Institute on the Environment
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Item Adding Value to Ethanol Production Byproducts Through Production of Biochar and Bio-oil(2010) Spokas, K.; Ruan, R.; Morrison, B.The goal of this project is to increase the value of distillers grain by sequestering carbon and producing additional renewable energy resources (bio-oil and syngas) through microwave assisted pyrolysis. More specifically, we will have an optimized process for capturing additional bio-energy, and at the same time producing a potential soil improvement agent from an existing byproduct. We will examine the potential increase in soil fertility and carbon storage of this produced biochar. The potential long-term outcomes of this research are the development and promotion of on-farm energy production using microwave assisted pyrolysis and distillers grain as a feedstock as well as improving the sustainability of corn production through returning carbon to the field.Item Adding Value to Ethanol Production Byproducts Through Production of Biochar and Bio-oil(2011-11) Spokas, K.; Ruan, R.; Morrison, R.This study aims at increasing the value of distillers’ grain by sequestering carbon and producing additional renewable energy resources (bio-oil and syngas) through microwave assisted pyrolysis. Bio-oil can be further upgraded to drop-in transportation fuels. Biochars are tested for their potential as soil improvement agents.Item Art, Story, and Infrastructure: A Model for Experiential Interconnection in Environmental Education(2011) Brigham, Jonee KulmanHow can we make sustainability concepts and concerns personally relevant and meaningful? The focus on cultural sustainability in the 2010 edition of State of the World and the Institute on the Environment’s cross disciplinary efforts such as “River Life”, and “Dialogue Earth,” among many other trends, underscore the importance of integrating the tools of cultural development such as art and storytelling with scientific development toward effective sustainable outcomes and effective outreach of environmental information to broad audiences. The conveniences of infrastructure have allowed individual actions, such as water use choices, to be experientially disconnected from impacts to natural systems. However, by paying attention to infrastructure and integrating it into our concepts of the world, we can counter its invisibility and better appreciate its contributions while better understanding the implications of its over‐use. This project is gathering an interdisciplinary team of University faculty and outside partners around the topic of how to use place‐based interaction with infrastructure, interpreted through art, story, and science to create an experiential and informed sense of interconnection of our daily use of resources with the engineering and natural systems in which they interact. The project lays the essential groundwork needed to develop a replicable curriculum model based on a concurrent research process and demonstration project. The work of the project will be available for use and further development by the environmental education community, schools, and other researchers.Item Assessing the benefits of ENRTF funded conservation easements(2018-10) Noe, Ryan; Keeler, Bonnie; Johnson, Justin; Kilgore, Michael; Taff, Steven; Polasky, StephenItem Biobased Pressure-Sensitive Adhesives(2010) Roerdink Lander, Monique; Zhang, Jiguang; Houtman, Carl J.; Severtson, Steven J.Pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) products have become ubiquitous in our homes and offices through address labels, stamps, sticky notes, and tapes. The majority of these PSAs are based on petroleum-derived acrylates. In 2006, more than 300 million dry pounds of acrylic adhesive was sold in the United States. Incorporation of biomass-derived resources as a substitute for acrylates will make a significant contribution in the development of sustainable products. We developed PSAs with high biomass-content using biomass-based macromonomers, which can copolymerize with standard adhesive acrylates and replace 40-60% of petroleum-based raw materials. The work described here is an example of a novel, yet pragmatic approach to develop sustainable PSA formulations by simple modifications of successful commercial products, while maintaining performance.Item BIRD COLLISIONS ON CAMPUS(2011) Beard, Stephanie A.Hundreds of millions of birds die each year in the United States as a result of collisions with plate-glass. It is estimated to be the largest source of avian mortality associated with humans. As our population continues to grow by an expected three billion individuals, more structures will be built, and the threat will increase. Further, modern buildings are frequently designed with large expanses of glass, often for energy efficiency, which greatly increases their danger to birds. Birds are vital to human well-being. They provide a number of ecosystem services, so their loss is our loss. For example, birds are vital to seed dispersal and plant pollination. They also reduce the numbers of insect pests, saving on crop losses and lessening the need for pesticides. Birds strengthen the resiliency of ecosystems, and are a vital part of our culture—a source of pleasure, inspiration and beauty.Item Campaign to Ban Bomb Trains(University of Minnesota Institute on the Environment, 2015) Angelich, Christian D.Item Can urban trees help protect our lakes and streams?