Research Publications

Assessing the environmental performance of industrial processes is an established activity at most manufacturing companies. However, many of the broader environmental impacts attributable to a comp...

Modification and loss of forests due to natural and anthropogenic disturbance contribute an estimated 20% of annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions worldwide. Although forestcarbonpool modeling rare...

Fuel economy has been an effective indicator of vehicle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for conventional gasoline-powered vehicles due to the strong relationship between fuel economy and vehicle life c...

Previous studies of the availability of lithium for use in batteries to power electric vehicles (EVs) have reached the generally encouraging conclusion that resources are sufficient to meet growing de...

This study presents an analysis of the cradle to farm gate greenhouse gas footprint of milk. Compared with the detailed model, we aim to accurately represent the variations in carbon footprint across ...

China has pledged to reduce its CO2 emissions per unit of GDP by 40–45% by 2020 as of 2005 level. This research examines China's 2020 carbon intensity target and its interdependence with the overar...

Corporate governance scholars are increasingly interested in firms' social and environmental performance. Empirical research in this area, however, has moved forward in an uncoordinated fashion, pr...

Over half of the world’s population now lives in cities and this figure may reach 60% by 2030. Although urban centers have become a primary driver of resource consumption and waste production, they...

The Center for Sustainable Systems (CSS) was contracted to update the raw material production data used to calculate the environmental burdens from vehicle production within the GREET model.  In ...

This study presents a linear profit model with combined economic and environmental factors for a switchgrass-for-biofuels agricultural system in the southeastern U.S. The objectives are to establish c...

The lack of multi-day data for household travel and vehicle capability requirements is an impediment to evaluations of energy savings strategies, since 1) travel requirements vary from day-to-day, and...

This research assesses the comparative environmental profiles of the bioenergy systems - biofuel (ethanol) and biomass electricity - derived from switchgrass. Switchgrass cultivation as a dedicated en...

A healthy debate on the treatment of metals recycling in the life cycle assessment (LCA) community has persisted for more than a decade. While no clear consensus across stakeholder groups has emerged,...

Life cycle analysis (LCA) provides a methodology to quantify the environmental impacts of a product or process throughout its entire supply chain. However when used alone, this approach fails to ac...

Life cycle assessment provides a comprehensive framework to evaluate the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from electrified vehicles (EVs) and their potential for GHG reduction as they gain mark...

The development and deployment of clean vehicles bring great potential of reducing transportation greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and dependency on fossil fuels. The net GHG reduction through clean v...

A photovoltaic (PV) module testing system was installed at latitude 42.6978 and longitude -83.2419 in 2010 for the purpose of evaluating the impacts of irradiance, temperature and angle-of-incidenc...

A population of drivers was simulated using a microsimulation model. Consistent with the 2001 National Household Travel Survey (NHTS), a wide range of daily driving distance was observed. This heterog...

An interdisciplinary team of six students from the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources & Environment (SNRE) spent twelve months working with the India based, social enterprise, Sa...

Materials play a major role in defining the sustainability performance of automobiles throughout their materials-production, manufacturing, use, and end-of-life stages. Materials production and manufa...

Biogas is becoming an increasingly popular product from the treatment of wastewater, agriculture, food, and municipal solid waste. The process of anaerobic digestion (AD) allows organic waste streams ...

Urban parks throughout the nati on are recognizing the need to become more sustainable environments, moving beyond their traditi onal roles. The Huron-Clinton Metropolitan Authority, which oversees 13...

The Michigan Green Communities network was formed in 2010 in order to connect communities throughout the state and encourage increased sustainability activity through capacity-building, information sh...