CAREER: Exploring Place-Based Opportunities for Bioenergy Sustainability

地理空间科学（GSS）计划该学院早期职业发展（CAREER）奖将支持研究，这将有助于有关如何地理空间的适用性，社会经济的不确定性和基于生命周期分析的环境影响的新知识，可用于开发基于地方的政策解决方案，在美国中西部和南部的森林和农业生物能源发展。 研究人员将研究气候，土壤，地形，生物能源生产条件，利益相关者参与和社会经济不确定性之间的相互作用，以评估其对生物能源市场可持续性和发展的影响。 该项目将通过评估用于生物能源生产的森林和农作物生物质的可持续生产，为美国能源提供新的视角。 项目成果将提高公众对生物能源的认识，并将为中小学生提供有关可再生能源及其保护的教育和宣传材料。 该项目的教育议程将通过对本科生和研究生的指导、课程开发、研究和参与K-12、公共宣传、研究人员将通过分析生物物理因素和纳入变量，对生物能源的适用性进行全面的地理空间分析。评估人为因素，如利益相关者的参与和社会经济的不确定性。 将开发一个地理空间模型，以评估生物能源的适用性，同时将使用访谈和调查来评估利益攸关方对生物能源市场的参与。 在不确定的市场条件下作出的原料种植和收获决定将使用保留价格方法进行整合。 这种方法将改善与生物能源作物产量增加有关的负面空间因素，并将提供一个学习环境，以评估基于地点的分析作为一种政策工具的有效性。 从这个创新项目中获得的见解将适用于其他生物能源原料和地区，并将有助于制定有利于农业部门和支持农村经济以及美国和全球的长期战略。

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATIONGEOGRAPHY SPATIAL SCIENCES (GSS) PROGRAMABSTRACTThis Faculty Early-CAREER Development (CAREER) award will support research that will contribute new knowledge regarding how geospatial suitability, socioeconomic uncertainty, and life-cycle analysis-based environmental impacts can be used to develop place-based policy solutions for forest and agricultural bioenergy development in the midwestern and southern United States. The investigator will study the interactions among climate, soil, topography, bioenergy production conditions, stakeholder participation, and socioeconomic uncertainty to assess their impacts on the sustainability and development of bioenergy markets. The project will provide new perspectives for U.S. energy by assessing the sustainable production of forest and crop-based biomass dedicated to bioenergy production. Project results will enhance public awareness of bioenergy and will provide educational and outreach material about renewable energy resources and their conservation for elementary and middle school students. The educational agenda of this project will strengthen the talent pool in science, technology engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines through mentorship of undergraduate and graduate students, course development, research, and participation in K-12, public outreach, and environmental education programs.The investigator will perform a comprehensive geospatial analyses for bioenergy suitability by analyzing biophysical factors and by incorporating variables assessing human factors, such as stakeholder participation and socioeconomic uncertainty. A geospatial model will be developed to evaluate bioenergy suitability, while interviews and surveys will be used to assess stakeholder participation in bioenergy markets. Feedstock planting and harvest decisions made under uncertain market conditions will be integrated using a reservation price approach. This approach will ameliorate negative spatial factors associated with increased bioenergy crops production and will provide a learning environment to assess the effectiveness of place-based analyses as a policy instrument. The insights obtained from this innovative project will be adaptable to other bioenergy feedstocks and regions and will contribute towards development of longer-term strategies that benefit the agricultural sector and support rural economies and within the U.S. and globally.