(2011) Nidzgorski, Daniel A.; Hobbie, Sarah E.Item Climate Tracking: Applications of a Novel Technique to Sustainability(2012-07-24) Barnes, Richard; Lehman, Clarence; Williams, Shelby; Frelich, LeeClimate change has profound implications for the sustainability of society and the environment, yet estimates of climate change cover times scales which make results difficult to verify, are often computationally expensive to make, and have uncertainties which are not easily communicated, especially outside the area of computational meteorology and mathematics. We present a method of quantifying climate change over the past century and into the near‐future which bypasses many of these problems. Using historical weather data and a surface‐fitting algorithm, we are able to extract "climate velocities", representing the surface speed and direction of the climate for any location. Projections from these velocities can be used to extract possible future locations and direction‐of‐movement of biomes, biofuel hotspots, and agricultural productivity, with implications for conservation parkways, preemptive revegetation, agricultural policy.Item Coffee to biodiesel: A quest for green energy(2016) Ramitha, D.M.; Rupasinghe, Y.P.; Fischer, AbbeyItem Community Solar Gardens(2014) Colbaugh, Jessica; Dhir, Sanjay; Edmunds, Nakia; Gardynski, Matt; Halvorsen, Erik; Song, JosiahThe future of Minnesota can be reshaped through Community Solar Gardens’ renewable energy.Item Community-Scale Energy Storage Guide: How Community Groups and Small Businesses Can Employ Energy Storage to Save Money and Contribute to Minnesota’s Clean Energy TransitionVenning, Alex; Everett, Akisha; Kenney, Melissa A.; Institute on the EnvironmentThis guide is for people who have or are interested in investing in renewable energy batteries to power their homes, businesses, or community spaces. In it, we’ll walk you through how the US electricity grid operates, how renewable energy generated by homes and buildings works alongside it, and how investing in battery storage for renewable energy can optimize resources and help protect communities against power outages. We’ll also overview the different technologies available for storing renewable energy for future use and the partners, costs, and steps involved with installing an energy storage battery. Recent case studies from three sites in Minnesota, a state without fossil fuel reserves yet rich in renewable resources, illustrate how energy storage batteries help aid in the resilience of communities and the health of the planet by reducing reliance on fossil fuels.Item Item Development of a Solar Smoleniec/Stirling Hybrid Thermo-Mechanical Generator(2010) Goldberg, Louise F.The Thermo-Mechanical Generator was invented in 1967 and is an ingeniously simple and elegant heat engine operating on a Stirling thermodynamic cycle that can yield cogenerated electrical and thermal energy from moderately hot heat sources (200-500°C). A new version of this heat engine has been invented that is capable of operating off concentrated solar energy provided by inexpensive, acrylic Fresnel lenses. A key innovation in the technology is the use of a digital thermodynamic Smoleniec/Stirling cycle to optimize the performance of the heat engine in real time. A state space analysis of the engine has been completed that demonstrates that the invention can operate successfully. So far, the analysis has predicted an output electrical power of 1.9 kW when operating between hot and cold temperature limits of 500 C and 20 C respectively. Under these conditions the engine operates at a frequency of 87 Hz.Item Does sustainable school design matter?(2012-02-27) Turner, ElizabethThere is a growing trend toward building “green schools” which promote the environmental, but also economic and social, sustainability of the communities they support through design strategies such as green roofs and geothermal heating, but also programmatic components like urban farming and student-run cafes. In many cases, the educational goals of the academic institution drive innovative and sustainable construction practices which serve as a “living laboratory” for students. This research begins with case studies of sustainable learning environments, from pre-K facilities to Universities, with particular attention paid to sustainable design strategies and student engagement in the design process. The project then analyzes the specific priorities of Great River Montessori Junior/Senior High in St. Paul and proposes a “sustainable” design based on the school’s interpretation of Maria Montessori’s educational philosophy and input from students, faculty and staff. The next step will be an evidence-based research project, which will examine the possibilities for schools to maximize potential for students to learn about sustainable systems through the design, construction, and maintenance of learning environments.Item An Education for the 21st Century: Environmental Justice Framework(2019) Knighton, NickItem Educowtion(2019) Knoble, AbigailItem Effective Impervious Area in Urban Stormwater Management(2014) Ebrahimian, Ali; Gulliver, John S.; Wilson, Bruce N.Item Efficient charge transfer from excited state dye molecules into nanoparticles as a model for dye sensitized solar cells(2011-11) Hue, Ryan; Vatassery, Rajan; Hinke, Jon; Mann, Kent; Blank, David; Gladfelter, WayneWe deconstruct the DSSC and focus on the sensitization mechanism to extract a thorough understanding of the charge separation process. Our study of the dye's interactions with the nanoparticles provides details about the attachment, the surface environment and the ability for the dyes to inject electrons in competition with loss mechanisms.