University
of Colorado Boulder-led research network explores natural gas development effects,
while Penn State-centered network focuses on sustainable climate risk
management strategies
To explore ways of maximizing the
benefits of natural gas development while minimizing potential negative effects
on human communities and ecosystems, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has
entered into a cooperative agreement with a University of Colorado Boulder
(CU-Boulder)-led team of scientists, engineers and educators and eight partner
organizations.
NSF has also entered into a cooperative
agreement with another interdisciplinary team of scientists, engineers and
educators; it supports a multi-institution research network on sustainable
climate risk management strategies. The network is centered at Penn State
University and involves nine other U.S. universities and research institutes.
Known as NSF Sustainability Research
Networks, or SRNs, the teams will focus on the effects of natural gas
development on air and water resources, and on how to adapt to and mitigate the
risks of climate change, while developing new sustainability strategies in an
altered world.
The SRN program is part of NSF's
Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability (SEES) investment.
"Unraveling complex processes
involving Earth systems, especially the coupling of human activities and
climate, depends increasingly on partnerships among natural science, philosophy
and ethics, economics, social science, mathematics and engineering," says
Marge Cavanaugh, NSF acting assistant director for Geosciences.
"The Sustainability Research
Networks will enable synergistic and catalytic interaction among these
disparate disciplines," says Cavanaugh, "with the goal of finding
answers to the most critical questions about sustainability."
The SRNs are supported by NSF's
Directorates for Geosciences; Engineering; Social, Behavioral & Economic
Sciences; Biological Sciences; Computer & Information Science &
Engineering; Mathematical & Physical Sciences; Education & Human
Resources; Office of International Science and Engineering; and Office of Polar
Programs.
"Due to national economic and
energy security priorities, fossil fuels will likely continue to be a
significant part of the energy portfolio in the U.S and throughout the globe
for the foreseeable future," says Thomas Peterson, NSF assistant director
for Engineering.
"Climate and coastal regions are
likely to be at increasing risk, and water resources and air quality may also
become more challenged," he says. "The objective of the SRNs is to
contribute to building a sound scientific and engineering foundation for addressing
such risks and challenges."
"Sustainability Research Networks
combine the best of our research efforts in social and physical science and
engineering into an effort to better understand the complex relationships
between environmental change and the human condition," says Myron Gutmann,
NSF assistant director for Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences.
"The SRNs include combinations of
social sciences that will guide the future of our efforts to create a
sustainable planet."
NSF
SEES SRN: Sustainable Climate Risk Management Strategies
Human beings live in a new age, many
scientists believe, one called the Anthropocene, in which human effects on
Earth's systems are powerful regulators of how those systems function. Or how
they are beginning to break down.
"Our vision is to produce improved
analysis frameworks, to develop and mentor the next generation of diverse
researchers, and to inform decisions for managing climate-related risks in the
Anthropocene," says Klaus Keller, principal investigator of the
sustainable climate risk management strategies SRN and a geoscientist at Penn
State.
The co-principal investigators of the
network are Robert Lempert, RAND Corp.; Chris Forest, Department of
Meteorology, and Karen Fisher-Vanden, Department of Agricultural Economics,
Sociology, and Education, both at Penn State; and James Edmonds, Pacific
Northwest National Laboratory.
Scientists and policymakers have
identified the potential for threshold responses, or "tipping
points," in climate change.
Disintegration of the West Antarctic or
Greenland ice sheets, changes in the North Atlantic Ocean's circulation,
release of carbon stored in Arctic permafrost, and a dieback of the Amazon
rainforest are examples of such threshold responses.
A melting of the Greenland ice sheet,
for example, would cause sea-level rise that could threaten the sustainability
of low-lying regions.
"Proposed approaches to the
management of climate-related risks through adaptation, mitigation and
geoengineering differ in their costs and benefits, and their vulnerability to
uncertainties," says Keller.
"Our goal is to advance the
foundations of sustainability research through an integrated and quantitative
approach that links the social, economic and environmental components of
climate risk management."
The economic component will contribute
to research on sound foundations of sustainability, and on the potential
consequences of different representations of sustainability in integrated
assessment models.
The environmental component will provide
assessments of these different strategies, as well as of potential definitions
of sustainability.
