 |
Research
January 2008. The Shell Center for Sustainability announces a funding award for an additional project to be conducted in 2008:
Monitoring Engineered Nanoparticles in the Environment
New research projects have been announced by the Shell Center for Sustainability this Fall 2007. Project research areas include biofuels impact, sustainability of power generation, production and deployement of biodiesel, and carbon sequestration. Work begins as early as January 2008. The projects are:
The Water Footprint of Biofuels
Integrated Economic, Environmental and Reliability Modeling of Power System Growth
Sustainable Production and Deployment of Biodiesel in Texas
Carbon Sequestration Through Bio-char Soil Amendment
The Shell Center for Sustainability committed research funds in the Fall of 2003. The funds supported several projects conducted primarily by Rice faculty, staff and students. Work commenced in 2004 and has been completed. Research addressed several general areas of sustainability:
• Energy resources, carbon cycle and air quality
• Water
• Biodiversity
• Role of the private sector in fostering sustainability and stakeholder relationships
Projects:
Gas Hydrates
Business Case for Sustainable Development
Ozone Research
Rice University-Nankai University Partnership
U.S.-China Coastal Cities Project
Case Study in Sustainability
Nanotechnology & Energy
Energy & Conservation: Contingent Valuation Analysis
Carbon Capture and Sequestration
Water Membrane Technologies
Biodiversity-Forestry
Biolinguistic Diversity
CARBON CAPTURE & SEQUESTRATION
Dr. Jerry Dickens, Dr. Brandon Dugan, Dr. Robert Harris,
Dr. Peter Hartley, Ms. Amy Myers Jaffe, Dr. Neal Lane,
Dr. Andreas Luttge, Dr. Carrie Masiello, Dr. Ken Medlock,
Dr. Ron Sass, Dr. Robin Sickles, Dr. Ronald Soligo,
Dr. Kyriocos Zygourakis
A growing concern among scientists and others is that higher
concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs) will result in
unpredictable and potentially dangerous changes in the Earth's
climate.
This project will create a study team at Rice University that will
explore various environmentally favorable and economically sound
ways to control and reduce atmospheric greenhouse gases. The
long term goal of this study team is to create an integrated set of
Houston-area demonstration projects for carbon capture and
sequestration. A series of workshops and meetings with industry
will contribute to forming a research agenda, public outreach on
the various technologies available to contribute to carbon
management, a website on carbon management technologies,
and long term demonstration project strategy for Texas.
Because of the concentration of industrial and academic talent in
the energy sector, Houston has the potential to become a global
leader in developing, demonstrating and carrying out
technologically, environmentally and financially sound methods for
reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. The Rice carbon
management study group is a first step toward developing carbon
reduction and demonstration projects, including the possible
creation of terrestrial sequestration sites and a FutureGen power
generation pilot plant that can establish Houston at the forefront of
such development.
Shell Center and Baker Institute funds will enable the research
team to organize and convene the workshop at Rice University to
discuss the parameters for building a private/public partnership to
implement a pilot project in Houston. (top)
WATER MEMBRANE TECHNOLOGIES
Dr. Andrew R. Barron, Dr. Vicki L. Colvin,
Dr. Matteo Pasquali, Dr. Michael Wong, Dr. Mark Wiesner
This project brings together expertise from several Rice departments
in the area of membrane fabrication and use to examine
applications where membrane science is likely to enable gamechanging
innovations in water management and energy
production. Leveraging expertise in membrane processes, water
treatment, catalysis and nanochemistry, the team addresses
priorities in the areas of desalination, water supply in remote or
developing areas and managing produced waters and brines in
energy production.
Fundamental research addresses the development of new materials
and processes, specifically in the areas of reactive membranes,
nanostructured membranes, membranes for proton transfer in fuel
cells and gas separation membranes. (top)
BIODIVERSITY-FORESTRY
Invasive Species Control in Floodplain Forests
Dr. William E. Rogers, Dr. Evan H. Siemann,
Dr. Dale S. Sawyer
The Chinese Tallow Tree (Sapium sebiferum) invades many habitats
throughout the Texas Gulf Coast and the southeastern United States.
In the absence of an effective management strategy, this non-native
tree will likely continue to displace the native flora and fauna,
resulting in biologically impoverished, economically degraded
woodlands. This research addresses the effects of removing an
invasive plant in native plant and animal communities. (top)
BIOLINGUISTIC DIVERSITY
Dr. Matt Shibatani, Dr. Gail M. Coelho, Dr. Stephen Tyler
There is accumulating evidence that biodiversity and linguistic
diversity go hand-in-hand, and that one cannot be studied
separately from the other. Where there is the greatest biodiversity,
the highest linguistic diversity tends to be found, e.g. New
Guinea.
This project analyzes the relationship between language and the
traditional ecological knowledge it encodes. The goal is to gain
an understanding of the role of language in the maintenance of
symbiotic human-environment relationships, the role of language in
the acquisition, accumulation, maintenance, and transmission of
traditional ecological knowledge and the way language loss
affects these processes.
Research will be carried out in the Nilgiri Mountains of southern
India, an area rich in biological as well as linguistic diversity. Shell
Center funds will enable the research team to work with members
of the Betta Kurumba community, an ethnic group who lives in the
Montane tropical forests of Nilgiris. The research team will
document the language and lifestyle of the group through audio
recordings of oral narratives in the native language and video
recordings of community activities and gather information about
the group's utilization of natural resources and their traditional
methods of resource management. (top)
|