Sustainable Solutions Lab
Recent Publications
Trade risks in net-zero emissions energy scenarios
Nature Climate Change | April 9, 2025
We analyze changes in country-level trade risks in >1000 scenarios that reach net-zero energy emissions, taking into account imports and sources of both energy carriers and materials to meet demand, and find that reductions in fuel-related risks largely offset the increase in material-related risks in more than 70% of countries worldwide, assuming no changes in current trading relationships.
Building materials could store more than 16 billion tonnes of CO2 annually
Science | January 10, 2025
We explore the scale of CO2 that might be stored annually in construction materials, including concrete, brick, asphalt, wood, and plastics, and find that fully replacing these conventional materials with CO2-storing alternatives could sequester >16 Gt of CO2 each year.
Food without agriculture
Nature Sustainability | November 6, 2023
Edible molecules can be directly synthesized without agricultural feedstocks, saving land, water and GHG emissions. Dietary fats made from natural gas feedstock and average U.S. electricity would emit ~0.8 gCO2-eq/kcal (and 0 if using atmospheric carbon and renewable electricity) compared to 1-3 gCO2-eq/kcal from agricultural fat production.
Recent News
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For most countries, there’s a clear smart move to achieve energy security and reduce trade risks
Looking at the trade-off between reducing dependence on imported fossil fuels and increasing dependence on minerals for clean energy, decarbonization was the big win -
A Net-Zero World Will Have Fewer Trade Wars
That’s according to new research published today analyzing flows of minerals and metals vs. fossil fuels.
