News

Azevedo aims to foster research that addresses environmental problems – ranging from local to global – and prepare the next generation of environmental leaders and professionals.

The U.S. Department of Energy announced the first phase of funding for projects using artificial intelligence to tackle the nation’s most complex science and technology challenges, including six led by Stanford and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.

AI is contributing to a rising demand for electricity – a pressing sustainability challenge. Professor Will Chueh says it can also be part of the solution, by accelerating advances and deployment in energy technologies.

Practitioners and researchers identified benefits and challenges of using AI to support sustainability, resilience, and social responsibility.

Researchers have discovered a way to draw potable water from air almost anywhere using solar power and a gel-like material that lasts for eight months or more. 

Yashee Mathur, PhD '26, is using machine learning and artificial intelligence to look underground for a carbon-free energy source that could be more abundant than natural gas.

From July to September 2025, Energy Science & Engineering PhD student Pietro Bosoni participated in a hybrid internship at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in Monterey through the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), a workforce development program run by the U.S. Department of Energy.

With energy costs up and electricity demand climbing, Stanford researchers are leading efforts to make clean power affordable and reliable for all while cutting the emissions that drive climate change. Their work ranges from deep underground heat to solar on farms, renewable fuels, and upgrades for the power grid and batteries.

Carlos Diaz-Marin and his colleagues are engineering inexpensive materials called hydrogels to collect water from the air, capture carbon from the atmosphere, and massively improve heating efficiency, among other sustainability challenges.

Eleven scholars from across Stanford University will travel to Belém, Brazil in November 2025 for the United Nations climate summit known as COP30. Discover events, attendees, and expert insights.

Scientists can now accurately determine where randomly distributed components appear in concrete, soil, and other common materials using a statistical model. The findings could enable the design of better, stronger, cheaper materials.

A new study shows California can go carbon-free mostly using current and emerging solutions – but to get there, it must overcome regulatory challenges and scale technologies at an unprecedented pace.

During a recent Stanford roundtable, experts outlined strategic approaches for California to maintain its AI lead while expanding the electricity grid sustainably and affordably.

For most American families, installing solar panels and battery packs can lower electricity costs and manage local and regional power outages affordably, a new Stanford study finds.

Stanford professors Tony Kovscek and Roland Horne discuss how data, decarbonization, and artificial intelligence are reshaping energy science and engineering.

Energy science and engineering PhD student Rebecca Grekin has received the Student Sustainability award from the Association for Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) for the online software tool she developed to help analyze food emissions. The AASHE award recognizes student work that advances leadership and promotes sustainability on campus.

Attendees identified ways to optimize, integrate, and scale data collection for advancing human and planetary health.

Energy leaders recently gathered at Stanford to discuss ways to quickly expand the U.S. electricity supply and infrastructure to meet growing demand. A new report summarizes their key ideas for policymakers.

Electricity generated using natural underground heat could become cost competitive with power from the grid by 2027 using enhanced geothermal systems, although care is still needed to address earthquake risks, researchers found. 

New research shows grain yields critical to India’s food security are dragged down 10% or more in many parts of the country by nitrogen dioxide pollution from power stations that run on coal. Economic losses from crop damages exceed $800 million per year.

According to new research, greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption, and water usage are all meaningfully reduced when – instead of mining for new metals – batteries are recycled.

Consumers’ real-world stop-and-go driving of electric vehicles benefits batteries more than the steady use simulated in almost all laboratory tests of new battery designs, Stanford-SLAC study finds.

TIME recognizes the 100 most influential people in business worldwide working on climate for 2024, including eight Stanford alumni.

A new method for extracting lithium from briny water offers a more efficient, cost-effective, and environmental alternative to traditional lithium production. It could also help solve lithium supply chain issues.