Fluid flows and mass transport mediate countless natural and engineered processes, ranging from the spreading of pollutants to carbon capture and water cleaning. In this talk, I will share three examples of my research where fundamental ideas in transport phenomena are applied to inform technologies with direct impact on energy and the environment. First, I will discuss surfactants, chemicals that preferentially adsorb to interfaces between fluids and critically affect their motion. My work has revealed that these substances play a central role in the engineering of coatings aimed at reducing the drag of marine vessels, resulting in the discovery of a physicochemical lengthscale capable of predicting the effectiveness of a given coating. I will also demonstrate how the spontaneous migration of solid particles in chemical gradients — an effect known as diffusiophoresis— can be used to filter microplastics from water without a membrane. I will present results quantifying the efficiency of this separation process, which is a key step towards novel water remediation technologies with enhanced energy and cost efficiency. Finally, I will describe how fluid flows, driven solely by natural evaporation, can dramatically boost the concentration of electrolytes in porous materials. I will illustrate the physics of this process and how it can be leveraged for the extraction of minerals key to the energy transition, such as lithium, from natural brines.