The school route to healthier eating

Offering nutritious meals to students can improve diets and counter obesity across Europe. By  Ali Jones When the lunch bell rings at the Sancta Maria primary school in the Belgian city of Leuven, standard packed meals aren’t on the menu for dozens of hungry children. Instead, the pupils receive freshly prepared, hot organic vegetarian fare … Read more

Plant-powered planes may be no pipe dream

EU researchers are seeking to expand supplies of clean aviation fuels by producing more from agricultural sources. By  Tereza Pultarova Professor David Chiaramonti is looking down at the ground to help resolve a problem up in the sky: aeroplanes’ emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other pollutants. An expert in energy systems and power generation at … Read more

Securing rare earths for Europe’s high-tech industries

A group of critical raw materials may help Europe reduce supply-chain vulnerabilities. By  Michael Allen Dr Arne Petter Ratvik is championing high-tech goods for Europe through a low-tech source: fertiliser. Ratvik, a metals expert at independent Norwegian research organisation SINTEF, says raw materials needed by the European auto, computer, electronics, energy and other industries can … Read more

All aboard! Europe’s food wagon steers towards a greener path

Making diets kinder to the environment and better for people’s health requires root-and-branch changes in production and consumption. By  Anthony King As a young scientist, Dr Christian Bugge Henriksen never minded getting his hands dirty. He put on his wellies to study soil nutrients in barley and potato fields in his native Denmark. Henriksen has … Read more