Global Centers Track 1: Global Nitrogen Innovation Center for Clean Energy and Environment (NICCEE)

全球清洁能源和环境氮素创新中心(NICCEE)旨在加快社会和技术创新，以实现农业-食品-能源系统中可持续的气候智能氮素管理，包括应对“绿色氨”挑战和机遇的迫切需要。氨主要用于农业，作为化肥的氮源，长期以来一直使用碳密集型方法生产，有时被称为“棕氨”。相比之下，“绿色氨”是利用水、空气、阳光或可再生能源的电力生产的，从而实现了零碳排放。绿色氨作为一种无碳燃料也显示出巨大的前景，到2050年，它将取代目前由化石燃料主导的至少一半的航运燃料。然而，绿色氨在带来机遇的同时也带来了风险；例如，作为运输燃料的氨需求增加可能会增加化肥和食品成本，而作为化肥的使用量增加可能会加剧氮污染。NICCEE的研究愿景是，在追求提高作物生产率、减缓气候变化和清洁能源的技术的同时，需要伴随着社会经济创新和与用户的合作设计，以加快采用，最大限度地提高社会效益，同时将意外的社会环境后果降至最低。该中心利用美国、加拿大和英国的专业知识和资源来推进这一愿景，并与国际组织、私营企业和当地利益相关者合作。该中心将支持本科生、研究生和博士后研究人员的培训和专业发展，包括与联合国粮食及农业组织、国际化肥协会和自然保护协会的合作伙伴进行实习。NICCEE小组(1)使用尖端数据收集和分析技术，在每个参与国和国家以下的空间尺度上对农业食品和能源系统中的氮流进行量化和建模；(2)采用联合生产、“生活实验室”框架，以确保研究小组的工作和建议反映最终用户在农场试验分布式绿色氨生产装置方面的观点、关切和经验；(3)通过一个新颖的、跨学科的研究生教育培训计划，为数据科学家、工程师和社会创新者提供必要的技术和社交技能，以领导未来应对气候和氮危机的努力。 该奖项由全球中心计划资助，该计划是与澳大利亚、加拿大和英国的资助机构建立的创新合作伙伴关系，共同支持受使用启发的研究，以应对气候变化和清洁能源方面的全球挑战。与英联邦科学与创新研究组织(CSIRO)、加拿大自然科学与工程研究理事会(NSERC)、加拿大社会科学与人文研究理事会(SSHRC)和英国研究与创新(UKRI)的合作伙伴关系利用资源来应对比一个资助机构单独可能面临的更大规模的挑战。该中心由NSF、NSERC和UKRI共同支持。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。

The Global Nitrogen Innovation Center for Clean Energy and the Environment (NICCEE) aims to accelerate social and technological innovation for sustainable, climate-smart nitrogen management in agriculture-food-energy systems, including the urgent need to respond to the challenges and opportunities of “green ammonia.” Ammonia, primarily used in agriculture as a source of nitrogen for fertilizer, has long been produced using carbon-intensive methods, sometimes called "brown ammonia." In contrast, "green ammonia" is produced using water, air, and sunlight or electricity from renewable sources, leading to zero carbon emissions. Green ammonia also shows great promise as a carbon-free fuel and is set to replace at least half of the shipping fuel currently dominated by fossil fuels by 2050. Yet green ammonia presents risks alongside its opportunities; for example, increasing demand for ammonia as shipping fuel could increase fertilizer and food costs, and increased use as fertilizer could exacerbate nitrogen pollution. NICCEE’s research vision is that the pursuit of technologies for improved crop productivity, climate change mitigation, and clean energy needs to be accompanied by socioeconomic innovation and co-design with users to accelerate adoption, maximize social benefits, while minimizing unintended socio-environmental consequences. The center leverages expertise and resources across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom to advance this vision, and works in partnership with international organizations, private businesses, and local stakeholders. The center will support training and professional development for undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral researchers including internships with partners at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the International Fertilizer Association, and The Nature Conservancy. The NICCEE team (1) uses cutting-edge data collection and analysis techniques to quantify and model the nitrogen flows in the agrifood and energy systems for each participating country and on a subnational spatial scale; (2) adopts a co-production, “living labs” framework to ensure the research team’s work and recommendations reflect end users’ views, concerns and experiences in pilot testing the distributed green ammonia production units on farm; and (3) addresses gaps in STEM education through a novel, transdisciplinary graduate education training program that will offer data scientists, engineers, and social innovators the technical and social skills necessary to lead future efforts at the nexus of the climate and nitrogen crises.  This award is funded by the Global Centers program, an innovative partnership with funding agencies in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom, to jointly support use-inspired research addressing global challenges in climate change and clean energy. Partnerships with the Commonwealth Science and Innovation Research Organisation (CSIRO), Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) leverage resources to tackle challenges at a larger scale than would be possible for one funding agency alone. This Center is jointly supported by NSF, NSERC and UKRI.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.