Energy, Environment & Sustainability

Cornell is a global leader in sustainability and climate change research, teaching and engagement. Our campuses are living laboratories for developing, testing and implementing solutions that address these most challenging issues.


Cornell-inspired NY soil law buoys climate-change resilience

New York growers will get a sustainable boost this planting season from the new Soil Health and Climate Resiliency Act – backed up by Cornell research – and signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul.

Engineers reveal cause of key sodium-ion battery flaw

A new X-ray technique developed by Cornell engineers has revealed the cause of a long-identified flaw in sodium-ion batteries; a discovery that could prove to be a major step toward making sodium-ion as ubiquitous as lithium-ion.

NYS Gov. Hochul to Cornell students: ‘We need your voices’

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul outlined plans for rebuilding the state’s infrastructure Feb. 10 at a New York City event sponsored by Cornell’s Institute of Politics and Global Affairs.

Electrostatic engineering gets the lead out for faster batteries

A Cornell-led collaboration has discovered a new approach for making a lead-free antiferroelectric material that performs as well as its toxic relatives.

Former NYC sustainability head Ben Furnas ‘06 to direct University Climate Initiative

Ben Furnas, ’06, has been hired as executive director of The 2030 Project: A Cornell Climate Initiative.

Around Cornell

Texas power crisis revealed flaw in market’s design

New research finds decentralized electricity markets are prone to underinvestment in resilience to rare events like the severe winter storms that crippled the Texas grid a year ago.

A&S announces third cohort of Klarman Fellows

Seven exceptional early-career scholars will be awarded three-year fellowships to pursue independent research in the arts and humanities, social sciences and natural sciences.

New catalysts steer hydrogen fuel cells into mainstream

Cornell chemists have discovered a class of nonprecious metal derivatives that can catalyze fuel cell reactions about as well as platinum at a fraction of the cost, which could bring hydrogen fuel cells in vehicles and generators closer to reality.

Low-level jet models inform US offshore wind development

A new Cornell study could help inform the development of offshore wind farms by providing detailed models characterizing the frequency, intensity and height of low-level jet streams over the Atlantic coast.