OISE-PIRE Sustainability, Ecosystem Services, and Bioenergy Development across the Americas

这一国际研究和教育伙伴关系(PERE)项目解决的问题是：生物燃料发展将如何影响社会生态系统和相关的生态系统服务，以及如何最好地衡量、模拟和减轻这些影响？在防止气候变化和减少对可能来自政治不稳定地区的外国能源供应的依赖方面，社会面临着严峻的挑战。作为回应，美国、巴西、墨西哥和阿根廷已经采取行动，鼓励开发新的能源形式，这些形式可以在国内生产，比石油、煤炭或天然气等传统能源对环境的负面影响更小。该团队由密歇根理工大学的科学家领导，包括来自9所美国大学、3名巴西科学家、4名墨西哥科学家和2所阿根廷大学以及公立和私立研究实验室的33名科学家。生物能源是从植物中形成的能量。许多人熟悉用于营火或柴火的木柴形式的生物能源。生物能源可用于为建筑物供暖、发电或制造包括柴油和乙醇在内的汽车燃料。美国、巴西、墨西哥和阿根廷的主要政策目标之一是促进生物柴油和乙醇(通常被称为生物燃料)形式的生物能源的发展。这些燃料将由多种植物制成，包括树木、玉米、甘蔗、大豆和棕榈树坚果。随着这些国家努力实现这一目标，重要的是了解这些燃料是否以及哪些类型最有可能使我们创造新的能源形式，在最大限度地提高效益的同时将成本降至最低，包括对社会和环境的负面影响。这个由美国、巴西、墨西哥和阿根廷科学家组成的研究团队的目标是增加对这四个国家不同类型生物燃料的社会和环境影响的了解。该团队专注于这些生物燃料在森林地区的生产，这些地区的生物燃料是从森林或通过将其转化为大豆等农作物而影响森林的地区生产的。这个由社会、自然和工程科学家组成的国际团队将共同努力，收集有关这些影响的数据。但它也将把研究结果转化为衡量和减少这些影响的新方法，同时增加对公共政策如何帮助最大限度地提高生物燃料效益，同时将生物燃料成本降至最低的理解。项目工作将促进对可持续发展科学的理解，同时培训新一代学生和科学家在包括许多不同类型的科学专业人员的团队中更有效地工作。该项目由美国国家科学基金会国际科学与工程办公室(OISE)通过PERE提供资金。

This Partnership in International Research and Education (PIRE) project addresses the question: How will biofuel development impact socio-ecological systems and associated ecosystem services, and how can those impacts best be measured, modeled, and mitigated? Society faces difficult challenges in preventing climate change and reducing dependence on foreign energy supplies that can come from political unstable regions. In response, the US, Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina have moved toward encouraging the development of new energy forms that can be domestically produced in a less environmentally negative fashion than traditional energy from petroleum, coal, or natural gas. The team, led by Michigan Technological University scientists, includes 33 scientists at nine US, three Brazilian, four Mexican, and two Argentine universities and public and private research labs. Bioenergy is energy formed from plants. Many are familiar with bioenergy in the form of firewood used for a campfire or woodstove. Bioenergy can be used to heat buildings, create electricity, or create automotive fuels, including diesel and ethanol. One of the major policy goals of the US, Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina is to promote the development of bioenergy in the forms of both biodiesel and ethanol, generally called biofuel. These fuels will be created from many types of plants, including trees, corn, sugarcane, soybeans, and palm tree nuts. As these countries work toward achieving this goal, it is important to understand whether and what types of these fuels are most likely to allow us to create new energy forms that maximize benefits while minimizing costs, including negative societal and environmental impacts. This research team of scientists from the US, Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina has the goal of increasing understanding of the societal and environmental impacts of different types of biofuels in these four countries. The team focuses on the production of these biofuels in forested regions, areas where the biofuel is being produced from forests or impacting forests through their conversion to agricultural crops, like soybeans. This international team of social, natural, and engineering scientists will work together to collect data about these impacts. But it will also translate findings into new ways to measure and reduce those impacts, while increasing understanding of how public policies can help maximize biofuel benefits while minimizing biofuel costs. Project work will advance understanding of sustainability science while training new generations of students and scientists to work more effectively in teams that include many different types of scientific professionals. The project is funded by NSF's Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE) through the PIRE.