Environment

Cacti, wild coffee and false bananas: Scientists sketch out the menus of the future

Published

2 years ago

May 23, 2023

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Kocho, a food produced using enset, served with honey and red pepper sauce.

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Earlier this year, shoppers in the U.K. faced a shortage of fresh fruit and vegetables, with some of the country’s grocery stores rationing produce like tomatoes, lettuce and peppers.

The reasons behind the scarcity of ingredients crucial to a tasty salad were complicated and varied, ranging from high energy prices to adverse weather conditions in supplier countries.

While the shortage has more or less abated, it did highlight the fragile nature of our food system and the huge importance of food security.

In 2022, a major report from the United Nations showed the scale of the problem.

“Between 702 and 828 million people were affected by hunger in 2021,” The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report said.

The U.N.’s report flagged the “major drivers of food insecurity and malnutrition: conflict, climate extremes and economic shocks, combined with growing inequalities.”

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With concerns about the effects of climate change on the agriculture sector mounting, what we grow and eat could be on the cusp of a significant shift.

Crops unfamiliar to many of us could have a crucial role to play in the years ahead. In June 2022, scientists at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, listed several sources of food that could play a big role in future diets.

They include seaweed; cacti like the prickly pear; a type of wild coffee able to cope with far warmer temperatures than Arabica coffee; and enset, also known as the false banana.

“Enset is a relative of the banana,” James Borrell, research leader in Trait Diversity and Function at RBG Kew, told CNBC.

“But whereas a banana is from Southeast Asia and you eat the fruit, enset is from Africa and has been domesticated — and is only cultivated — in Ethiopia,” he added.

“You actually eat the whole trunk, or pseudo stem, and the underground corm.”

“Something like 15 plants could feed a person for a year, so it’s … very large, and it’s very productive.”

The enset plant in Ethiopia. Enset is also known as “the tree against hunger.”

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When it comes to food security, the potential of enset — which is also referred to as “the tree against hunger” — appears to be considerable.

Borrell told CNBC that it possesses a combination of traits and characteristics “very unusual in crops.”

“Firstly, it’s perennial, and so it keeps growing each year if you don’t harvest it,” he said.

A fruit tree may also be perennial, he noted, “but it only produces its fruit at a certain time of year — so you either need to consume it then or you need to store it.”

With enset, however, “you eat the whole thing … so the fact that it gets larger each year, you can simply harvest it when you need it.”

A ‘bank account of food’

That, Borrell said, makes it particularly useful for subsistence farmers working on several crops.

“If some year your other crops fail, or they don’t have a sufficient yield, you can eat a little bit more of your enset,” he said.

“If you have a good year for your other crops, you can eat a bit less of your enset.” That means enset could “buffer seasonal food insecurity.”

“For a subsistence farmer, that’s an amazing product,” he added.

“It’s like a bank account of food, it’s like a green asset that you can maintain and nurture and if you don’t use it, it keeps accumulating.”

At the moment, RGB Kew says enset supplies food to 20 million people in Ethiopia, but the organization adds it “could be a climate-smart crop for the future” thanks to its “high yield and resilience to long periods of drought.”

In late 2021, researchers based in the U.K. and Ethiopia, including Borrell, published a paper in Environmental Research which provided a tantalizing glimpse of the role it might play in the future.

“We find that despite a highly restricted current distribution, there is significant potential for climate-resilient enset expansion both within Ethiopia and across eastern and southern Africa,” the authors said.

Kocho, produced using the enset plant, photographed in Ethiopia.

Glen_pearson | Istock | Getty Images

Could, then, the cultivation of enset extend from Ethiopia to other parts of the world, buffering other crops in the process?

“The very important caveat is that it is an Ethiopian crop,” Borrell said.

“And so those kinds of decisions are entirely up to Ethiopia … it’s Ethiopia’s indigenous knowledge, and it’s Ethiopia’s farmers that have spent thousands of years domesticating it.”

“So although we can talk about what is the potential and would it work, it’s very specifically not up to us to say whether it should happen and if it can happen.”

It’s unlikely, then, that people outside of Ethiopia will be seeing enset on their plate anytime soon.

Nevertheless, its resilience and importance in shoring up supply for farmers there illustrate how practices rooted in tradition may have a big role to play in the way we think about and consume food.

“It’s an amazing crop, with amazing indigenous knowledge underlying it,” Borrell said.

