Research Publications

Offering a unique and critical perspective on energy justice, this Handbook delves into an emerging field of inquiry encapsulating multiple strands of scholarship on energy systems. Covering key topic...

The study of urban informality has exploded since Keith Hart theorized the term the ‘informal sector.' This explosion has coincided with a growing interest among urban scholars who train their eyes to...

Providing high-temperature industrial heat is a key decarbonization challenge. Nuclear small modular reactors (SMRs) could meet this decarbonization challenge, but no technoeconomic analyses...

Executive Summary  This project was conducted by six University of Michigan’s School of Environment and Sustainability graduate students (referred to as the research team) to support Meijer’s...

Despite a growing understanding of the importance of knowledge co-production for just and sustainable urban transformations, early career green infrastructure experts typically lack opportunities to p...

Millions of American households suffer from energy poverty, threatening their continued access to electricity. The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 has unveiled the entrenched environmental and energy injust...

Advances in manufacturing technologies and materials are crucial to the commercial deployment of energy technologies. We present the case of concentrating solar power (CSP) with molten salt (MS) therm...

Urban agriculture (UA) is often positioned as an environmentally sustainable food supply for cities. However, life cycle assessments (LCA) measuring environmental impacts of UA show mixed results, bec...

There is a lack of data on resources used and food produced at urban farms. This hampers attempts to quantify the environmental impacts of urban agriculture or craft policies for sustainable food prod...

Quantification of environmental impacts through life cycle assessment is essential when evaluating bioenergy systems as potential replacements for fossil-based energy systems. Bioenergy systems employ...

Hydrological models are usually calibrated to in-situ streamflow observations with reasonably long and uninterrupted records. This is challenging for poorly gage or ungaged basins where such informati...

The transition to electric vehicles (EVs) will impact the climate, the environment, and society in highly significant ways. This study compares EVs to vehicles with internal combustion engines for thr...

Single-use packaging generates millions of tonnes of plastic waste per year – a circular economy waste reduction strategy is to implement reusable container systems for restaurant takeout. We develope...

Urban planning policies have important implications for the quality of life of citizens and residents. Quality of life is measured through ‘objective’ and subjective indicators which offer critical in...

Chapter Summary: This chapter describes work on decarbonizing cars and light trucks through electrification. It then moves on to a discussion of the much more challenging problem of decarbonizing heav...

Human experience of social-ecological changes is governed by interdependent infrastructures that regulate food, energy, and water flows, among others. Yet, research and practice struggle to integrate ...

Rapid transition to decarbonized power systems is important to meet net-zero goals and reduce the impact of human induced climate change. In this transition to a decarbonized power system, uncertainty...

Demand response (DR) programs are an important tool for maintaining grid reliability and for decarbonization of the power sector. Summer residential air condition (AC) direct load control (DLC) is a c...

Plastic is a ubiquitous material that has caused major environmental impacts. Ecosystem damage from improperly disposed plastic waste is the most visible of these impacts; however, plastic also has le...

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is widely used to evaluate product environmental impacts, while detailed LCAs are missing that model the effect of design and manufacturing decisions on U.S. ductile iron c...

New approaches are needed to both reduce and reuse plastic waste. In this context, poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) is an appealing target as it is the least recycled high-production-volume polymer due to i...

Unabated coal power in India must be phased out by mid-century to achieve global climate targets under the Paris Agreement. Here we estimate the costs of hybrid power plants—lithium-ion battery storag...

We review over 60 “visioning documents” authored by non-profits and frontline community members in the United States. These visions of energy justice – authored by the actors and communities that have...

Rationale and objective: This study was conducted by The Center for Sustainable Systems at University of Michigan to provide environmental performance of replacing meat consumption with consumption of...