Electric vehicles are promoted as ‘clean’ technologies and offer promising reductions in transportation emissions. Nevertheless, their environmental benefits critically depend on the local electricity grid mix and the type of emission being considered. Here, we conduct a comparative life cycle assessment of the four dominant light-duty vehicle categories at both the global scale and in three representative countries: Norway, the US, and China. By analyzing different environmental indicators, particularly global warming potential and respiratory effects, and quantifying related parametric uncertainties, we reveal that the advantages of electric vehicles vary across these regions and across environmental impact types. While electric vehicles offer considerable decarbonization potential as the grid mix becomes cleaner, they might not mitigate other environmental impacts, such as increased respiratory effects on rural, low-income communities. Our results support stakeholders in identifying environmentally friendly vehicle and policy options while considering multiple factors, and emphasize the importance of tailored approaches over one-size-fits-all solutions in sustainable transportation.

Supermarkets in Port Harcourt (PH) city, Nigeria, predominantly rely on diesel electricity generation due to grid instability, leading to high electricity prices. Although solar photovoltaic (PV) systems have been proposed as an alternative, these supermarkets have yet to adopt them, mainly due to high investment costs and a lack of awareness of the long-term financial and environmental benefits. This paper examines the technical and economic practicality of a PV system for these supermarkets using the PVsyst software and a spreadsheet model. Solar resources showed that PH has a daily average solar radiation and temperature of 4.21 kWh/m²/day and 25.73 °C, respectively. Market Square, the supermarket with the highest peak power demand of 59.8 kW and a 561 kWh/day load profile, was chosen as a case study. A proposed PV system with a power capacity of 232 kW, battery storage capacity of 34,021 Ah, a charge controller size of 100 A/560 V, and an inverter with a power rating of 60 V/75 kW has been designed to meet the load demand. The economic analysis showed a $266,936 life cycle cost, $0.14 per kWh levelized cost of electricity (LCOE), a 4-year simple payback time, and a 20.5% internal rate of return (IRR). The PV system is feasible due to its positive net present value (NPV) of $165,322 and carbon savings of 582 tCO₂/year.

In recent years, additive manufacturing (AM), especially large-format additive manufacturing (LFAM), has gained momentum in the manufacturing industry. While LFAM offers benefits over conventional manufacturing processes, such as minimizing material waste and providing vast geometric freedom, assessing its sustainability remains challenging due to limited data, particularly on energy consumption. Most existing data pertain to small-scale or desktop AM and are not directly applicable to LFAM. In this study, we conducted real-time measurements of electricity usage for a type of LFAM known as big area additive manufacturing (BAAM), which typically uses fiber-reinforced polymer pellets as feedstock. We collected electricity usage data from fifteen printing jobs over two months in an industrial production setting. These data fill the existing gap and can be reused to enhance the community’s understanding of LFAM electricity usage, support further research, and promote sustainable development in advanced manufacturing technologies.

The construction sector accounts for approximately 11% of global greenhouse gas emissions, largely due to the production of steel, concrete and aluminum. As global infrastructure investments grow, exceeding $2.9 trillion in the United States alone, there is an urgent need to transition to low-carbon structural systems. Mass timber offers a promising alternative, with lower embodied carbon (EC) and the potential to function as a carbon sink when sustainably sourced. However, conventional mass timber floor systems are limited to spans of 16–25 feet, depending on the selected system and thickness. They often rely on concrete toppings for acoustic and vibration performance, undermining environmental and circularity benefits. Here, we present a novel, all-wood mass timber floor system capable of spanning 40 feet, comparable to steel-framed construction, while achieving carbon negativity, modularity, and disassembly. This is the first timber-based system to combine these structural and sustainability attributes at this span-length. A cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment, aligned with EN 15978 and ISO 14044, quantified the floor system development environmental performance across two proprietary connection strategies: adhesive + screw and sharp plate + screw. Each design sequestered 4,787 kg CO₂-eq of biogenic carbon per functional unit, contributing to a net EC of −100.6 and −96.7 kg CO₂-eq/m², respectively, after accounting for construction-stage emissions. The Sharp Plate system also showed lower impacts in smog formation, ecotoxicity, and energy use. Our findings demonstrate the viability of long-span, low-carbon timber floor systems and highlight how connection design can meaningfully influence environmental performance in timber-floor design.