CAREER: INTEGRATED WATER, ENERGY, AND EMISSIONS DECISION MAKING FOR A LOW CARBON FUTURE WITH COAL-FIRED POWER PLANTS

1554117-成本-有效地减少发电对人类健康和环境的外部性是21世纪决定性的可持续挑战。这个复杂问题的解决方案必然会跨越多个空间尺度、时间尺度和学科。集成决策模型可以帮助研究人员、工程从业者和政策制定者从短期解决方案转向整体可持续发展解决方案。这项拟议的研究为燃煤电厂开发了一个综合决策模型，该模型调查了市场条件、监管政策、发电厂排放控制流程和材料性能对可持续发电成本的影响。对燃煤电厂进行综合评估的最大障碍是以下方面的不确定性：1)废水处理技术符合EPA提出的排放限制指南的成本和有效性；2)在燃煤电厂分阶段实施排放法规期间，空气和水排放控制技术之间的相互影响；3)替代废水处理工艺的可行性，通过利用燃煤发电厂工艺产生的废热来规避辅助电力消耗；以及4)新的膜材料在未来使这些替代水处理工艺能够发挥的作用。拟议的工作将填补这些基本知识空白，并将调查结果整合到水排放控制决策模型中，该模型指导政策、指导合规途径、激励技术开发，并能够可靠地预测未来的排放。利益相关者使用综合决策工具为燃煤电厂的合规途径提供信息的最大障碍是，这些学术派生的工具很少随着利益相关者的需求而发展。拟议的利益攸关方参与进程将增加这一模式被广泛采用的可能性，该进程从确定研究优先顺序的研讨会开始，一直持续到年度会议，最终形成一个简单和适应性强的决策工具。其他外展和教育任务被纳入模型开发过程，并横跨K-12、本科生和博士研究社区。首席调查员(PI)将邀请高中生记录俄亥俄河谷燃煤发电厂的水排放。PI还将在PI的实验室为本科生研究人员和博士生导师开发一个正式的导师计划，该计划将促进有针对性的目标设定，改善技能发展，并加强STEM领域本科生研究人员的留住。

1554117MauterCost-effectively reducing the human health and environmental externalities of electricity generation is a defining sustainability challenge of the 21st century. Solutions to this complex problem will necessarily span multiple spatial scales, time scales, and disciplines. Integrated decision models can aid researchers, engineering practitioners, and policy makers in moving away from short-term fixes toward holistic sustainability solutions. The proposed research develops an integrated decision model for coal-fired power plants that investigates the effects of market conditions, regulatory policy, power plant emission control processes, and materials performance on the cost of sustainable electricity generation.The most significant barriers to performing integrated assessment of coal-fired power plants are uncertainties in: 1) the cost and efficacy of wastewater treatment technologies for compliance with proposed effluent limitation guidelines issued by the EPA; 2) the interaction effects between air and water emission control technologies during phased implementation of emission regulations at coal-fired power plants; 3) the viability of alternative wastewater treatment processes that circumvent auxiliary power consumption by using waste heat from coal-fired power plants processes; and, 4) the role that new membrane materials might play in enabling these alternative water treatment processes in the future. The proposed work will fill these fundamental knowledge gaps and integrate the findings into an aqueous emissions control decision model that guides policy, directs compliance pathways, motivates technology development, and enables the reliable prediction of future emissions. The most significant barrier to stakeholders using integrated decision-making tools to inform compliance pathways at coal-fired power plants is that these academically-derived tools rarely evolve with stakeholder needs. The proposed stakeholder engagement process, beginning with a research prioritization workshop, continuing through yearly meetings, and culminating in a simple and adaptive decision tool, will increase the probability that this model is widely adopted. Additional outreach and educational tasks are integrated into the model development process and span the K-12, undergraduate, and doctoral research communities. The principal investigator (PI) will engage high-school students in documenting aqueous emissions from Ohio River Valley coal-fired power plants. The PI will also develop a formal mentorship program for undergraduate researchers and doctoral student mentors in the PI's laboratory that will promote targeted goal setting, improve skill development, and enhance retention of undergraduate researchers in STEM fields.