RCN-SEES: A Research Coordination Network on Pan American Biofuels and Bioenergy Sustainability

1140152 (Shonnard)。该奖项由美国国家科学基金会的可持续发展科学、工程和教育（SEES）活动资助，旨在解决创造一个可持续发展世界的挑战。该项目将在北美、中美洲和南美洲建立一个科学和工程研究人员网络，就美洲大规模生物燃料生产的影响进行知识分享和合作研究。大规模生物燃料和生物能源生产对环境系统和社会条件的潜在影响在很大程度上是未知的。然而，尽管缺乏基本的可持续性知识，但目前生物燃料和生物能源生产系统的发展正在迅速发展，这可能会导致人类和自然系统的巨大变化。这些变化可能是有益的，也可能是有害的，可能涉及许多相互关联的问题，如土地所有权和管理、创造新的就业机会、职业安全、无法预见的运输和后勤挑战、对水的供应和质量的影响，以及可能对社会和环境系统造成的许多其他变化。这个研究人员网络将通过合作研究、教育和推广项目来解决这些重要问题，为商业、政府、学术界和其他组织的决策者提供相关的新知识。泛美生物燃料和生物能源可持续性RCN将由来自北美（美国、加拿大和墨西哥）、中美洲和南美洲的大学和其他组织的研究人员组成。主要的生物燃料和生物能源可持续性研究主题将是a.土地权利，b.水/能源联系问题，c.生物多样性/生态系统，d.能源政策，e.生命周期环境评估，f.食物和其他系统，g.生物地球化学循环，以及h.生物质供应运输物流。该RCN将有两个主要交付物；1. 一份关于泛美地区生物燃料和生物能源可持续性的研究路线图报告；生物燃料/生物能源可持续性的研究生课程将在该网络内开发，并通过互联网向该网络传播。参加本研究生课程的学生将对泛美地区不同政治、地理和社会背景下生物燃料/生物能源系统的一系列可持续性问题有一个高层次的理解。讲座将由许多参与机构的内容专家开发和讲授，采用主动学习的形式，要求学生分析案例研究并领导课堂讨论。一系列年度讲习班和一个重大的项目中期会议将是实现这些项目成果的主要手段。RCN将通过基于HubZeroTM平台的综合网络基础设施进行连接，以支持RCN产品的实时传播，实现跨网络的实时协作，并为拟议的RCN的发展提供支持。

1140152 (Shonnard). This award is funded under NSF's Science, Engineering, and Education for Sustainability (SEES) activities, which aim to address the challenges of creating a sustainable world. This project will establish a network of science and engineering researchers in North, Central and South America to share knowledge and cooperate on research into the implications of large-scale biofuels production in the Americas. The potential impact of large-scale biofuels and bioenergy production on environmental systems and social conditions is largely unknown. Yet despite this lack of fundamental sustainability knowledge, there currently is a rapid movement toward the development of biofuels and bioenergy production systems that will likely lead to dramatic changes in human and natural systems. These changes may be beneficial or detrimental, and may involve a number of inter-related issues such as land ownership and management, creation of new employment opportunities, occupational safety, unforeseen transportation and logistical challenges, impacts on water availability and quality, and potentially many other changes to social and environmental systems. This network of researchers will tackle these important issues through cooperative research, education, and outreach programs, leading to new knowledge of relevance to decision-makers in business, government, academia, and other organizations. The Pan American Biofuels and Bioenergy Sustainability RCN will consist of researchers at universities and other organizations from North America (United States, Canada and Mexico), Central America, and South America. The main biofuels and bioenergy sustainability research themes will be a. land rights, b. water/energy nexus issues, c. biodiversity/ecosystems d. energy policy, e. life cycle environmental assessment, f. food and other systems, g. biogeochemical cycles, and h. biomass supply transportation logistics. This RCN will have two main deliverables; 1. a research roadmap report on sustainability of biofuels and bioenergy in the Pan American region, and 2. a graduate course in sustainability of biofuels/bioenergy to be developed within the network and disseminated to the network through the internet. The students taking this graduate course will emerge with a high-level understanding of a range of sustainability issues for biofuels/bioenergy systems in different political, geographic, and societal contexts in the Pan American region. Lectures will be developed and delivered by content experts from the many participating institutions using an active-learning format where students are required to analyze case studies and lead class room discussions. A series of annual workshops and a major mid-project conference will be the primary means of delivering on these project outcomes. The RCN will be connected through a comprehensive cyber-infrastructure based upon the HubZeroTM platform to support real time dissemination of the RCN products, enable real time collaboration across the network, and provide for the growth of the proposed RCN.