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Twelve Research Teams Launching Projects to Advance Duke Climate Commitment Priorities

The new Climate Research Innovation Seed Program (CRISP) announces its first round of awards

The first round of CRISP funding was made possible by generous support from the Office of the Provost; Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability; Pratt School of Engineering; Nicholas School of the Environment; Trinity College of Arts & Sciences; Sanford School of Public Policy; Duke University School of Law; Duke Divinity School; Fuqua School of Business; and the Office of Interdisciplinary Studies.

RESEARCH AWARDS

The Role of Credit and Subsidies in the Green Transition for Residential Buildings

Manuel Adelino (Finance, Fuqua School of Business) (Co-PI)

David T. Robinson (Finance, Fuqua School of Business) (Co-PI)

Michael Zavlanos (Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science, Pratt School of Engineering) (Co-PI)

Heating, cooling and powering residential housing stock account for about one-fifth of the United States’ total annual greenhouse gas emissions. Building on prior research, this project will investigate how government subsidies for energy-saving renovations affect the energy consumption of U.S. households. The project aims to provide key information for decision-makers who want to tailor subsidies for maximum environmental impact.

All-Perovskite Tandem Solar Cells by Integrating Three-Dimensional and Layered Halide Perovskites

Volker Blum (Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science, Pratt School of Engineering) (PI)

David Mitzi (Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science, Pratt School of Engineering) (Co-PI)

Perovskites are crystalline materials that cost little to manufacture yet can generate energy from sunlight more efficiently than current solar panel materials. Combining experimental and computational research on perovskites, the Blum and Mitzi groups will work together to build a prototype of next-generation solar technology.

Experimentally Validated Framework to Quantitatively Model Ion Transport in Novel Solid-State Batteries

Olivier Delaire (Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science, Pratt School of Engineering) (PI)

Johann Guilleminot (Civil & Environmental Engineering, Pratt School of Engineering) (Co-PI)

Safe, power-dense and rechargeable batteries will play a pivotal role in future clean energy economies. Yet creating such batteries requires a better understanding of the ways in which electrochemical energy moves across solid materials, which offer many advantages over the liquids and gels currently in use. To that end, this project will develop a reliable way of modelling lithium-ion transport across solid microstructures.

The Environmental, Health and Justice Implications Associated with Mining of Critical Raw Materials

Avner Vengosh (Earth & Climate Sciences, Nicholas School of the Environment) (PI)

Joel Meyer (Environmental Sciences & Policy, Nicholas School of the Environment) (Co-PI)

Erika Weinthal (Environmental Sciences & Policy, Nicholas School of the Environment) (Co-PI)

This interdisciplinary project will investigate the impacts of mining certain minerals required  for advanced energy technologies such as electric car batteries and solar panels, including lithium, cobalt and nickel. Focusing on Indigenous communities in Bolivia, the team aims to identify and propose mitigation of the key environmental issues associated with such extractive operations.

Duke University Central Campus Geothermal Test – Phase II: Characterizing Fractured Durham Basement Rock for ATES Cooling & Heating

Manolis Veveakis (Civil & Environmental Engineering, Pratt School of Engineering) (PI)

Paul A. Baker (Earth & Climate Sciences, Nicholas School of the Environment)

Laura Elizabeth Dalton (Civil & Environmental Engineering, Pratt School of Engineering)

Heileen (Helen) Hsu-Kim (Civil & Environmental Engineering, Pratt School of Engineering)

Peter E. Malin (Earth & Climate Sciences, Nicholas School of the Environment)

Brian G. McAdoo (Earth & Climate Sciences, Nicholas School of the Environment)

In autumn 2022, Duke researchers drilled a 400-foot (122-meter) deep hole in Duke’s Central Campus to explore for potential sources of geothermal energy. This follow-on effort aims to determine whether certain fractured rocks can be used to store thermal energy and thus help to regulate the temperature inside nearby buildings.

Energy Transformation through Low-Cost Green Hydrogen

Benjamin J. Wiley (Chemistry, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences)

Green hydrogen is produced by chemically breaking down water with electric current generated by renewable energy. Seeking to lower the cost of green hydrogen, this project will develop a more efficient electrolyzer, or source of electric current. Successful completion of the proposed work will lead to the formation of a company to construct commercial-scale electrolyzers.

