Plastic production, use and disposal each year saddles the U.S. with up to $1.1 trillion in social costs, the bulk of which are due to human health impacts, according to a new report from Duke University. The analysis characterizes the tally as a “conservative” estimate, reports The New Lede.

Two teams of graduate students from Duke and a team from the University of Cape Town were collectively awarded $15,000 in the finals of the 2025 Energy in Emerging Markets Case Competition held Tuesday as part of Energy Week at Duke. Over the fall, the competition challenged 57 teams to develop business solutions to a real-world energy challenge from Kenya-based company Gridless.

In a new report, researchers from Duke University have worked to shine a light on the invisible—but still all too real—costs of plastic products. A blog post from the Natural Resources Defense Council highlights the findings of the analysis and the staggering figures it reveals: Every year, the real costs of plastic are estimated to be between $436 billion and $1.1 trillion per year.

Plastic is everywhere in daily life in the United States, from synthetic fabrics to toys to disposable utensils, straws and bags. While plastic is cheap for the average consumer, its impacts cost Americans $436 billion to $1.1 trillion per year—and that’s likely an underestimate, according to a new report from Duke University scholars.

Enabling load flexibility is critical to achieving speed-to-power for data centers and other large energy customers while keeping the grid reliable and affordable for everyone else, write former FERC Commissioner Allison Clements and Roselle LLP partners Miles Farmer and Sam Walsh in an op-ed for Utility Dive. The three were co-authors of a policy brief that offers rules that could comprise a workable framework to achieve large load flexibility success.

As a Ph.D. student and research fellow, Tyler Norris’ work is shaping industry and policy conversations, with bipartisan policy efforts, academic impact and a new career opportunity, Duke Today reveals in a new profile. A study on rethinking load growth in U.S. power systems that Norris co-authored has made waves across the energy sector. His research has led to a spot on the 2025 TIME100 Climate list, a guest essay in The New York Times and a new position at Google focused on energy innovation—and more.

For 20 years, the Nicholas Institute has pursued the “quest for yes”— bringing people together across differences, grounding big ideas in evidence and co-creating durable solutions to environmental and energy challenges. On Oct. 23, the institute welcomed students, scholars, alumni and partners in the community to an anniversary celebration that blended reflection with forward momentum.

Last Thursday, Energy Secretary Chris Wright directed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to consider rulemaking to fast-track interconnection for large loads—as long as they agree to be curtailable or colocate with dispatchable generation. Former FERC Commissioner Allison Clements and Duke Ph.D. student Tyler Norris joined the Catalyst podcast to discuss what the proposal actually means for interconnection.

Preferential access areas are designated marine spaces where small-scale and artisanal fishers are granted priority access. In partnership with Duke’s Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab and the Nicholas Institute, Global Fishing Watch has integrated a reference layer into its map of vessel-based human activity at sea to display all current PAAs worldwide, providing an opportunity to study this policy tool in more depth.

At an event celebrating the Nicholas Institute's 20th anniversary, former EPA administrators William Reilly and Michael Regan talked with Duke students and community members about lessons learned from advancing environmental goals at the federal level, reports NC Newsline.

Established and emerging environmental leaders came together Oct. 23 for a celebration of the Nicholas Institute’s 20th anniversary, where University stakeholders reflected on a legacy of innovation and looked to carry the torch forward in a collective “quest for yes,” reports The Chronicle.

Duke University and the University of Georgia are partnering with leaders from the insurance and climate data industries to launch the Center for Innovation in Risk, Catastrophes, and Decisions (CIRCAD), a new initiative focused on advancing insurance innovation and large-scale risk mitigation amid escalating climate disasters, the Pratt School of Engineering announced.

Before data centers come online, they need to have proactive plans to avoid drawing too much energy, said Duke University expert Tim Profeta, who co-authored a February analysis on how load flexibility could help manage rising U.S. energy demand. Regulators and utilities could require data centers to create those plans in exchange for jumping long queues to connect to the grid. “The biggest incentive is speed to interconnect to the grid,” Profeta told The Guardian.

Nicholas Institute experts Lydia Olander and Sara Mason were among leaders from 20 states, academics, nonprofit experts and private sector partners who gathered in August for the annual State Resilience Planning Group, convened by The Pew Charitable Trusts. The group shared best practices and lessons learned to increase disaster resilience, with a focus on how to leverage nature and innovative infrastructure solutions.

In a new episode of The Coastal Society podcast, host William Ferris sat down with fellow Duke University expert Tibor Vegh to discuss how research and planning can drive real-world resilience for coastal communities—from nature-based solutions to coastal adaptation policy.