The last ten years have been the ten warmest on record globally. Any plan to address climate change must directly reduce heating and cooling consumption, which typically accounts for half of a commercial or residential building’s energy usage. Recent data from the 48 largest electric utilities in the U.S. show that energy efficiency, with an average cost of just $24 per saved megawatt-hour, is 2–8 times more economical than conventional power generation.

As agricultural practices have evolved to meet the world’s growing nutritional needs, innovations in plant breeding, genetics, and crop production have led to remarkable advances in productivity. But as yields have increased, the nutritional density of crops has often declined. Furthermore, recent studies indicate that the nutrient composition of many foods is being compromised by the rise in atmospheric CO2 levels. These shifts are associated with reductions in essential micronutrients and protein across a range of staple crops.

The demand for aluminum continues to rise in the e-mobility, heavy equipment, industrial product, and semiconductor sectors. This increase is attributed to electric vehicles and renewables, infrastructure investments, and consumers wanting eco-friendly options. Meanwhile, supply from U.S. foundries has declined significantly due to the high cost of tooling, labor shortages, and little to no capacity.

As engineers continue to pack more performance into smaller electronics, Moore’s law and its corollaries have led to a massive increase in the power density of modern devices. However, with great power comes great heat.

Electric vehicles need more than twice the number of chips that conventional vehicles require. As production of electric vehicles continues to ramp up, the increasing demand for chips presents a significant engineering problem for thermal engineers. They need to design compact high-efficiency thermal management systems that can cool complex power electronics and batteries. Pure copper components are key to this challenge, as they are integral to a myriad of applications ranging from intricate electronic devices to next-generation heat exchangers.