News

In California’s Northern San Joaquin Valley, agricultural leftovers such as almond shells, fruit peels, and orchard trimmings can potentially be converted into sustainable bioproducts

bioproducts

produced from renewable matter, usually found in the form of living plants.

Source: USDA Source

and biofuels

biofuel

Liquid fuels that are produced from renewable biological sources, including plants and algae. Biofuels offer an alternative to some of the challenges of solar, wind, and other alternative energy sources.

Source: Energy.Gov Source

– with the right technology. Today, Schmidt Sciences’ Virtual Institute on Feedstocks of the Future awarded new funding to a group investigating how to make better use of the diverse agricultural waste in the region.

A pair of trucks outfitted with an array of climate-tracking instruments took to Tucson streets to capture neighborhood-level temperature, humidity, wind speed and other data. The research is the first step as part of a U.S. Department of Energy-funded project to better understand the effects of extreme heat, which includes U of A experts who will translate the data into public reports and policy recommendations.

Research from Los Alamos National Laboratory shows that a new rock physics model will provide more comprehensive and actionable data about how carbon dioxide

carbon dioxide (CO2)

An important heat-trapping gas, also known as a greenhouse gas, that comes from the extraction and burning of fossil fuels (such as coal, oil, and natural gas), from wildfires, and natural processes like volcanic eruptions.

Source: NASA Source

changes rock properties throughout geologic storage sites, which will make monitoring for geologic carbon storage more reliable. The results were published in Nature Communications journal.

Three graduate students have earned Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) Program awards to perform their doctoral dissertation research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). The prestigious award helps cover living expenses and travel for 60 students from universities across the nation.

Being able to create accurate weather models for weather forecasting is essential for every aspect of the American economy, from aviation to shipping. To date, weather models have been primarily based on equations related to thermodynamics

thermodynamics

The study of the effects of work, heat, and energy on a system. Thermodynamics is only concerned with large scale observations.

Source: NASA Source

and fluid dynamics

fluid dynamics

The branch of physics that studies fluids (liquids and gasses) in motion.

Source: Source

in the atmosphere. These models are tremendously computationally expensive and are typically run on large supercomputers.

Brookhaven Lab develops a second mobile observatory for measuring climate in complex environments, deploys it to Arizona to tackle extreme heat and related hazards. The new observatories will help fulfill the Center for Multiscale Applied Sensing (CMAS) mission to address infrastructure and energy needs across the United States — and help underserved communities reach environmental justice.

environmental justice

The just treatment and meaningful involvement of all people, regardless of income, race, color, national origin, Tribal affiliation, or disability, in agency decision-making and other Federal activities that affect human health and the environment.

Source: EPA Source

Leveraging a new genome annotation tool, researchers identified 'talented' microorganisms with genes for transforming polyphenols in peatlands.

peatland

Located within a terrestrial wetland environment where plant material cannot entirely decompose due to the presence of water.

Source: International Peatland Society Source

The study underscores the significance of polyphenols in peatland carbon dynamics and suggests that the carbon stored in these ecosystems

ecosystem

A natural community of plants, animals, and other living organisms and the physical environment in which they live and interact.

Source: A student's guide to Global Climate Change Source

is at greater risk of being released into the atmosphere due to climate change

climate change

A change in the average conditions — such as temperature and rainfall — in a region over a long period of time.

Source: NASA Climate Kids Source

than previously thought

STEM Education Outreach Coordinator Brandon Pope bridges the gap between communities and opportunities in science. Through his work, he inspires the next generation of STEM professionals and connects them with Argonne. As coordinator, Pope develops, facilitates and evaluates educational outreach programs to connect K-12 students to the research at Argonne National Laboratory.

The Nobel Laureate Meetings in Lindau, Germany, connect early-career scientists with dozens of Nobel Prize winners in their fields. For many early-career physicists, the opportunity to discuss their work with past Nobel Prize winners in the field represents the dream of a lifetime. This summer, that dream will come true for three postdoctoral researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory.

Prescribed burning is one of the most effective tools to prevent catastrophic fires. Some locations in the United States are facing a future where safe conditions to burn are fewer and farther between. Prescribed fire clears away excess organic material so that unexpected fires are less likely to get out of control. Prescribed burning is getting harder as temperatures rise and fuel loads are larger and drier.

Collaborative workshop exemplifies the power of partnership in marine research. Buoys are critical for various types of marine observations and research. To help inform and support offshore wind energy development, for example, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) deploys lidar buoys that carry scientific instruments to capture a range of atmospheric and oceanographic measurements over extended periods of time.

State-of-the-science Earth system model

earth system model (ESM)

A model that simulates how chemistry, biology, and physical forces work together. These models are similar to, but much more comprehensive than, global climate models.

Source: U.S. Department of Energy Source

predicts climate change will reduce North American wetlands

wetland

An area of land that is periodically saturated with water, which influences the types of plants and animals that can live there. Wetlands include swamps, marshes, bogs, and other similar areas.

Source: A student's guide to Global Climate Change Source

and disrupt their seasonal regimes. Earth system models (ESMs) are essential tools to understand climate change impacts on wetlands. However, current ESMs usually represent wetland hydrology in oversimplified ways, resulting in low confidence of their projection of wetland evolution.