“I think the message is that this is just one of hundreds or even thousands of underutilized crops that are not particularly extensively researched, and they’re not widely known.”

“So for every plant we talk about, like enset, there’s many others that could have … particular combinations of traits that could help us address a challenge that we face.”

Environment

Trump approves U.S. Steel merger with Japan’s Nippon after companies sign national security agreement

Published

6 hours ago

June 13, 2025

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Trump approves U.S. Steel merger with Japan’s Nippon after companies sign national security agreement

US President Donald Trump receives a gold helmet with his name on it during a visit to US Steel – Irvin Works in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, May 30, 2025, to mark the ‘partnership’ between Nippon Steel and US Steel.

Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images

President Donald Trump issued an executive order on Friday approving U.S. Steel’s merger with Japan’s Nippon Steel, after the companies signed a national security agreement with the U.S. government.

U.S. Steel and Nippon said the national security agreement will give the U.S. government a “golden share” and makes certain commitments related to governance, domestic production, and trade. The companies did not elaborate on what powers the U.S. government will wield with its golden share.

“All necessary regulatory approvals for the partnership have now been received, and the partnership is expected to be finalized promptly,” U.S. Steel and Nippon said in a statement.

The national security agreement calls for Nippon to make $11 billion in new investments by 2028, including initial spending on a greenfield project that will be completed after 2028, the companies said.

Trump said Thursday that the golden share gives the president “total control” without elaborating. Pennsylvania Sen. Dave McCormick told CNBC last month that the golden share will effectively allow the government to control a number of board seats.

Trump opposed U.S. Steel‘s controversial sale to Nippon in the runup to the 2024 president election, as Republicans and Democrats have leaned into protecting U.S. companies against foreign competitors.

But Trump started softening his opposition to the takeover after assuming office, ordering a new review of the deal in April. President Joe Biden had blocked U.S. Steel’s sale to Nippon during his final days in office, citing national security concerns, despite Japan being a close ally.

Trump has avoided calling the deal an acquisition or merger, describing it as a “partnership” in a May 23 post on his social media platform Truth Social. He insisted that U.S. Steel will remain “controlled by the USA” during a speech to workers at one of the company’s plants outside Pittsburgh on May 30.

U.S. Steel made clear it would become a “wholly owned subsidiary” of Nippon North America under the terms of the merger agreement in an April 8 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Trump’s description of the deal as a “partnership” caused confusion among investors and union leadership.

The president told U.S. Steel workers that Nippon will be a “great partner.” The Trump administration is currently engaged in trade talks with Japan as investors eagerly await signs that the U.S. will strike deals with key partners that avoid steep tariffs.

Trump told the steelworkers that Nippon had agreed to keep U.S. Steel’s blast furnaces operating at full capacity for a minimum of 10 years. The president said the deal would not result in layoffs and promised there would be “no outsourcing whatsoever.” He said workers will receive a $5,000 bonus.

Trump announced that he was doubling U.S. tariffs on steel imports to 50% during his remarks to U.S. Steel workers. Those tariffs went into effect on June 4.

Environment

This new EV charging feature could make apps and cards obsolete

Published

7 hours ago

June 13, 2025

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This new EV charging feature could make apps and cards obsolete

European EV charging provider Allego has launched what is says is Europe’s first rollout of the “world’s safest and most secure” Plug & Charge technology.

The new tech is based on the open industry standard OCPP 2.0.1 and promises to make EV charging as easy as, well, plugging in your car. Forget apps, cards, and complicated sign-ins. If your EV is compatible, all you have to do is pull up and plug in.

Jean Gadrat, Allego’s CMO, said, “By removing digital friction points, apps, and cards, we give drivers the confidence to travel further and charge more conveniently. Whether in the city, on the highway, or abroad, Plug & Charge delivers the same secure, one-step charging experience.”

Here’s how Allego’s Plug & Charge works

Plug & Charge is an ISO 15118-based authentication and payment method built by Allego on OCPP 2.0.1, standardizing communication between OCPP-compliant chargers and networks.

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Once your car is enabled for Plug & Charge, the process is completely hands-off. You plug in, and your EV and the charger swap secure digital certificates to authenticate your account. There’s no need to tap an RFID card, open an app, or even press a button.

