OISE-PIRE Sustainability, Ecosystem Services, and Bioenergy Development across the Americas

OISE-PIRE 美洲地区的可持续发展、生态系统服务和生物能源开发

• 批准号: 1243444
• 负责人: Kathleen Halvorsen
• 金额: $ 384.19万
• 依托单位: Michigan Technological University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-10-01 至 2018-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1243444&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: OISE; PIRE; Sustainability; Ecosystem; Services

This Partnership in International Research and Education (PIRE) project addresses the question: How will biofuel development impact socio-ecological systems and associated ecosystem services, and how can those impacts best be measured, modeled, and mitigated? Society faces difficult challenges in preventing climate change and reducing dependence on foreign energy supplies that can come from political unstable regions. In response, the US, Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina have moved toward encouraging the development of new energy forms that can be domestically produced in a less environmentally negative fashion than traditional energy from petroleum, coal, or natural gas. The team, led by Michigan Technological University scientists, includes 33 scientists at nine US, three Brazilian, four Mexican, and two Argentine universities and public and private research labs. Bioenergy is energy formed from plants. Many are familiar with bioenergy in the form of firewood used for a campfire or woodstove. Bioenergy can be used to heat buildings, create electricity, or create automotive fuels, including diesel and ethanol. One of the major policy goals of the US, Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina is to promote the development of bioenergy in the forms of both biodiesel and ethanol, generally called biofuel. These fuels will be created from many types of plants, including trees, corn, sugarcane, soybeans, and palm tree nuts. As these countries work toward achieving this goal, it is important to understand whether and what types of these fuels are most likely to allow us to create new energy forms that maximize benefits while minimizing costs, including negative societal and environmental impacts. This research team of scientists from the US, Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina has the goal of increasing understanding of the societal and environmental impacts of different types of biofuels in these four countries. The team focuses on the production of these biofuels in forested regions, areas where the biofuel is being produced from forests or impacting forests through their conversion to agricultural crops, like soybeans. This international team of social, natural, and engineering scientists will work together to collect data about these impacts. But it will also translate findings into new ways to measure and reduce those impacts, while increasing understanding of how public policies can help maximize biofuel benefits while minimizing biofuel costs. Project work will advance understanding of sustainability science while training new generations of students and scientists to work more effectively in teams that include many different types of scientific professionals. The project is funded by NSF's Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE) through the PIRE.

国际研究与教育（PIRE）项目的这种伙伴关系解决了以下问题：生物燃料发展将如何影响社会生态系统和相关的生态系统服务，以及如何最好地测量，建模和减轻这些影响？社会在防止气候变化和减少可能来自政治不稳定地区的外国能源供应的依赖方面面临困难的挑战。 作为回应，美国，巴西，墨西哥和阿根廷已经朝着鼓励开发新能源形式的发展，而新能源形式可以比从石油，煤炭或天然气的传统能源以较少的环境消极方式产生。 由密歇根州技术大学科学家领导的团队包括9位美国的33位科学家，三名巴西，四名墨西哥人以及两所阿根廷大学以及公立和私人研究实验室。生物能源是由植物形成的能量。 许多人以用于篝火或木匠的柴火形式熟悉生物能源。 生物能量可用于加热建筑物，产生电力或产生汽车燃料，包括柴油和乙醇。 美国，巴西，墨西哥和阿根廷的主要政策目标之一是以生物柴油和乙醇的形式促进生物能源的发展，通常称为生物燃料。 这些燃料将由多种类型的植物产生，包括树木，玉米，甘蔗，大豆和棕榈树坚果。随着这些国家致力于实现这一目标，重要的是要了解这些燃料的类型以及最有可能允许我们创造新的能源形式，以最大程度地利用收益，同时最大程度地减少成本，包括负面的社会和环境影响。 来自美国，巴西，墨西哥和阿根廷的科学家研究团队的目标是增加对这四个国家 /地区不同类型生物燃料的社会和环境影响的了解。 该团队专注于在森林地区生产这些生物燃料，这些地区是从森林生产的生物燃料或通过转化为大豆（例如大豆）而影响森林的地区。 这个国际社会，自然和工程科学家团队将共同收集有关这些影响的数据。 但是，它还将把发现转化为衡量和减少这些影响的新方法，同时对公共政策如何帮助最大化生物燃料福利，同时最大程度地减少生物燃料成本。 项目工作将提高对可持续性科学的理解，同时培训新一代的学生和科学家在包括许多不同类型的科学专业人员的团队中更有效地工作。该项目由NSF的国际科学与工程办公室（OISE）资助。