Lighting the way for electric vehicles by using streetlamps as chargers

By using existing infrastructure, researchers created a scalable model for cost-effective EV charging

Penn State

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A team of Penn State researchers created a scalable framework to develop, analyze and evaluate using streetlights as a low-cost, equitable EV charging option. 

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Credit: Provided by XB Hu/Penn State

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Electric vehicles (EVs) can have lower fuel costs and reduce emissions relative to cars that use gasoline, but they are only a practical option if drivers have convenient ways to charge them. For people who live in multi-unit dwellings or in urban areas, access to charging infrastructure may be particularly limited, which in turn limits EV adoption.  

To address this issue, a team of researchers at Penn State created a scalable framework to develop, analyze and evaluate using streetlights as a low-cost, equitable EV charging option. They then installed 23 streetlight charging units in Kansas City, Missouri, and tested their framework. The researchers found that streetlight charging stations, compared to traditional EV charging stations, were more cost- and time-effective, had fewer negative environmental impacts, and were more convenient and accessible. 

Their results were published in the Journal of Urban Planning and Development, which is overseen by the American Society of Civil Engineers. 

“The motivation for this work comes from the fact that many apartment and multi-unit dwelling residents, particularly in urban and downtown areas, lack access to dedicated home EV chargers, since they don’t have the privilege of owning a garage,” said Xianbiao “XB” Hu, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering. “Fortunately, streetlight poles are already powered and typically owned by municipalities, making them relatively easy to work with. Their placement — often near on-street parking and in high-traffic areas — makes them well-positioned to serve both local residents and visitors.” 

Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, the researchers partnered with the Kansas City, the non-profit organization Metro Energy Center, local utilities companies and the National Renewable Energy Lab to retrofit existing streetlights to function as EV chargers. They then established a three-pronged framework — focused on demand, feasibility and benefits — for other communities to use to develop streetlight EV chargers.  

“The scalability was a huge part of what makes this framework important,” said corresponding author Yang “Chris” Song, who was a doctoral student at Penn State at the time of the research and is now a data scientist at ElectroTempo. “Creating something that works not just in one specific city but that can be adopted by many communities easily is critical for increasing EV use across the country.” 

To determine demand, the researchers looked at factors including land use, station density, points of interest nearby, and traffic volume and then used the data to train artificial intelligence models to make demand predictions based on these factors.  

“We also took into account equity, which here means the proactive engagement with the community to ensure fair and inclusive distribution of the streetlight charging benefits across diverse neighborhoods,” Song said. 

The researchers used the demand and equity analyses to select 23 streetlights and installed EV charging stations. They collected data from the stations for one year. 

Compared to traditional EV charging ports, they found that these stations were much cheaper to install, since the infrastructure already existed. They also found that the streetlight chargers offered significantly faster charging speeds, likely because they draw power from dedicated municipal electrical lines and face less competition from multiple vehicles charging simultaneously, unlike clustered commercial stations, according to Yuyan “Annie” Pan, a postdoctoral researcher working with Hu. The streetlight charging stations also benefited the environment, since there were gasoline savings and greenhouse gas reductions by using locations where cars were already parking. 

“We found that using streetlights for EV charging offers an innovative and equitable approach to expanding charging infrastructure and promoting sustainable electrification,” Pan said. 

For next steps, the researchers said they would like to build on their models to incorporate more detailed socio-economic data and weather information. Incorporating socio-economic factors will help identify communities with limited EV access or adoption potential, ensuring more equitable infrastructure deployment. Weather data is also critical, as extreme temperatures can affect battery performance, travel frequency and overall energy demand.  

Tianjia Yang, a postdoctoral researcher, and Yuxin Ding, a doctoral candidate, both of whom are affiliated with the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, are co-authors on the paper.  

The U.S. Department of Energy supported this work.  

At Penn State, researchers are solving real problems that impact the health, safety and quality of life of people across the commonwealth, the nation and around the world. 

For decades, federal support for research has fueled innovation that makes our country safer, our industries more competitive and our economy stronger. Recent federal funding cuts threaten this progress. 

Learn more about the implications of federal funding cuts to our future at Research or Regress. 

