Planning Grant: Engineering Research Center for Protecting and Advancing Water-Energy-Environment and Sustainability (PAWES)

随着美国成为全球领先的碳氢化合物生产国，需要可持续的做法来利用这一新的能源前沿，同时防范预计的水资源短缺和干旱。拟议的工程研究中心(ERC)将专注于与碳氢化合物生产相关的挑战。该中心将具体解决水需求增加和废水可持续性问题，因为它涉及农村和部落社区的利益攸关方关切的问题。规划赠款旨在设计所需的变革性系统方法，以强调解决社会和环境问题的解决方案。重点领域是能源行业，该行业占全球总取水量的15%。规划拨款还将汇集工程、微生物学、化学、环境政策、经济学和社区参与领域的专家。该小组将制定一种经济上可行的方法、可持续的能源做法和政策，并振兴农村社区。它将规划一个工程系统，将社区视角与社会正义、公众视角和多目标决策相结合，纳入研究、决策和培训。拟建的中心将由田纳西大学领导，合作伙伴包括朱尼亚塔学院、科罗拉多州立大学和田纳西州立大学。拟议的环境与和解委员会处理重要的、复杂的和与社会相关的主题，如缺水、能源安全以及农村和部落社区发展。该中心将瞄准“登月”计划，以每桶1美元的价格处理工业用高盐度O&Amp；G废水。这笔规划赠款的主要影响是使跨学科领导人和利益攸关方之间能够进行有效的以证据为基础的讨论，以实现这一大胆目标。他们的投入将用于开发一系列废水管理处理方法，旨在最大限度地回收O&Amp；G废水以供重复使用。对节水、能源安全以及农村和部落劳动力发展的影响将有助于全国社会。为了使拟议的废水处理方案取得成功，需要在微生物学、微生物生态学、环境工程、化学和材料科学方面进行基础研究，并辅之以先进的计算模型。规划过程将用于建立有效和积极的网络，加强正在进行的研究工作，向阿巴拉契亚和部落社区提供信息并增强其能力。此外，规划拨款将用于建立工程教育的综合方法，向学生传授社区参与、政策制定和科学交流方面的知识。这些发现可以应用于其他类型的工农业废物，将该中心的积极影响扩大到美国供水系统的其他方面。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。

As the US becomes a leading producer of hydrocarbons in the world, sustainable practices are needed to leverage this new energy frontier while safeguarding against predicted water scarcity and drought. The proposed Engineering Research Center (ERC) will focus on the challenges related to hydrocarbon production. The Center will specifically address increase in water demand and wastewater sustainability as it relates to stakeholder concerns in rural and tribal communities. The planning grant aims to design the transformative systems approach needed to emphasize solutions that address social and environmental issues. The focus area is driven by the energy industry, which is responsible for up to 15% of total water withdraws worldwide. The planning grant will also bring together experts in the fields of engineering, microbiology, chemistry, environmental policy, economics, and community engagement. This team will develop an economically feasible approach, sustainable energy practices and policy, and revitalized rural communities. It will plan for an engineering system that integrates community perspectives into research, decision-making, and training with social justice, public perspectives, and multi-objective decision-making. The proposed Center will be led by the University of Tennessee with partners at Juniata College, Colorado State University, and Tennessee State University. The proposed ERC tackles important, complex, and socially-relevant topics such as water scarcity, energy security, and rural and tribal community development. The Center will target the "moonshot" initiative of treating hyper-saline O&G wastewater for industrial uses at $1/barrel. The major impact of this planning grant is to enable the effective evidence-based discussions between interdisciplinary leaders and stakeholders needed to achieve this bold target. Their input will be used to develop a sequence of wastewater management treatments designed to maximize recovery of O&G wastewater for reuse. Implications on water conservation, energy security, and rural and tribal workforce development will help country-wide society. For the proposed wastewater treatment protocols to be successful, basic research in microbiology, microbial ecology, environmental engineering, chemistry, and material science aided by advanced computational models will be needed. The planning process will be used to build effective and active networks, strengthen ongoing research efforts, inform and empower Appalachian and Tribal communities. In addition, the planning grant will be used to establish an integrated approach to engineering education that will teach students about community engagement, policy development, and science communications. These findings could be applied to other types of industrial and agricultural waste, expanding the Center's positive impact to other aspects of the US water supply system.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.