INFEWS/T2: Organic Waste Lifecycles at the interface of Food, Energy, Water Systems (OWL-FEWs)

由于人口增长和经济增长，相互关联的食物-能源-水(少数)需求正在增加。需求增加的主要原因之一是产生了未利用的废流。美国每年产生约2.54亿吨垃圾，其中只有34%被回收或堆肥。对垃圾出口越来越多的限制给废物系统的管理既带来了挑战，也带来了机遇。废物为材料回收、新产品和新工艺的产生以及对食品、能源和水系统产生积极影响提供了机会。鉴于国际消费速度的不断提高，发展下一代废物回收具有全球意义。然而，改造废物流需要更好地了解目前如何治理废物，重新思考和重新设计废物回收生产系统，以更好地捕捉材料的价值，开发监测材料成分的系统，与新的废物监测网络基础设施相结合，并纳入影响复杂的多尺度系统行动的行为和政策结构。该项目的目标是制定有机废物生命周期比较分析的系统级框架，将行为科学与物质流分析结合起来，以重新思考废物系统和从有机废物开发新的副产品。本提案侧重于“食物、能源和水系统界面的有机废物生命周期(OWL-FEWS)”框架内的系统级相互作用。该项目需要开发下一代网络基础设施，用于测量、监测和获取有机废物流的数据；分析有机废物处理行为背后的社会和机构驱动因素；以及试验、开发和测试有机废物流中的新副产品。利用现有的中试规模的厌氧消化器、生物/氢炭工程设施、用于实时跟踪垃圾流动的开源射频识别标记以及一系列行为实验和对人类行为的比较机构分析，研究小组将专注于五个目标：1)在区域一级开发有机垃圾生命周期的动态模型；2)开发和测试用于能源、土壤改良、水修复和其他用途的有机食物垃圾联产；3)开发智能有机食物垃圾网络基础设施；4)在动态模型、网络基础设施和垃圾/资源产品的开发中整合社会科学；以及5)利益相关者在研究和教育工作中的参与。这项研究的结果将为美国减少废物提供有意义的途径，并从废物中提供水处理、能源和农业资源，从而改善美国的食品、能源和水安全。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Interconnected food-energy-water (FEW) demands are increasing due to increasing population and economic growth. One of the major reasons for these increased demands is the generation of non-utilized waste streams. The U.S. generates approximately 254 million tons of trash each year, with only 34% of this waste recycled or composted. Increasing restrictions on the export of garbage has generated both challenges and opportunities for the management of waste systems. Waste material provides and opportunity for materials recovery, the generation of new products and processes, and the potential to positively impact food, energy, and water systems. Given the increasing rates of consumption internationally, developing the next generation of waste recovery is of global significance. However, reinventing waste streams requires a better understanding of how waste is currently governed, rethinking and redesigning waste recovery production systems to better capture the value of material, developing systems for monitoring material composition, integration with new cyber infrastructure for waste monitoring, and incorporating the behavioral and policy structures that influence action across complex multi-scaled systems. The objectives of the project are to develop a systems-level framework for comparative analysis of organic waste lifecycles that combines behavior sciences with material flows analysis to rethink waste systems and the development of new co-products from organic wastes. This proposal focuses on systems-level interactions in the framework of "Organic Waste Lifecycles at the Interface of Food, Energy and Water Systems (OWL-FEWs)." The project entails the development of the next generation of cyber-infrastructure for measuring, monitoring, and capturing data on organic waste streams; analysis of social and institutional drivers behind organic waste disposal behavior; and experimentation, development, and testing of new co-products from organic waste streams. Utilizing an existing pilot-scale anaerobic digester, bio/hydrochar engineering facilities, open source radio frequency identification tagging for real time tracking of waste flows, and a series of behavior experiments and comparative institutional analysis of human behavior, the research team will focus on five goals: 1) The development of a dynamic model of organic waste lifecycles at a regional level; 2) The development and testing of organic food waste co-products for energy, soil amendments, water remediation, and other uses; 3) The development of a smart organic food waste cyber infrastructure; 4) The integration of social sciences across the development of the dynamic model, cyberinfrastructure, and waste/resource products; and 5) The engagement of stakeholders across the research and educational efforts. The results of this research will provide meaningful pathways to reducing waste in the U.S. and provide water treatment, energy, and agricultural resources from waste, leading to better food, energy, and water security in the U.S.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.