IDEATION AWARDS

Portending Pollution of Energy Transformation: Using X-Ray Fluorescence Ionomics on Historical Herbarium Collections to Develop an Ecological Biomonitoring Network

Nishad Jayasundara (Environmental Sciences & Policy, Nicholas School of the Environment) (PI)

Kathleen M. Pryer (Biology, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences)

Paul S. Manos (Biology, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences)

Nishanta Rajakaruna (Biological Sciences, College of Science and Mathematics, California Polytechnic State University)

Lithium contamination is an emerging public health concern directly linked to the increased mining, use and disposal of lithium for the manufacture of advanced energy technologies such as electric car batteries and solar panels. Combining botany and environmental policy, this project aims to create a new way to monitor levels of lithium in the ground, air and water based on certain vascular plants like ferns and pine trees. Among other deliverables, the project aims to produce a lithium toxicity map for the state of North Carolina.

Towards an Affordable and Scalable High-Resolution Aerial Mapping Program to Meet Accelerating Climate Change and Environmental Demands

David W. Johnston (Marine Science & Conversation, Nicholas School of the Environment) (PI)

Kyle Bradbury (Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability)

Martin A. Brooke (Electrical & Computer Engineering, Pratt School of Engineering)

Jennifer J. Swenson (Environmental Sciences & Policy, Nicholas School of the Environment)

Experts across Duke have successfully used satellite imagery and aerial robotic systems to survey areas threatened by the effects of climate change. Expanding on that interdisciplinary work, this team of environmental scientists, engineers and legal experts will design a high-resolution integrated sensor package focused on providing key data for new and ongoing remote sensing projects.

Pastoral Care for Climate: Weaving Science and Theology for Environmental Justice

Jerusha Matsen Neal (Duke Divinity School) (PI)

Rebecca L. Vidra (Marine Science & Conversation, Nicholas School of the Environment) (Co-PI)

Elizabeth A. Albright (Environmental Sciences & Policy, Nicholas School of the Environment)

Elizabeth DeMattia (Marine Science & Conversation, Nicholas School of the Environment)

Brian G. McAdoo (Earth & Climate Sciences, Nicholas School of the Environment)

Norman Wirzba (Duke Divinity School)

Norbert Lance Weston Wilson (Duke Divinity School)

Wylin Dassie Wilson (Duke Divinity School)

This project team will organize an interdisciplinary retreat at the Duke Marine Lab to bring together Duke faculty and North Carolina’s faith communities to better understand how to meaningfully engage in building support for a just and resilient future.

Quantifying the Social Costs of Plastic

Michelle Nowlin (Duke Law School) (Co-PI)

John Virdin (Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability) (Co-PI)

Nancy Lauer (Duke Law School)

Tibor Vegh (Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability)

Rachel Karasik (Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability)

For decades, experts around the world have successfully used the social cost of carbon, or the dollar value of the economic impact of carbon emissions, to inform important climate policies. Applying the same concept to a new field, this team aims to quantify the dollar value associated with the environmental and social impacts of plastics.

Economic and Ecological Impacts of Repurposing Oil and Gas Plugged and Abandoned Wells for Renewable Energy

Dalia Patino-Echeverri (Environmental Sciences & Policy, Nicholas School of the Environment) (PI)

Elizabeth Leigh Kalies (Environmental Sciences & Policy, Nicholas School of the Environment) (Co-PI)

James S. Clark (Environmental Sciences & Policy, Nicholas School of the Environment)

Bryan Higgins (Student, Earth & Climate Sciences, Nicholas School of the Environment)

Lydia Olander (Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability)

Lincoln F. Pratson (Environmental Sciences & Policy, Nicholas School of the Environment)

Avoiding the worst effects of climate change will require installation of extensive renewable energy infrastructure over thousands of acres of land. To that end, this project will explore ways to repurpose decommissioned oil wells as solar panel installation mounts and as sources of geothermal energy in New Mexico.

Visualizing Climate and Community Resilience: Contemporary ‘Green’ Germany as a Case Study

Christopher W. Sims (Sanford School of Public Policy) (PI)

William L. Bamberger, Jr. (Duke Center for Documentary Studies)

Susanne Freytag (German Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences)

John Wills Moses, Jr. (Pediatrics, Duke School of Medicine)

Anne Mitchell Whisnant (Duke Social Science Research Institute)

Karsten Fitz (American Studies/Cultural and Media Studies, University of Passau)

Dennis WC Liu (Vice President of Education, E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation)

Today, German citizens stand at the vanguard of Europe’s Green Movement. To explore this phenomenon’s social roots, Chris Sims will lead the creation and exhibition of large-scale documentary photographs in Berlin’s Tête Gallery. The subjects of the photographs will include playgrounds (Bauspielplätze), suburban garden plots (Schrebergärten), as well as the German Forest (der deutsche Wald).