Every human produces a little more than 4.5 ounces of excrement per day. Multiplied by the 2.2 million customers of the Philadelphia Water Department’s wastewater system, the cumulative daily dump equals about 620,811 pounds, or about 310 tons. The story of biosolids (treated sewage sludge) starts with clean water in the toilet bowls of the
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On Sept. 27, 2025, a wood thrush flew past the David Rittenhouse Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania on its way to Central America. We know this because a tiny solar-powered radio transmitter on the bird’s back sent out a signal that was picked up by a receiver on the roof of the building. That
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On Tuesday, April 14, the Philadelphia Gas Commission — the government body that oversees the City-owned Philadelphia Gas Works — did something highly unusual. It voted to table a vote on PGW’s 2027 capital budget, basically postponing a routine step until a later date. “I was very surprised that the Commission did not make a
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In 2022, a pipe failed at the liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal in Freeport, Texas, causing an explosion and fire. The conflagration took place entirely within the facility, built on a barrier island along the Gulf of Mexico. The nearest residential area sits more than a mile away from the plant, adding a buffer
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When York Energy Storage LLC proposed in 2023 to turn the small valley of Cuff’s Run in York County, on the western bank of the Susquehanna River, into an energy storage reservoir, William McMahon, the engineer and energy entrepreneur behind the plan, billed it as a solution to the limitations of renewable energy. As is
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President Joe Biden visited Philadelphia in 2023 to make a big energy announcement: the Philadelphia area would be home to MACH2, a new hydrogen hub, one of seven nationwide. But a year and a half into the second Trump administration, the project’s future is uncertain. The Biden administration planned to pump $7 billion into regional
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From April 24 to April 27, Philadelphia and its adjacent counties will strive to recruit people to find as many species as possible, alongside hundreds of other cities around the world. Using the iNaturalist app as a tool, the City Nature Challenge encourages us to explore and document the biodiversity right where we live while
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If not for the COVID-19 pandemic, the plan to renovate Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park in South Philadelphia might have proceeded without significant opposition. Workplace lockdowns and virtual schooling drove people outdoors to get some exercise and socialize in the fresh air. In South Philadelphia, many of them found the park’s shuttered golf course and fell
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I would need to book a flight to Portland, Oregon, to see shad runs like Philadelphians once did. That might surprise Delaware Valley residents accustomed to hearing how scarce the once-abundant fish are. But while shad have long suffered in their home range, they have flourished out West. The sleek silver herring is a celebrity
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It’s not easy to get to the Lankenau Environmental Science Magnet High School. The school sits on 17 acres at the northwest border of Philadelphia, a pocket of land not served by SEPTA, forcing the district to bus students to and from school. In exchange for the long ride, however, students learn in an expansive
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