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

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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.