SusChEM:US/China Workshop on Combustion Related to Sustainable Energy

University Of Utah, Salt Lake City UT

Investigators

Abstract

Abstract Proposal Number: 1430001 P.I.: Eric G. Eddings This workshop is targeted to identify high-priority specific research objectives that can be pursued significantly better by collaborative U.S. - China research teams than by U.S. researchers and China researchers working separately without U.S. - China collaboration. In this workshop, U.S. and China researchers will define high-priority research objectives on combustion related to sustainable energy and identify related collaborative research project areas that are potentially fundable jointly by the U.S. NSF and the China NSF. The workshop is designed for broad and in-depth discussions of challenges, opportunities, and collaborations in critical areas of combustion related to sustainable energy. Participants from each country are leading/active scholars in the general area of combustion (which includes combustion, gasification, pyrolysis and related thermal processes). The workshop will include the following 4 themes: 1) global climate change considerations, such as reducing the emissions of greenhouse gas emissions through carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), and switching to lower carbon or more carbon-neutral fuels; 2) sustainable fuel supply, which includes a transition to more renewable resources, but also new fossil-based resources (e.g. shale gas) and new approaches for using fossil resources in a more climate-friendly manner; 3) other environmental impacts beyond climate change (Hg, NOx, SOx, PM2.5, air toxics emission, solid/liquid waste streams); and 4) energy efficiency considerations, which would impact each of the 3 previous items. China and the US are the top two generators of CO2 emissions from fossil-fuel combustion. Consequently, US-China collaboration on combustion and sustainable energy are essential for addressing a variety of global energy-related challenges, ranging from sustainable fuel supply to air quality, solid waste management and global warming. The participants will gain a broader perspective on global combustion and sustainable energy challenges, which they can incorporate into their teaching and research programs. The workshop will develop a network of collaborators well versed in key energy research questions for each of the participant countries. In addition, one US graduate student from an under-represented group will participate in the meeting, allowing her to broaden her perspective on US-China sustainable energy challenges, global collaboration, and promising future research directions. Finally, the proposed project will disseminate the workshop's results and key findings through a final report that will be provided to the U.S. NSF as a key deliverable and which will also be made available on the website for the Institute of Clean and Secure Energy at the University of Utah. This award is co-funded by the Global Venture Fund (GVF) of NSF's International Science and Engineering section (ISE) as well as the CBET division of NSF's Engineering Directorate.