The researchers found that streetlight charging stations, compared to traditional EV charging stations, were more cost- and time-effective, had fewer negative environmental impacts, and were more convenient and accessible. 

Credit

Provided by XB Hu/Penn State

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Journal

Journal of Urban Planning and Development

DOI

10.1061/JUPDDM.UPENG-5865 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Equitable Urban Electric Vehicle Charging: Feasibility and Benefits of Streetlight Charging in Kansas City Right-of-Way

Counting plastic reveals hidden waste and sparks action

Supermarkets urged to act now to change infrastructure and systems as new research shows online shopping hides plastic waste

University of Portsmouth

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Online supermarket shopping is fuelling Britain’s plastic waste crisis because packaging is less visible to consumers, according to new research from the Revolution Plastics Institute at the University of Portsmouth. 

The study found that nearly half of UK households underestimate how much plastic they throw away each week, a phenomenon researchers call “plastic blindness”. Those who relied most heavily on online grocery deliveries were especially likely to be shocked by the volume of waste they consumed. 

“We believe plastic blindness is a coping strategy,” explains lead author Dr Kate Whitman of the Revolution Plastics Institute. “Consumers have little power to go completely plastic-free, so ignoring the waste we generate can feel necessary for peace of mind. But when that waste becomes impossible to overlook, concern rises and people become more willing to engage in reuse and refill systems. Online retailers could help by making packaging impacts visible at the point of purchase - and by offering clear reuse or refill alternatives to single-use packaging.” 

The findings, published today, combine three datasets gathered over two years: the UK’s biggest-ever citizen science project on plastic waste, The Big Plastic Count (2022 and 2024), which tracked household plastic use across two seven-day periods;  a follow-up survey of more than 8,000 participants, capturing attitudes to recycling, reuse and refill systems; and a Greenpeace petition, which measured whether participation in the count influenced public action in support of an ambitious Global Plastics Treaty. 

On average, households disposed of 23 plastic items per person per week - 13 “soft” plastics such as wrappers and film lids, and 10 “hard” plastics such as yoghurt pots. Soft plastics accounted for around 30 per cent more waste. Almost half of participants, 45 per cent, admitted they discarded considerably more plastic than they expected. 

Researchers found a direct link between online shopping frequency and the degree of surprise at waste levels. “Those who shop online were the most unconscious consumers in terms of plastic consumption,” adds Dr Whitman. “But once confronted with the reality, people were shocked and that shock can be harnessed as a catalyst for change.” 

The study also showed that awareness campaigns can mobilise both behaviour change and political action. Participation in The Big Plastic Count correlated with a surge in signatures on a Greenpeace petition demanding stronger measures at UN negotiations for a Global Plastics Treaty. In April 2024, after results from the count were published, petition signatures increased by 350 per cent compared with the previous month. Participants were ten times more likely to sign than non-participants. 

“By forcing people to confront their own use of plastic, we've shown that citizen science can be a catalyst not only for personal change but for collective action as well,” explains Professor Cressida Bowyer, Deputy Director of the Revolution Plastics Institute at the University of Portsmouth. “As a result, we've found a measurable increase in political engagement, a powerful signal to policymakers.” 

The survey also revealed a strong appetite for reuse and refill schemes. Forty-one per cent of respondents ranked clear environmental information among their top three factors influencing adoption, ahead of hygiene or brand familiarity.  

Researchers argue that supermarkets and policymakers now have a big opportunity to use online shopping platforms to promote reuse and refill schemes, particularly since online shoppers are among the least conscious of their plastic impact. They also call for mandatory, standardised recycling labels to cut through confusion and misleading claims. 

“People feel powerless because they have no choice but to buy what’s on the shelves,” said  Professor Bowyer. “Evidence from our study shows they are ready to support systemic change, but they need policymakers and retailers to step up. Awareness is only the first step; turning it into action requires top-down measures.” 

The Revolution Plastics Institute is partnering with Everyday Plastic in the next Big Plastic Count in 2026.  

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Journal

Environmental Science & Policy

DOI

10.1016/j.envsci.2025.104218 

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Plastic blindness: Lifting the blindfold through citizen science

Article Publication Date

3-Oct-2025

 

The essential role of the urban tree microbiome: A key to city health

A new study by Boston University researchers looks at the impact of environmental stressors on the growth of city trees

Boston University

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Urban trees are essential to the health of cities and their residents: they cool neighborhoods, filter pollution from the air, support biodiversity, and improve human well-being. But these benefits depend in part on the tree microbiome, which influences tree health, stress tolerance, and interactions with the environment. As cities expand and environmental stressors like heat, drought, and pollution intensify, we risk disrupting the microbial relationships that trees rely on for growth.

A team of researchers from the Bhatnagar Lab at Boston University recently published a paper in Nature Cities that studied the difference in microbial communities of street trees and non-urban forest trees. By analyzing fungal and bacterial diversity, tree size, and soil properties, their research shows the impacts of urban environmental stressors upon city tree microbiomes.

In this Q&A, senior author on the paper Jenny Bhatnagar, a Boston University associate professor of biology and director of the biogeoscience program, along with first author Kathryn Atherton, former PhD student in BU’s bioinformatics & computational biology graduate program, discuss how the microbial communities of city trees can effect, not only trees and plants, but all life in urban settings and what the implications of their research could mean for future green urbanization initiatives.

What is the importance of studying the microbiomes of trees?

Jenny Bhatnagar: Microorganisms are everywhere, and they drive critical ecosystem services such as decomposition, nutrient cycling, tree growth, and carbon sequestration. They can also harm plants and animals by acting as pathogens and by releasing greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Most work has focused on the built environment of cities (i.e., microbiomes of buildings and indoor spaces) or the microbiome of lawns and parks in cities. However, we are in the very early stages of understanding how urbanization impacts microorganisms.

Kathryn Atherton: Studying how urbanization disrupts the tree microbiome is important because it helps us understand how cities affect the invisible organisms that support tree health and ecosystem services. Trees rely on diverse microbial partners for nutrient cycling, disease resistance, and stress tolerance, especially under harsh urban conditions like heat, drought, and pollution. When those microbial communities are disrupted, trees may become more vulnerable to decline, and the ecological and health benefits they provide to city residents may be reduced. By identifying which microbial functions and symbionts are lost in urban environments, we can design better strategies to maintain healthy urban forests and create cities that are more resilient, equitable, and sustainable.

What’s your key research finding?

Jenny Bhatnagar: Everything that can go wrong in a microbiome goes wrong for trees living in cities. They suffer a loss of belowground symbionts (ectomycorrhizal fungi) and potential aboveground symbionts (epiphytes) and an accumulation of plant pathogens and wood rot fungi and bacteria. They also host more animal and human pathogens. Finally, trees in cities host more bacteria that have the capacity to generate nitrous oxide (N2O), a potent greenhouse gas, and fewer methanogens, that consume methane, relative to rural trees. It’s a nightmare scenario for an environmental microbiome – a bit of a horror story for our urban trees. The good news is that these shifts are correlated with heat, low soil moisture, low soil organic matter, and soil density, and atmospheric aerosol deposition – things that humans can reverse in cities, if we choose.

You looked at oak trees in your research but are there other trees that might have similar properties?

Jenny Bhatnagar: Oak trees are ectomycorrhizal – meaning that they associate with ectomycorrhizal fungi, a group of about 20,000 fungal species that colonize the roots of live plants and help woody plants live where they do on Earth. Some other plants in urban areas are ectomycorrhizal, so may respond similarly to urbanization. However, many plants are not ectomycorrhizal – they associate with other types of symbiotic fungi, and it is still unclear how the microbiome of those plants is impacted by the urban environment.

What motivated you to do this work?

Jenny Bhatnagar: Some of the most intriguing challenges I have tackled in research were brought to the table by my students, leading to massive expansions of my work into new territory. Urbanization effects on the environmental microbiome is one of them. Katie came to do her PhD in my lab and felt strongly that she wanted to study urbanization impacts on microorganisms, as well as how we could reverse any potential negative effects. We are still working on the reversing part – but Katie drove this new research to understand how cities reshape microscopic communities.    

Kathryn Atherton: During the pandemic, I read about how urbanization was linked to higher COVID-19 morbidity, especially in areas with limited green space and poor environmental quality. I wanted to learn more about how we can protect our urban forests. Being a microbial ecologist, I was particularly interested in understanding how urbanization affects the beneficial microbial mutualisms that support tree health and resilience. After discussing with Dr. Bhatnagar, we decided to explore these relationships and what they mean for both trees and people.

Why is it important now to understand microbiomes?

Jenny Bhatnagar: Urban ecosystems are the fastest growing biome on Earth. Worldwide, urban areas are expected double in size by 2050. In the U.S., urbanization is projected to subsume over 20% (118,300 km2) of U.S. Forest land and house 90% of U.S. population by 2050. Yet, we don’t fully understand them or what they do to the natural ecosystems they abut and surround. I think that is dangerous, but fixable

Kathryn Atherton: Our work shows that urbanization fundamentally alters the microbial life trees depend on in ways that could compromise their survival and the benefits they provide. That has major consequences for how we think about managing urban forests in a warming, urbanizing world. Understanding these microbial shifts now can help us protect and restore the ecological resilience of urban forests before those systems break down further and ensure that urban nature continues to serve both people and the planet in the decades ahead.

What could change because of your research?

Jenny Bhatnagar: I think that our ability to correlate disruption of tree microbiomes with key environmental factors: soil organic matter, water, temperature, and pollutants – point to key modifications we can make – even to just the soil underneath trees – that could reverse some of the negative effects of urbanization on tree microbiomes. 

Can it help city planners decide how to improve green spaces within urban environments? 

Kathryn Atherton: Incorporating microbiome considerations into urban forestry policies could improve tree survival rates, enhance ecosystem services like air pollution filtration and carbon capture, and ultimately create more resilient and equitable green spaces. In this way, our findings offer a new biological perspective that can guide smarter, science-informed decisions in urban planning and environmental management.

What’s can individuals do to help with this issue?

Jenny Bhatnagar: One easy thing to do is, if you are planting a tree or caring for a tree outside your home –put down mulch. This will increase moisture in soil and potentially encourage growth of tree mutualists (mycorrhizal fungi) belowground that provide stress protection, nutrients, and water to trees.

Kathryn Atherton: I want people to remember that while street trees might look isolated in their sidewalk pits, they don’t stand alone: they depend on complex microbial communities that are vulnerable to city stressors. Protecting urban forests means protecting the microbiome, too. I hope city planners, environmental managers, and the public start considering the microbiome as a vital part of urban green space health and invest in strategies that support microbial diversity and function, helping our cities become healthier, cooler, and more resilient.

 What are the next steps in this research?

Jenny Bhatnagar: One of the major areas of research that we are moving into is environmental engineering for cities. Cities worldwide are investing millions of dollars in greening initiatives to increase tree cover, but high tree mortality rates lead to massive financial losses and an inability for cities to sequester enough carbon to reach net zero emissions. We think that part of the issue is this loss of mutualists for trees in cities, which opens ecological space for pathogens to grow. Reintroducing fungal root mutualists (i.e., mycorrhizal fungi) has been hugely successful in reducing tree mortality in forests, but urbanization leads to some of the most stressful environmental conditions for mutualists on the planet (e.g., heat, drought, pollution). Nevertheless, these can be reversed with simple modifications to soil structure. I spent my sabbatical studying forest restoration and realized the enormous potential for rewilding tree-associated microbes in urban lands. In summer 2023, I set up our first trial microbiome rewilding experiment, which we are analyzing now.

Kathryn Atherton: While we’ve identified that urbanization disrupts the tree microbiome and linked this to environmental stressors, we still need to understand which specific factors most strongly predict tree health and growth outcomes. To do this, I’m working on modeling these relationships to pinpoint priority environmental and microbial targets for urban planting and management.

 

 

 

 

This work was supported by several grants from Boston University including the Patricia McLellan Leavitt Research Award, as well as the following funders: U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Energy, National Institute of General Medical Sciences, and National Science Foundation Research Traineeship

 

 

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Journal

Nature Cities

DOI

10.1038/s44284-025-00322-x 

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Disruption of the oak tree microbiome with urbanization

Article Publication Date

3-Oct-2025