IEE in the News

IEE faculty, staff, and projects in the news

IEE seed grants awarded to 11 interdisciplinary projects

| psu.edu

Eleven interdisciplinary research teams have been awarded funding through Penn State's Institute of Energy and the Environment’s Seed Grant Program for 2024.

Mentions

'Growing Impact' discusses the complex underground process of carbon storage

| psu.edu

The latest episode of Growing Impact explores the process of injecting carbon dioxide underground and mineralizing it to permanently sequester the gas, a path toward reducing carbon emissions and mitigating climate change.

Mentions

Architecture team receives grant to study 3D-printed sustainable materials

| psu.edu

With the support of a seed grant from the Living Multifunctional Materials Collaborative Seed Grant Program through the Convergence Center for Living Multifunctional Material Systems at Penn State, an interdisciplinary Penn State team is working with researchers at the University of Freiburg in Germany to explore the durability and strength of sustainable 3D-printed building components made with mycelium, the root of fungus. 

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Growing Impact: Underground carbon storage

Storing carbon dioxide underground could offset the record amounts of CO2 that humans emit each year. If this technology is successful, it could be an answer to climate change impacts, such as rising temperatures and acidification of the ocean. However, the process is complex and costly. A team of researchers is exploring one way liquid CO2 could be injected into rock formations, which may efficiently convert the molecule into a solid.

Guests

Mussels downstream of wastewater treatment plant contain radium, study reports

| psu.edu

A pair of researchers from Penn State’s Department of Civil and Environment Engineering analyzed the composition of mussels downstream of a wastewater treatment facility in Western Pennsylvania that had accepted and treated fracking wastewater, and found that the tissue and shells of mussels contained radium. Their findings are available online now and will appear in the June issue of Science of the Total Environment.  

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Youth perspectives study on sustainability funded by EMS Sustainability Council

| psu.edu

Researchers in Penn State’s Department of Geography have been awarded $12,000 in funding from the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences (EMS) Sustainability Council for their project, "Youth Perspectives on Sustainability in the College of EMS."

Mentions

Penn State announces tenure-line faculty promotions, effective July 1, 2024

| psu.edu

The following is a list of academic promotions for tenured and tenure-line faculty members at Penn State, effective July 1, 2024.

Mentions

Growing Impact: Underground carbon storage (Preview)

| youtube.com

Episode release date: June 1, 2024. Storing carbon dioxide underground could offset the record amounts of CO2 that humans emit each year. If this technology is successful, it could be an answer to climate change impacts, such as rising temperatures and acidification of the ocean. However, the process is complex and costly. A team of researchers is exploring one way liquid CO2 could be injected into rock formations, which may efficiently convert the molecule into a solid.

Mentions

Mount Washington landslide mitigation begins as climate challenges increase

| wesa.fm

Pittsburgh is the land of landslides, yet research monitoring them is sparse. But projects out of Pittsburgh’s universities could fill in the gaps to sturdy the region’s hillsides. This article mentions Penn State research.

Leaky landscape: Old oil wells could threaten carbon injection safety

| yahoo.com

Oil and gas companies spent more than a century pumping carbon out of Louisiana, leaving a landscape pockmarked with thousands of abandoned wells. Now there are ambitious plans to do the opposite: inject vast quantities of carbon back into the ground in an effort to curb climate change. This article quotes Li Li, professor of civil and environmental engineering.

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Unlocking the true potential of wind energy

Wind energy is a powerful and abundant renewable resource. It could hold the key to a cleaner and more sustainable future. But harnessing its full potential requires overcoming a crucial hurdle: efficiently transmitting electricity generated by wind farms to the power grid.

Authors

EnvironMentors offers high school students a college research experience

| psu.edu

Penn State Harrisburg began participating in the Penn State chapter of EnvironMentors in 2019. The program links a high school student with an undergraduate student mentor and a faculty mentor for an environmentally themed research project that takes place over the course of the academic year. The work culminates in a research symposium at University Park. 

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