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Back to the future – insect protein diets’ 1000s-year history
Source: Durham University (press release)
New research from Durham University’s archaeology department, published in the journal World Archaeology, shows that insects have been part of human diets for thousands of years. Archaeologists have found insect remains in preserved ancient human waste and on cooking tools, along with evidence of harvesting and storage. In what is now the US, people ate grasshoppers and beetles thousands of years ago, while in Australia moths were cooked and ground into food around 2,000 years ago. Insects are still a traditional food in parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America, including grasshoppers in Uganda and Mexico.
The study suggests insects have been left out of many accounts of ancient diets, partly because their remains survive less well than animal bones or pottery, and partly because Western cultures tend to associate them with disgust. Durham scientists argues that recognising insects as part of humanity’s food heritage could help people accept them as foods with cultural and historical value.
Insect farming can use less land and produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions per unit of edible protein than many conventional livestock systems, although the benefits depend on how the insects are raised. It is something to note concerning sustainable food systems.
Data centre emissions concerns grow
Source: Edie (by Joshua Neil), Reuters (by Nora Buli), Reuters (by Louise Rasmussen)
Fossil-fuelled power plants built to run new AI data centres could cancel out 15 years of emissions cuts in the US power sector, according to an internal analysis run by environmental non-profit the Sierra Club. Once planned projects are factored in, US power sector emissions could reach 2.1bn tonnes of CO2 by 2030, which is more than Mexico. It also is 618m tonnes more than 2025 data, which represents an increase of 42%. Much of the increase comes from gas plants that tech companies build off the grid to avoid long waits for a grid connection.
Opposition to data centres is growing on both sides of the Atlantic. They have been a major issue in the run up to the US midterm elections, and in Norway the left-wing Red Party has called for a ban on new data centres. The sector barely existed in Norway three or four years ago and now uses 3 to 4 TWh of electricity, about 2.5% of national demand. The energy regulator, NVE, projects this could reach 25 TWh by 2035 based on grid connections already approved. Norway usually has a power surplus of around 15 TWh, but with little new generation planned, both NVE and grid operator Statnett warn of a growing risk of deficit. Critics say the largely foreign-owned industry creates few jobs, around 600 full-time positions in 2025 according to a government-commissioned study, and will push up power prices.
A day after the NVE forecast, Norwegian government agency Enova awarded NOK 3.94bn, about $428m, to two floating offshore wind test projects. Fortius Offshore Wind and Fram Wind Solutions will each install two 18.5 MW turbines at the METCentre test site off Karmøy in Rogaland over the next five years, with funding paid only if the projects go ahead. They will test floating foundations, mooring systems and construction methods that could bring down the cost of floating wind.
Together the projects are expected to generate around 0.3 TWh a year, enough for about 15,000 households. That is just over 1% of the electricity Norway’s data centres could need by 2035.
Lego builds e-methanol brick capacity
Source: ESG Today (by Mark Segal)
The Lego Group has begun using e-methanol to make more than 90 hard, rigid elements. The e-methanol is produced from renewable electricity, water and captured CO2 at a Power-to-X plant in Denmark run by European Energy, under a supply agreement signed in 2023.
The plant, which started operating last year, combines captured biogenic CO2 with green hydrogen made on site, giving e-methanol with a carbon footprint up to 97% lower than fossil-based equivalents. Lego says the switch followed more than five years of testing. The e-methanol is fed into a continuous production loop that still contains virgin fossil material, which allows the company to scale up the new input while reducing its fossil use.
Lego aims to make its products from renewable or recycled materials by 2032. Renewable and recycled content in its bricks reached 52% in 2025, up from 33% the year before.
Heat stress risks for apparel big brand Pakistani suppliers
Source: Human and Rights Centre
An Associated Press investigation has found that garment workers in Karachi, Pakistan, are suffering heat-related illness and losing wages, despite safety commitments from the global brands they supply. AP interviewed more than a dozen workers, ten of whom said they made goods for brands sold in the US and Europe, including Inditex and Mango.
Every worker said they had seen colleagues faint from the heat, and several had fainted themselves. They described blurred vision, breathing problems, swollen limbs and temporary muscle paralysis. Workers reported no heat sensors, broken or undersized fans and drinking water that was rarely cold, and one said a ventilation system was switched on only when auditors visited. Only one had paid sick leave, but another worker said they lost wages when heat illness kept them off work.
The International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry, a legally binding agreement between brands and unions, said in 2025 it would treat heat as a workplace safety risk, but its heat stress protocols are still under review. Inditex told AP it is strengthening its approach through audits, supplier training and industry collaboration, and Mango said it updated its supplier code of conduct this year to cover extreme heat. Pakistan has laws to protect workers from these conditions, but the Sindh provincial government acknowledges enforcement remains a problem.
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