Allego’s system supports Mutual TLS encryption and certificate-based authentication, so only authorized vehicles can charge. That means no billing mistakes or fraudulent access, which has been a big concern with some older public charging setups.

Available across Europe now

Allego’s Plug & Charge functionality is at more than 5,000 fast and ultra-fast chargers across Europe, and it also works across partner networks, deploying a truly cross-network Plug & Charge experience.

It’s a future-ready platform, too. Thanks to OCPP 2.0.1, the protocol supports remote firmware updates, advanced security, and new features as they become available. So your charger can grow along with your EV.

“As new vehicle models and charging technologies emerge, OCPP 2.0.1 ensures your car always ‘speaks the same language’ as the charger,” said Manuel Trotta, Allego’s head of mobility solutions.

Allego partnered with Alpitronic, Hubject, and Ford to bring its cross-network Plug & Charge to life.

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Environment

The Kia PV5 is a real-life Transformer: Here’s our first look at it as an electric truck

Published

8 hours ago

June 13, 2025

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The Kia PV5 is a real-life Transformer: Here's our first look at it as an electric truck

Kia is looking to shake things up with its new custom-tailored Platform Beyond Vehicles (PBVs). The PV5, Kia’s first electric van based on the platform, is already showing how versatile it is. After the PV5 was spotted for the first time with an open bed, Kia looks about ready to drop an electric truck variant.

Is Kia launching an electric truck PV5 variant?

At the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Kia revealed its PBV strategy for the first time. The vehicles are designed as “total mobility solutions” that combine fit-for-purpose EVs with Hyundai’s latest software and tech.

Kia’s PBVs are based on Hyundai’s new ultra-flexible E-GMP.S EV platform, which can be custom-tailored for different uses. The first EV based on the platform, the PV5, launched earlier this year in the UK in two variations, Cargo and Passenger.

The Passenger model is fairly self-explanatory as a personal, everyday van, while the Cargo version is designed for commercial use.

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Kia said more variants were on the way, including a refrigerated truck, chassis cab, open-bed, luxury “Prime” passenger, and sliding truck models.

The open-bed variant was recently captured driving in Korea, giving us our first look at the Kia PV5 as an electric truck.

Although brief, the video from HealerTV, taken as the vehicle was driving by, reveals a few new details. It’s our closest look at the open-bed variant so far.

Like other PV5 variants, it appears to be the same up front. In fact, it’s almost identical to the first teaser Kia showed.

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Kia PV5 open bed electric truck (Source: HealerTV)

It’s hard to tell from a video, but the reporter mentioned the electric truck “seemed like it was just the right size.” Since the PV5 Passenger is 4,695 mm in length, 1,895 mm in width, and 1,899 mm in height, we can expect it to be about the same size. To give you a better idea, it’s slightly smaller than the Volkswagen ID.Buzz SWB.

More variants on the way

The electric truck, or open-bed variant, comes after we saw the PV5 “Conversion,” which will feature new models, including a light camper and a camper van.

We got a preview of the camper van after Kia revealed two new “Spielraum” PV5 concepts, including one with a refrigerator, microwave oven, and even a wine cellar. And then we got a look at the PV5 “WKNDR,” an “adventure-ready” electric van concept. Kia’s electric van even has a wheelchair-friendly version, the PV5 WAV.

Kia-electric-camper-van — Kia PV5 Spielraum concept (Source: Kia)

What’s next? Kia plans to launch a full range of electric vans. Next up will be the larger PV7 in 2027, followed by the PV9 in 2029. There’s also a smaller PV1, expected to arrive in late 2026 or early 2027.

In the future, Kia plans ot launch a Robotaxi model through a collaboration with Motional. All PBV models will be built at Kia’s Hwaseong EVO plant in South Korea. The facility can build up to 150,000 vehicles annually.

Kia said its goal is to “design PBVs that are simple and intuitive to operate and engage with, regardless of where, when or how they are used.” In other words, Kia wants to make your life easier, “Whether the purpose of the vehicle is to transport people, move goods, or meet logistics or personal mobility needs.”

In the UK, the PV5 Passenger and Cargo models start at £32,995 ($44,000) and £27,645 ($37,000), respectively.

It’s available with two battery pack options: 51.5 kWh or 71.2 kWh, offering WLTP ranges of 179 miles and 249 miles, respectively. The Cargo version gets slightly more range with 181 miles or 247 miles, respectively.

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