Global Centers Track 2: US-Africa Research Center for Clean Energy

包括太阳能和风能、电动汽车、氢燃料在内的新能源技术在技术上是可行的，而且越来越具有成本效益。许多政府和大型跨国公司正在计划快速部署这些技术，以支持经济发展，减少温室气体排放，减少污染。然而，前景看好的技术并不总是如计划的那样成功。成功的方法必须在技术上和社会上都有效，而且解决方案因社会和地区而异。该全球中心轨道2设计奖支持美非清洁能源研究中心(UARCCE)的规划阶段，以促进学术界、社区和私营部门之间的合作，以现实世界的经验和需求为基础开发能源解决方案。为规划UARCCE而进行的探索性研究和协调工作将利用格鲁吉亚理工学院与设在卢旺达大学科学和技术学院的非洲能源促进可持续发展英才中心(ACE-ESD)以及与卢旺达理工学院(IPRC Kigali)之间的现有伙伴关系。该伙伴关系将通过与佐治亚理工学院的专家合作，特别是与工程学院、设计学院、公共政策学院和战略能源研究所的专家合作，开发受使用启发的研究问题。位于谢勒商学院的雷·C·安德森可持续商业中心(ACSB)将促进与55多家公司的合作，这些公司致力于由Drawdown佐治亚州研究计划发起的净零商业契约。为期两年的规划赠款将支持协调努力，以(1)建立一个能源解决方案网络，共同开发跨学科、趋同研究的方法，以及(2)利用该网络来确定受使用启发的能源知识差距。将根据东非和南部非洲采用清洁能源的障碍和机会，制定具体的清洁能源研究假设。还设想了本科生和研究生实习的机会。这项研究将侧重于与电气化、交通替代燃料以及无生物质烹饪技术相关的关键知识差距。电力系统的可靠性和复原力已经成为卢旺达和美国的一项重大挑战。寻找可靠的解决方案面临着技术和计算方面的挑战，随着电力系统的预期扩张和电动汽车的采用，这些挑战变得更加紧迫。需要确定改善电力供应的商业模式和社区指导的规划进程，并对其技术和社会可行性进行测试。将开发研究项目，解决与清洁能源采用的资源、经济、社会和政策系统的差异、知识向使用的转化以及有效的知识联合生产有关的总体研究主题。协作团队将建立研究-行业伙伴关系，让社区和其他利益相关者参与，并计划优化和场景建模，以框架可在多种情况下应用的选项。将开发伙伴关系、参与和建模方法，以测试其有效性和推广潜力。该中心的学生学习、劳动力培训和辅导活动将旨在招募代表人数较少的少数群体和妇女，并制定获得文化和背景信息的STEM学习机会的方法。将招募一个国际咨询委员会，并将制定一项强有力的评估计划。该奖项由全球中心计划资助，这是一项创新计划，旨在支持受使用启发的研究，以应对与气候变化和/或清洁能源相关的全球挑战。Track 2设计奖支持美国的研究人员将国际团队聚集在一起，开发研究问题和合作伙伴关系，进行景观分析，合成数据，和/或建立多方利益相关者网络，以推动他们未来更大规模的应用启发研究。  该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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。

New energy technologies, including solar and wind energy, electric vehicles, hydrogen fuels are technologically viable and increasingly cost effective. Many governments and large multi-national companies are planning rapid deployment of these technologies to support economic development, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce pollution. Yet promising technologies do not always succeed as planned. Successful approaches must be both technically and societally effective, and solutions will differ across societies and regions. This Global Centers Track 2 Design award supports the planning phase of a US-Africa Research Center for Clean Energy (UARCCE) to foster collaboration between academia, communities, and the private sector, to develop energy solutions grounded in real-world experiences and needs. Exploratory research and coordination efforts for planning the UARCCE will leverage an existing partnership between the Georgia Institute of Technology and the African Center of Excellence in Energy for Sustainable Development (ACE-ESD) in the College of Science and Technology at the University of Rwanda, and with Rwanda Polytechnic (IPRC Kigali). The partnership will develop use-inspired research questions through collaboration with experts across Georgia Tech, particularly from the College of Engineering, the College of Design, the School of Public Policy, and the Strategic Energy Institute. The Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business (ACSB) in the Scheller College of Business will facilitate collaboration with over 55 companies committed to a net-zero business compact launched by the Drawdown Georgia research initiative. The two-year planning grant will support coordination efforts to (1) establish an energy solutions network that will co-develop approaches to interdisciplinary, convergent research and (2) leverage the network to identify use-inspired energy knowledge gaps. Specific clean energy research hypotheses will be developed based on barriers and opportunities for clean energy adoption in east and southern Africa. Opportunities for undergraduate and graduate internships are also envisioned. The research will focus on key knowledge gaps related to electrification, alternative fuels for transportation, and technologies for cooking without biomass. Electricity system reliability and resilience is already a major challenge in both Rwanda and the United States. The search for robust solutions faces technical and computational challenges, which have become even more pressing with the expected expansion of electricity systems and adoption of electric vehicles. Business models and community guided planning processes for improved electricity provision need to be identified and tested for both technical and societal viability. Research projects will be developed that address overarching convergent research themes related to the differences due to resource, economic, societal, and policy systems for clean energy adoption, the transition of knowledge into use, and effective knowledge co-production. The collaborative team will establish research-industry partnerships, engage communities and other stakeholders, and plan optimization and scenario modeling to frame options that can be applied in multiple contexts. The partnerships, engagement, and modeling approaches will be developed to test their effectiveness and potential for generalization. Student learning, workforce training, and mentoring activities of the Center will be designed to recruit underrepresented minorities and women, and to develop methods for culturally and contextually informed STEM learning opportunities. An international advisory board will be recruited, and a robust evaluation plan will be developed. This award is funded by the Global Centers program, an innovative program that supports use-inspired research addressing global challenges related to climate change and/or clean energy. Track 2 design awards support U.S.-based researchers to bring together international teams to develop research questions and partnerships, conduct landscape analyses, synthesize data, and/or build multi-stakeholder networks to advance their use-inspired research at larger scale in the future.  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.