University of Michigan Center for Sustainable Systems Achieves 1,000 Scientific Publications Milestone
Ann Arbor, MI, October 23 2024 - The Center for Sustainable Systems (CSS) at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) announced this month a significant milestone in its 33-year history, reaching a cumulative total of 1,000 scientific publications. “This is an exciting achievement and we are proud of the impact our work is having advancing sustainability and climate solutions,” says Greg Keoleian, the Center’s co-founder and co-director.
Established in 1991, the Center has been cataloging journal articles, conference proceedings, reports, and theses produced by its core affiliated faculty, staff, and students. Recently, in the span of just over a week, five new studies pushed that count over the 1,000 mark, and the Center is sharing the “1,000th paper” honor among them. These publications exemplify the breadth of research undertaken by the CSS team.
- In Carbon and energy footprinting across archetypes for U.S. maple syrup production, Spencer Checkoway (Research Assistant and PhD student), Geoffrey Lewis (Research Specialist), and Gregory Keoleian (Co-director) evaluate opportunities for maple syrup producers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, energy, and cost.
- In Triple exposure: the geographic correlation between flooding risk, climate skepticism, and social vulnerability in the United States, Dimitrios Gounaridis (Research Fellow) and Joshua Newell (Professor) examine areas with heightened climate risk and propose a range of policy strategies to enhance local resilience.
- In Over 6 billion liters of Canadian milk wasted since 2012, Ben Goldstein (Assistant Professor) investigates how Canada’s dairy supply management system leads to the overproduction and disposal of 6.8 billion liters of raw milk each year. This waste contributes to 8.4 million tonnes of CO2 emissions.
- In Identifying robust decarbonization pathways for the Western U.S. electric Power system under deep climate uncertainty, Michael Craig (Assistant Professor) creates and tests a framework to develop power grid decarbonization pathways that are resilient to climate-related uncertainty.
- In Towards a national energy poverty strategy, Tony Reames (Associate Professor) introduces the Department of Energy’s effort to develop a national energy poverty framework to measure and address household energy insecurity.
Keoleian adds, “At our core, the Center’s research emphasizes systems analysis and stakeholder engagement, and examines key technology, policy, market, and behavior drivers to accelerate solutions and just transitions. Studies have ranged from climate impacts on the grid to optimal electric vehicle charging, and from energy justice demographic maps to carbon footprinting, green infrastructure, and food and packaging waste reduction, plus so much more!”
The body of publications includes approximately 400 on urban systems, buildings, and the built environment; 400 on energy; 350 on food, agriculture, consumer products, and packaging; 300 on mobility and transportation; and 80 on water resources (many publications cover multiple topics). More than 200 use life cycle assessment (LCA) techniques. The study authors include hundreds of graduate students who have conducted research while pursuing their studies.
For a comprehensive list of CSS’s research publications, visit the CSS Publications page.
About the Center for Sustainable Systems:
For more than 30 years, the Center for Sustainable Systems has pioneered systems science to accelerate real-world solutions for sustainability challenges across energy, transportation, the built environment, and food and water systems. Our mission is to advance systems science for climate action and a sustainable society. Stay informed about our latest research and developments by following us on LinkedIn.