Research

Colorado School of Mines and Carbon America awarded $32.6M from U.S. Department of Energy CarbonSAFE Initiative 5/19/2023

Colorado School of Mines and Carbon America awarded $32.6M from U.S. Department of Energy CarbonSAFE Initiative

Mines Director of Global Energy Future Initiative – Integrated CCUS Initiative Manika Prasad is part of a team of Mines researchers that received funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to support the development of a regional CO2 storage hub in concert with local stakeholders. Colorado School of Mines, Carbon America and Los Alamos National Laboratory have been awarded $32.6 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Carbon Storage Assurance Facility Enterprise (CarbonSAFE) initiative to advance the development of a potential carbon storage hub for the Pueblo, Colorado area.  May 19, 2023.

Colorado gets $32 million to create carbon-stuffing hub underground at Pueblo 5/18/2023

Colorado gets $32 million to create carbon-stuffing hub underground at Pueblo

Colorado School of Mines received $32 million Wednesday from the federal Department of Energy to study and develop a carbon sequestration hub in southern Colorado, considered a key to meeting greenhouse gas reduction goals in coming years.  The hub will be located in the Pueblo area, where massive carbon emissions from two power plants and cement kiln, among other major carbon producers, may need to be stuffed underground to meet state and U.S. climate change targets.  May 18, 2023.  

Colorado gets $32 million to create carbon-stuffing hub underground at Pueblo 5/18/2023

Colorado gets $32 million to create carbon-stuffing hub underground at Pueblo

The Colorado School of Mines Global Energy Future Integrated CCUS Initiative received $32 million from the federal Department of Energy to study and develop a carbon sequestration hub in southern Colorado, considered a key to meeting greenhouse gas reduction goals in coming years.  The hub will be located in the Pueblo area, where massive carbon emissions from two power plants and cement kiln, among other major carbon producers, may need to be stuffed underground to meet state and U.S. climate change targets. The large DOE grant gives School of Mines and partners — including Los Alamos National Laboratory — financing to define and drill test sites, and set the boundaries for a carbon sink in the Lyons Sandstone formation thousands of feet beneath Pueblo County.  May 18, 2023.  

Colorado School of Mines researcher helps validate new approach for “forever chemical” blood testing 5/16/2023

Colorado School of Mines researcher helps validate new approach for “forever chemical” blood testing 

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Chris Higgins is featured in this article about how a study shows that self-collected blood samples had similar PFAS detection frequencies to traditional blood draws.  In addition to being more accessible, the self-collected whole-blood samples may even offer a more comprehensive picture of the PFAS in our blood, including compounds such as FOSA.  May 16, 2023.

Self-Collection Blood Test for PFASs: Comparing Volumetric Microsamplers with a Traditional Serum Approach 5/15/2023

Self-Collection Blood Test for PFASs: Comparing Volumetric Microsamplers with a Traditional Serum Approach

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Chris Higgins is a co-author on this paper about how a remote sampling approach was developed at Eurofins for quantifying per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in whole blood samples collected using volumetric absorptive microsamplers (VAMSs), which allow for self-collection of blood using a finger prick. This study compares PFAS exposure measured by self-collection of blood using VAMSs to the standard venous serum approach.   May 15, 2023.

How can we decarbonize the metals industry? Mines researchers are working toward the answers. 5/3/2023

How can we decarbonize the metals industry? Mines researchers are working toward the answers

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow John Speer is featured in this article about how in the U.S. and around the world, there’s a push to cut greenhouse gas emissions by the metals industry.  Decarbonization in the metals industry has already begun in the United States, and we’re one of the cleanest steel industries in the world.  May 3, 2023.

Decarbonizing the cement and concrete industry: A systematic review of socio-technical systems, technological innovations, and policy options 4/23/2023

Decarbonizing the cement and concrete industry: A systematic review of socio-technical systems, technological innovations, and policy options

Payne Institute Fellow Steve Griffiths, Benjamin K. Sovacool, Dylan D. Furszyfer Del Rio, Aoife M. