Welcome to your “Planetary Health 2025 Wrapped”—a Spotify-style year-in-review, revealing the themes, trends, and top-of-mind issues that shaped your reading and research this year. Drawing from your curated selection of articles, reports, and insights, this wrap-up highlights the planetary health topics you tracked most closely, the emerging technologies and policy debates you explored, and the wider patterns that defined your intellectual journey through 2025.
Your engagement with planetary health literature peaked in June, with a steady tempo from April through October. Here’s your monthly reading activity:
| Month | Articles Added |
|---|---|
| April | 3 |
| May | 5 |
| June | 12 |
| July | 4 |
| August | 7 |
| September | 5 |
| October | 4 |
| November | 1 |
| December | 1 |
You tracked the complex, often contradictory role of natural gas in the global energy transition. Articles debated its status as a “bridge fuel” with lower emissions than coal, but highlighted the climate risks from methane leaks and the potential for gas infrastructure to become stranded assets. The geopolitics of gas—how countries like the U.S., Japan, and Argentina embraced it, while others remained cautious—was a recurring thread. Meanwhile, the unstoppable rise of renewables (wind, solar, batteries) was a constant, with 80% of new electricity demand met by these sources in 2024, even as reliance on gas for grid stability and industrial uses persisted[2].
You followed the launch of the Climate Realism Initiative, which called for a pragmatic, internationally aware U.S. climate policy. The initiative emphasized the need for America to prepare for the security and economic risks of climate change, compete globally in clean tech, and consider last-resort strategies like geoengineering. The debates you tracked focused on how to balance national interests with global climate goals, and how to catalyze innovation while managing trade-offs[3].
Water security was a major concern. You explored the global boom in desalination—now serving over 300 million people—but noted the environmental challenges: high energy use (often fossil-fueled), toxic brine waste, and feedback loops that risk exacerbating climate change. The absence of robust water governance frameworks, both internationally and in the U.S., was highlighted as a strategic vulnerability. You also tracked the “mega-drying” of global land due to groundwater depletion, glacier melt, and mismanagement, with solutions pointing to agricultural efficiency and policy reform[4][5].
The race for critical minerals—lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper—was top of mind, given their centrality to clean energy and advanced manufacturing. You followed U.S. innovation in direct lithium extraction (DLE), notably Lilac’s pilot successes, which promise cleaner, more efficient domestic supply. The articles you tracked emphasized the need for comprehensive risk mapping, diversification, and “friend-shoring” to reduce dependency on geopolitically risky suppliers, especially as demand for these minerals is projected to double by 2030[6][7][8].
You closely monitored the scaling of carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) and carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies. 2025 saw the launch of first-of-a-kind CCUS projects in new sectors, strong voluntary market demand for CDR, and China’s emergence as a leader in CCUS deployment. The intersection of data centers and decarbonization was a new theme: as data center energy demand soared, some operators considered behind-the-meter CCUS-enabled gas plants to meet climate goals, while others looked to integrate carbon removal directly with energy supply[9][10].
Battery innovation was a recurring motif—from AI-driven electrolyte discovery for rejuvenating lithium-ion batteries, to the challenges of scaling battery manufacturing outside Asia. You also explored novel long-duration energy storage concepts, such as “rechargeable geothermal power” using the earth itself as a thermal battery. These solutions aim to bridge the gap between variable renewables and the need for reliable, round-the-clock power—crucial for decarbonizing industry and replacing fossil fuels[11][12].
You kept a close eye on sustainable aviation fuel, both globally and in India, with Boeing’s commitment to 100% SAF compatibility by 2030 and the development of broad feedstock ecosystems. The regulatory landscape (CORSIA, blending targets) and the role of biotechnologies in advancing SAF were prominent, as were calls for policy reforms to accelerate commercialization and regional innovation[13].