Research Publications

This paper provides a technical and economic feasibility assessment of a small scale Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) desalination plant for coastal communities in regions with high direct solar radiati...

Transportation electrification is playing an important role in reducing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. However, the GHG mitigations from electric vehicles is largely determined by the carbon intensit...

Our growing population and increasingly variable climate conditions challenge our ability to meet pressing demands for food, water and energy.  With approximately 70% of U.S. freshwater resources...

Petroleum from unconventional reserves is making an increasingly important contribution to the transportation fuel supply, but is generally more expensive and has greater environmental burdens than pe...

An integrated life cycle assessment and life cycle cost (LCC) model was developed to compare the life cycle performance of plug-in charging versus wireless charging for an electric bus system. The ...

This paper explores the future of solar microgrids, as well as potential supporting government policies and structures, by analyzing rural consumers’ willingness to pay for electricity in the state of...

Plastic packaging is at the center of our lives as it is found in numerous products used every day. Increasing the sustainability of plastic packaging will have a major impact on the world. As one of ...

The Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2) under the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA 2007) mandates the production of 36 billion gallons of biofuel by 2022 for use in the transportation sector. Al...

Bell's Brewery, Inc. is a craft beer brewer based out of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Bell’s gives high priority to sustainability and has undertaken numerous initiatives within the company to reduce energy u...

The problem of accessibility to public transit is well-documented in transportation theory and network literature, and is known as the last mile problem. A lack of first and last mile transit services...

Final project report to the Center for Packaging Innovation and Sustainability Food waste is a critical contemporary issue, both in the U.S. and internationally, in terms of food security and food ...

Cities are expanding green infrastructure to enhance resilience and ecosystem services. Although green infrastructure is promoted for its multifunctionality, projects are typically sited based on a...

Integrating carbon capture and storage into biomass power plants (BioCCS) can reduce carbon emissions, but its ecological performance associated with natural resources consumption remains unexamine...

In the 25 years since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, sweeping political, economic, and social changes have profoundly influenced environmental protection in Russia, the world’s largest coun...

Energy planners in regions with low rates of electrification face complex and high-risk challenges in selecting appropriate generating technologies and grid centralization. To better inform such proce...

Intra-national electricity transmission drives virtual water transfer from electricity production regions to electricity consumption regions. In China, the water-intensive thermoelectric power indu...

The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) requires production of cellulosic biofuel, such as ethanol produced from switchgrass. However, the bioenergy industry faces a well-established “chicken...

This paper addresses water use impacts of agriculture, developing a spatially explicit approach tracing the location of water use and water scarcity related to feed production, transport, and livestoc...

Accounting for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of nations is essential to understanding their importance to global climate change and help inform the policymaking on global GHG mitigation. Previous ...

Mercury (Hg) pollution control has become an urgent need at global and national scales. This study, for the first time, comprehensively examines Hg flows in Mainland China and uncovers domestic and...

According to previous studies, the life cycle energy intensity of an offshore wind farm (OWF) varies between 0.03 and 0.13 megawatt-hours (MWh) of primary energy for each MWh of electricity generat...

Data gaps in life cycle inventory (LCI) are stumbling blocks for investigating the life cycle performance and impact of emerging technologies. It can be tedious, expensive and time consuming for LCI p...

Electricity trade among power grids leads to difficulties in measuring greenhouse gas (GHG) emission factors of purchased electricity. Traditional methods assume either electricity purchased from a...

Food packaging has long served a role in protecting and preserving both perishable and shelf-stable foods, but sustainability efforts aimed at reducing the environmental impact of packaging often o...