Research Publications

As the United States undergoes an unprecedented1 shift away from carbon-intensive energy sources and towards a clean energy future, federal policy will play a major role in supporting workers and regi...

Agriculture accounts for 80% of global freshwater consumption but the environmental impacts of water use are highly localized and depend on water scarcity. The water use impacts of food production ...

This report describes and presents estimation of the Ann Arbor 2030 District transportation greenhouse gas emissions baseline using a survey administered to District members. The survey methods and gr...

In Kampala, Uganda, motorcycle taxis - boda bodas - play a critical role in moving people and goods across the city. This informal industry is a significant source of income for an estimated 150,000 p...

There has been exponential growth in the PV market around the world in the last decade. Although this growth is needed to reduce carbon emissions of energy production, this growth has resulted in a gr...

This paper presents an Agent-Based Model that determines the minimum cost strategy for rural electrification delivery systems and associated decentralized generation focusing entirely on renewable ...

Spatially explicit urban air quality information is important for developing effective air quality control measures. Traditionally, urban air quality is measured by networks of stationary monitors ...

Most of Earth’s fresh surface water is consolidated in just a few of its largest lakes, and because of their unique response to environmental conditions, lakes have been identified as climate chang...

Hydrogen has the potential to contribute to a clean, secure, and affordable energy future. It can provide distributed energy storage for intermittent renewable energy resources and support hydrogen-ba...

Background Do the environmental impacts inherent in national food-based dietary guidelines (FBDG) vary around the world, and, if so, how? Most previous studies that consider this question focus o...

As an energy storage technology, pumped storage hydropower (PSH) supports various aspects of power system operations. However, determining the value of PSH plants and their many services and contribut...

Many studies examine the correlation between the use of resources such as water, energy and land, and the production of food. These nexus studies focus predominantly on large scale systems, often c...

The Carbon Accounting Subgroup developed and implemented a comprehensive carbon accounting model for the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, Dearborn, and Flint campuses). The model integrates existing...

This paper presents an Agent-Based Model that determines the minimum cost strategy for rural electrification delivery systems and associated decentralized generation focusing entirely on renewable ...

Carbon capture and utilization for concrete production (CCU concrete) is estimated to sequester 0.1 to 1.4 gigatons of carbon dioxide (CO2) by 2050. However, existing estimates do not account for t...

Despite hosting nearly 8% of the United States’ wind energy potential, only one utility-scale wind farm exists on tribal lands. Several barriers hindering tribes’ capacity to harness their lands’ w...

The electric power sector in the United States faces many challenges related to climate change. On the demand side, climate change could shift demand patterns due to increased air temperatures. On the...

Power systems worldwide are becoming more reliant on energy from natural gas, wind, and solar, posing potential reliability and coordination challenges from the tighter coupling of these infrastructur...

The United States (U.S.) imports 87 percent of its avocados from a single Mexican region, Michoacán. Although environmental and social costs associated with avocado production are significant, consume...

The United States spends more on health care than any other OECD country, yet the nation’s health is declining. Recent research has identified multiple sources for this decline, including one’s pos...

Aquaponics technology has recently been offered as a good option for sustainable food systems among small-scale farmers, particularly those seeking an organic production or dealing with land quality c...

The cold chain (refrigerated supply chain) is an important application of refrigeration technologies. The capacity of the cold chain industry is growing rapidly in emerging economies such as China,...

The past decade was the wettest on record for much of central and eastern North America. Near the beginning of this period of regional water abundance, however, drought conditions reinforced concer...