Projects

Life cycle analysis (LCA) data for ductile iron castings are limited, preventing a comparison with other materials for automotive applications.  This project developed an LCA model to characteriz...

Electrification can reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of light-duty vehicles. Previous studies have focused on comparing battery electric vehicle (BEV) sedans to their conventional internal co...

Groundwater systems are intrinsically heterogeneous with dynamic spatio-temporal patterns, which cause significant challenges in quantifying and mapping their complex processes. However, accurate fore...

The objective of this project is to evaluate the impact of the global pandemic on future travel and associated energy use, emissions, and cost ramifications.  The project will characterize and qu...

The Center for Sustainable Systems at University of Michigan conducted for Borealis Foods a “cradle to grave” life cycle assessment of Chef Woo (CW) instant ramen noodle, a unique product that supp...

Lockdown and social-distancing policy drove U.S. workers to switch to telecommuting during the pandemic of Covid-19 in 2020. Telecommuting has been widely perceived as a sustainable way of working tha...

Research and develop methods and tools to generate plans for individual buildings, businesses, and organizations to achieve carbon neutrality and measure progress towards that goal. Combine methods an...

This was a small project that involved cost analysis for a heat exchanger that was used in an ongoing ARPA-E project.

This report discusses the findings from the Detroit 2030 District Transportation Emissions Baseline Survey that was conducted in 2022. The goal of this survey was to collect data on people who commute...

As solar PV deployment increases in the U.S., so will the volume of decommissioned PV modules and balance of system equipment, and large amounts of annual waste are anticipated by the early 2030s. Cur...

According to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, the Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting standard, Scope 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions constitute emissions that result from indirect a...

The overall goal of these projects was to design, and demonstrate high-performance heat exchangers produced by additive manufacturing for concentrating solar power, process heat, and other demanding a...

Declining wholesale prices, increasing wind and solar penetrations, and rapid diffusion of competing technologies are undermining nuclear generator’s reliance on power market revenues. To succeed give...

SCC-IRG Track 1 The goal of this Smart and Connected Communities (SCC) project is to explore the efficacy of new social-technological paradigms to reduce residential energy insecurity for low- ...

The overall goal of these projects was to design, and demonstrate high-performance heat exchangers produced by additive manufacturing for concentrating solar power, process heat, and other demanding a...

In 2006, the United Nations published Livestock’s Long Shadow, a landmark study that documented the global environmental impacts associated with livestock production (Steinfeld et al., 2006). Since th...

This project estimated the private, climate change, and air pollution-driven benefits and costs of heat pump adoption across the U.S.

Problem Statement: Electrification can decarbonize (or reduce carbon emissions from) vehicles if charging uses electricity from low- or zero-carbon sources. Decisions about where, when, and how ele...