News about Sustainability

Starch from plants is key to bioplastic that is actually degradable

Professor Andreas Blennow’s research group experiments with bioplastics, nutritionally healthy crops and antibiotic multiresistance, but sustainability is the bond that ties Starch together.

Wildfires: When nature strikes back politically

With support from the Independent Research Fund Denmark, anthropologists will investigate how the extensive rainforest wildfires in 2019 in Amazon politically affected Brazil, Bolivia, and Peru.

Phenomenal raw materials will get Danes to fall in love with plant-based diets

Phenomenal raw materials and ingredients are the way forward if more people are to replace meat products with plant-based alternatives and Denmark is to become a world leading producer of plant-based foods. Today, the…

Large, economic wheels must be turned to make way for green cars

Which economic levers do the politicians have to pull to move people from fossil driven cars to electrified cars? That is the main question for the GREENCAR research team at the Department of Economics.

Professor inspired by housewives and schoolchildren

University of Copenhagen professor Dennis Sandris Nielsen has been awarded SCIENCE’s Dissemination Award 2022 for his willingness and ability to communicate research about the broader societal perspectives of bacteria,…

Why the food crisis will pass

Even though the food crisis triggered by the war in Ukraine is now causing acute problems, there is no reason for panic, according to University of Copenhagen food economist Henning Otte Hansen. High food prices will no…

290 million new city dwellers benefit China's climate balance

Contrary to popular belief, China’s massive emigration from rural areas to cities has been shown to have a positive effect on China's carbon stocks. Urbanization can even play a role in attaining climate neutrality. Thi…

Pharmaceutical residues in sewage sludge and cattle manure do not have the feared effect

Pharmaceutical residues and chemicals from personal care products in sewage sludge and cattle manure do not have a detectable toxic effect on nematodes living in agricultural fields, according to 14-year-long experiment…

Researchers make non-alcoholic beer taste like regular beer

Finally, researchers have found a way to brew non-alcoholic beer that tastes just like regular beer. Even more, the method is far more sustainable than the existing brewing techniques. “It’s a game changer for…

After thousands of years, an iconic whale confronts a new enemy

The iconic tusked whale of the Arctic has a new enemy – noise. A unique study from the University of Copenhagen and the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources shows that narwhals are highly affected by noise from ship…

Millions for research into green transition on the roads

The Independent Research Fund Denmark has allocated almost 12 million to the project GREENCAR, which will show the way to a green transformation of the car sector.

Research project will crack the code behind green neighbourhood communities

With support from THE VELUX FOUNDATIONS, new research anchored at the Department of Anthropology will examine how to create green neighbouring communities in housing associations.

We prefer farmed salmon – as long as we don't know what we're eating

A blind taste test by University of Copenhagen researchers demonstrates that Danes prefer the taste of both conventionally and organically farmed smoked salmon over wild-caught salmon. However, the picture is turned…

Danes have reduced meat consumption – but we lag behind other Europeans

A major new survey on meat consumption in Europe reports that Europeans have a growing appetite for plant-based foods and that meat consumption has dipped. While this applies to Denmark as well, Danes lag behind the…

New project maps illegal mining and global environmental crime

With a grant from the Independent Research Fund Denmark, researchers from the UCPH will study how minerals are irregularly mined in Ghana and end up in technological products, only to return and dumped as e-waste.

New online course: Urbanisation and Health – Promoting Sustainable Solutions

Join our new online course, "Urbanisation and Health – Promoting Sustainable Solutions" for free now.

Ancient riddle solved: Danish researchers find a way to make faba beans safe for all to eat

Consuming large amounts of faba beans can be dangerous for about 400 million people due to a compound called vicine, which accumulates in the beans. This limits their potential as a widespread, sustainable source of…

Ancient riddle solved: Danish researchers find a way to make faba beans safe for all to eat

Consuming large amounts of faba beans can be dangerous for about 400 million people due to a compound called vicine, which accumulates in the beans. This limits their potential as a widespread, sustainable source of…

Significantly reducing agricultural CO2 emissions by way of wheatgrass

Wheatgrass has the potential to reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions in Denmark by up to 10 percent according to researchers at the University of Copenhagen and Carlsberg Research Laboratory. Over the next five…

Significantly reducing agricultural CO2 emissions by way of wheatgrass

Wheatgrass has the potential to reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions in Denmark by up to 10 percent according to researchers at the University of Copenhagen and Carlsberg Research Laboratory. Over the next five…

Biotech research to promote plant resilience to changing climates

Associate professor Sebastian Marquardt from Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences at UCPH, have received an Ascending Investigator Grant from Novo Nordisk Fonden. He won 9,999,063 DKK to explore…

Beetles that pee themselves to death could be tomorrow’s pest control

Various beetle species have gobbled through grain stores and weakened food production worldwide since ancient times. Now, researchers at the University of Copenhagen have discovered a better way of targeting and…

New invention can reduce agricultural pesticide use: Distinguishes harmful insects from helpful ones

A researcher from the University of Copenhagen has developed an algorithm that, in tandem with a sensor, makes it possible to distinguish crop-harming insects from helpful ones that pollinate and contribute to plant…

Climate labeling reduces our CO2 footprint — even for those who willfully attempt to remain uninformed

Climate labels informing us of a meat product’s carbon footprint cause many people to opt for climate-friendlier alternatives. This applies to people who are curious about a product’s carbon footprint, as well as to…