Projects | Institute of Energy and the Environment

Map of the city of Philadelphia with white roads on an icy blue frozen background

A Spatiotemporal Analysis of Community Power Outage Impact under Extreme Weather

Awarded: 2024 | Project Type: IEE Seed Grant

This research is studying how power outages affect homes and people during extreme weather, considering factors like building types, resident demographics, and resident behaviors, to help communities prepare better.

View of brightly-roofed houses in Accra, Ghana

Assessing Front-Line Health Workers’ and Community Members’ Awareness of the Link between Climate Change and Ebola Virus Disease in Ghana

Awarded: 2024 | Project Type: IEE Seed Grant

A research team is studying how climate change affects Ebola spread in Ghana and assessing healthcare workers' and community members' knowledge and attitudes to improve preparedness and prevention strategies.

Climate-Smart Agroforestry: Unraveling Ecological Interactions for Enhanced Vector-Borne Disease Surveillance and Prediction in Tropical Regions

Awarded: 2024 | Project Type: IEE Seed Grant

By using portable technology to identify pathogens in ticks, this research project is studying how shade-grown cacao farms in Belize might affect the spread of diseases between animals and people.

Developing Nonreciprocal Thermal Emitters for Renewable Energy Harvesting

Awarded: 2024 | Project Type: IEE Seed Grant

This research project is developing special materials that emit heat in one direction but not absorb heat in the same direction, which could improve the efficiency of solar cells and other renewable energy technologies.

A red harvester works to harvest corn in a field

Development and Social Implications of CO2-Negative Bioproducts Derived from Crop Residues for On-Site Energy and Decarbonized Cement Production

Awarded: 2024 | Project Type: IEE Seed Grant

This project aims to turn farm waste into a CO2-absorbing material for cement production, helping farmers while addressing climate change.

Long exposure photograph of city traffic at night in an urban environment

Equitable Optimization of Transportation Systems and Services to Address Climate and Sustainability Challenges

Awarded: 2024 | Project Type: IEE Seed Grant

This interdisciplinary research project leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to optimize transportation networks and services, aiming to achieve significant reductions in energy consumption and pollution within urban environments.

Computer 3d rendering of a residential building

Expectations vs. Achievements: Building Energy Use in Planning and Operation

Awarded: 2024 | Project Type: IEE Seed Grant

This research team is investigating why actual energy use in homes can be much higher or lower than what is predicted by computer models, aiming to improve the accuracy of building energy predictions.

A woman carrying a child stands near the ocean in the sun

Heat Waves, Household Adaption, and Infant Health in California

Awarded: 2024 | Project Type: IEE Seed Grant

This project investigates how heat waves harm pregnant women and newborns, especially in poorer communities with less air conditioning, aiming to inform policies that reduce these health disparities.

A gloved hand holds a perovskite solar cell

Integrating c-AFM Characterization with Machine Learning Techniques to Decipher MAPbI3 Instability in Perovskite Solar Cells

Awarded: 2024 | Project Type: IEE Seed Grant

Scientists are using a powerful microscope and computer analysis to investigate why perovskite solar cells lose efficiency over time.

Aerial view of a brown river winding through rainforest with a village nearby

Protecting the Amazon Rainforest from Oil Exploitation: Combining Indigenous Body-Territory Epistemology with Environmental Monitoring to Empower Local Conservation Efforts

Awarded: 2024 | Project Type: IEE Seed Grant

This research team will work with Indigenous people in the Amazon rainforest to combine their knowledge of the land with science to create a detailed map showing how oil extraction has polluted the water and soil.

The Susquehanna River with levees and mountains in the background near Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania

Visualizing Inland Flood Hazard in the Face of Climate Change

Awarded: 2024 | Project Type: IEE Seed Grant

A research team is creating realistic 3D flood visualizations to better show communities the dangers of future flooding and failing levees due to climate change.

African woman working with african man on computer in a office setting

Addressing the Energy Transition Puzzle Through Combined Experimental and Computational Efforts

Awarded: 2023 | Project Type: Inter-Institutional Program for Diversifying Research

Over the years, over reliance on fossil fuels has been identified as one of the main issues leading to global warming. Thus, recent research efforts seek to decarbonize every sector of human activities, especially transportation, industries, domestic use, etc. The developments of new materials through computational and laboratory-based experimental novel designs are pushing the boundaries of energy harvesting and storage technologies. However, this race to avert climate change also means a race for critical minerals. The question remains, can these two events happen sustainably?