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

新能源技术，包括太阳能和风能、电动汽车、氢燃料，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，减少温室气体排放和减少污染。然而，有前途的技术并不总是按计划成功。成功的办法必须在技术和社会两方面都有效，解决办法因社会和区域而异。该奖项支持美国-非洲清洁能源研究中心（UARCCE）的规划阶段，以促进学术界，社区和私营部门之间的合作，开发基于现实世界经验和需求的能源解决方案。探索性研究和协调工作规划UARCCE将利用技术的格鲁吉亚研究所和非洲卓越中心之间的现有伙伴关系在能源促进可持续发展（ACE-ESD）在科学和技术学院在卢旺达大学，并与卢旺达理工学院（IPRC基加利）。该伙伴关系将通过与格鲁吉亚理工学院的专家合作，特别是来自工程学院，设计学院，公共政策学院和战略能源研究所的专家合作，开发使用启发的研究问题。雷C。舍勒商学院的安德森可持续商业中心（ACSB）将促进与超过55家公司的合作，这些公司致力于由格鲁吉亚研究计划发起的净零商业契约。这项为期两年的规划赠款将支持协调工作，以（1）建立一个能源解决方案网络，共同开发跨学科、融合研究的方法，（2）利用该网络确定使用启发的能源知识差距。将根据东部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。 该研究将侧重于与电气化、运输替代燃料和无生物质烹饪技术有关的关键知识差距。在卢旺达和美国，电力系统的可靠性和弹性已经是一个重大挑战。寻求强大的解决方案面临着技术和计算挑战，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。需要确定商业模式和社区指导的改善电力供应的规划过程，并测试其技术和社会可行性。将开发研究项目，解决有关的差异，由于资源，经济，社会和政策系统的清洁能源采用，知识转化为使用，有效的知识共同生产的总体收敛的研究主题。该合作团队将建立研究与行业的合作伙伴关系，与社区和其他利益相关者合作，并计划优化和场景建模，以制定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性不足的少数民族和妇女，并制定方法，为文化和背景知情的STEM学习机会。将招募一个国际咨询委员会，并制定一个强有力的评估计划。 该奖项由全球中心计划资助，该计划是一项创新计划，支持以使用为灵感的研究，解决与气候变化和/或清洁能源相关的全球挑战。途径2设计奖支持美国-该奖项旨在鼓励国际研究团队共同开发研究问题和合作伙伴关系，进行景观分析，综合数据和/或建立多方利益相关者网络，以在未来更大规模地推进其使用启发式研究。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值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.