The social component will analyze issues
such as the ethical dimensions of inter- and intra-generational equity and
diversity of ethical frameworks.
Earth system modeling will be used to
analyze possible future scenarios and interactions among the components of our
planet's systems.
In a wide range of projects conducted
under the SRN's umbrella, ways of quantifying uncertainty--a central theme
across the models and methods--will be used to assess climate risk management.
The SRN will provide dedicated
cyberinfrastructure for collaborative modeling, data sharing and synthesis
across projects, and will be integrated with a network of collaborators in the
U.S. and beyond to gather the experts required to address these broad
challenges.
It will engage students and teachers by
sharing research results and insights through climate- and energy-focused
professional development workshops and online educational resources.
The SRN will generate the knowledge and
tools, say Keller and colleagues, to address the challenges of formulating
sustainable climate risk management strategies in the Anthropocene.
NSF
SEES SRN: Natural Gas Development and its Effects On Air and Water Resources
In the natural gas effects SRN, led by
Joseph Ryan of CU-Boulder's civil, environmental and architectural engineering
department, researchers will study social, ecological and economic aspects of
the development of natural gas resources--and the protection of air and water
resources--in the Rocky Mountain region.
"We all create demand for natural
gas, so we have to accept some of the outcomes of its extraction," says
Ryan. "Our goal is to provide a framework for society to evaluate the
trade-offs associated with the benefits and costs of natural gas
development."
The SRN team includes air and water
quality scientists, social scientists, human health researchers, information
technology experts, and a substantial outreach and education effort.
Partners on the project include the
Colorado School of Mines, Colorado State University, University Corporation for
Atmospheric Research, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration, University of Michigan, Colorado School of
Public Health, and California State Polytechnic University Pomona.
The SRN will be advised by an external
committee that includes representatives of the oil and gas industry, regulatory
agencies, environmental organizations, local governments, academia and Native
American tribes.
As part of the effort, researchers led
by petroleum engineer William Fleckenstein of the Colorado School of Mines will
evaluate the current state of drilling technology, the integrity of well bore
casings, and natural gas collection mechanisms.
Two of the project teams will address
water resources. One, led by hydrogeologist Stephen Osborn of California State
Polytechnic University Pomona, will review industry practices for hydraulic
fracturing, which involves pumping pressurized water, sand and chemicals deep
down well bores to crack rocks and free petroleum and natural gas for easier
extraction. The group will also review improvements in current water treatment
technology.
The second team, led by CU-Boulder civil
engineer Harihar Rajaram, will investigate the hydrologic processes tied to
potential risks of natural gas and oil extraction, including the effects of
hydraulic fracturing on groundwater and aquifer systems.
Hydraulic fracturing requires large
volumes of chemically treated water--most wells require between 3 million and 5
million gallons of water.
The fracturing fluid left in the ground,
as well as the fluid that returns to the surface, known as
"flowback," present potential ecological and health risks if not
handled properly, Ryan says.
The extraction of natural gas and oil by
hydraulic fracturing also results in atmospheric emissions of some greenhouse
gases and volatile organic compounds.
But natural gas is seen as a
"bridge fuel" by many that leads away from coal combustion toward
cleaner, more sustainable methods of producing energy, says SRN scientist
Patrick Bourgeron of CU-Boulder's Institute for Arctic and Alpine Research.
Mechanical engineer Jana Milford of
CU-Boulder will lead a monitoring and modeling effort to look at the potential
risks of natural gas and oil development to air quality.
John Adgate of the Colorado School of
Public Health in Denver will spearhead a group assessing the potential risks of
natural gas development to public health.
The network's research findings will be
evaluated in social-ecological system models in an effort led by CU-Boulder
economist Catherine Keske.
The SRN's results also will be shared
with the public through an extensive outreach and education effort led by
CU-Boulder historian Patricia Limerick of the Center of the American West.
The effort includes a "citizen
science" component in which the public is encouraged to take science
measurements--including air quality readings with portable instruments
compatible with smart phones--and share the results with the SRN research team.
"The citizen science aspect of this
effort," says mechanical engineer Michael Hannigan of CU-Boulder,
"will result in a stronger connection between the public and the science
used to make regulatory decisions."
-NSF-
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