution -- the most notorious being the great London smog in December of 1952 when there were approximately 12,000 excess deaths resulting from a 5-day period of intense air pollution.

The world’s production of oil has peaked and is on its way down, meanwhile the awakening of new economies like China and India has deepened the thirst for the stuff. This is popularly referred to as the Peak Oil crisis.

After years of dire warnings about the dangers of environmental degradation from scientists, the world suddenly opened its eyes in November 1974. More than 20 countries, including Canada, signed and gave their support to the Declaration on Environmental Policy issued by the Organization for Economic Co-operations and Development (OECD).

Emissions of greenhouse gases produced through the combustion of fossil fuels is a problem receiving increasing attention. In order to meet greenhouse gas reduction targets, it will be necessary to develop strategies to reduce the reliance of the transportation sector on fossil fuels.

CERC’s gas hydrate research focuses on the equilibrium and dynamic properties of gas hydrates and their applications to the fields of energy, environment and novel technologies.

Clathrate or gas hydrates are crystals formed by water and molecules like methane, ethane, propane, carbon dioxide and hydrogen. It is estimated that methane hydrate crystals below the seafloor and below permafrost contain an enormous amount of methane a potentially huge source of energy.

There is much interest in afforestation as a strategy to help mitigate climate change by sequestering carbon and, ultimately, providing feedstock for renewable biofuels. These opportunities are likely to be greatest in intensively managed stands of rapidly growing trees.

In Canada, there are several million hectares of marginal agricultural lands potentially available, mostly in the prairie provinces. But what’s actually available to plant?

Our changing climate will have huge effects on the forests of BC, Canada, and the world. Understanding these impacts is the goal behind a range of innovative research programs at the Faculty of Forestry.