Supplements containing beneficial gut bacteria from healthy cows could be a boon for dairy producers
A probiotic developed at the University of Alberta shows promise in improving the health of dairy calves in the essential first weeks of life. Normally, the young animals’ undeveloped immune systems leave them susceptible to common ailments like diarrhea, which can stunt growth or even result in death. When fed a cocktail of four strains…
How Indigenous and Western knowledge can be equal partners in conservation solutions
Protecting the world’s increasingly fragile environments through land and wildlife management, using the thoughtful approach of Indigenous knowledge, is an idea close to Jared Gonet’s heart. As a citizen of the Taku River Tlingit First Nation, the University of Alberta student in the Faculty of Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences is working with his community and with…
The cost of zinc-air batteries is one of the biggest hurdles to making them viable
Batteries do the heavy lifting to store excess solar energy on power grids for use after sundown, but to operate, they also rely on pricey elements like platinum. University of Alberta researcher Matthew Labbe would rather leave the precious metals to the jewellers by using cheaper materials to tweak a disposable battery commonly used in…
Study looking at emissions suggests low-carbon fuel vehicles will offer increasing environmental advantages
In the drive to transition from conventional gasoline engines to low-carbon fuel vehicles, those that run on rechargeable batteries may have the edge – at least for a while. Battery electric vehicles are forecast to make up the largest number of low-carbon fuel vehicles on the road by 2050, University of Alberta research shows. A…
Experimental crop absorbed CO2 equivalent to a vehicle burning 35,000 litres of gasoline
Annual crops are the farmer’s bread and butter, the crops they rely on most, but at least one type of perennial grain is proving much more beneficial to the environment. A crop of perennial rye absorbed a substantial amount of carbon dioxide, or CO2, a University of Alberta study showed, while an annual crop had no…
Groundbreaking work could help industry understand how to store carbon safely over the long term
A University of Alberta researcher is working to improve how carbon dioxide is stored and absorbed when it’s pumped underground for safe, long-term storage. By taking an up-close look at the processes of carbon capture and storage (CCS), Amy Tsai, a professor in the Faculty of Engineering, is getting a better idea of how CO2 is transported…
Analysis tool could help companies decide which innovations are worth the investment
Environmental reclamation is necessary, but sometimes it’s expensive for industry. What materials work best? Which ones are worth the investment? University of Alberta researchers are inching closer to answering those pressing questions through a project that looks at two reclamation materials with commercial potential: chicken feathers and biochar, a blackened byproduct created from waste like cow…
‘A whole world under our feet’: soil dwellers offer a fuller picture of how reclamation efforts are working
The tiny creatures teeming in the dirt under our feet don’t seem important, but University of Alberta research is starting to unearth ways some of them could help measure land reclamation efforts. Invertebrates such as worms, mites, centipedes and beetles affect the soil, but they aren’t included in current criteria that help mining, forestry, oil…
Consumers who are environmentally aware warm to the idea
Eating chicken raised on a diet of bugs or algae may sound downright unappetizing to some, but there are ways to make the idea more palatable to at least one type of food shopper. Consumers who are environmentally aware will likely warm up to the idea of using alternative proteins like insect meal in poultry…
Reinvesting in local co-operatives could help attract people to rural communities and keep them there
Should we be looking to the past to help boost the future of the province’s rural economy? A hundred years ago, local co-operatives were a fairly common way of doing business in rural areas. Now the Alberta Centre for Sustainable Rural Communities is researching ways to make this old model work in a modern economy. “It’s a…
A probiotic developed at the University of Alberta shows promise in improving the health of dairy calves in the essential first weeks of life. Normally, the young animals’ undeveloped immune systems leave them susceptible to common ailments like diarrhea, which can stunt growth or even result in death. When fed a cocktail of four strains…
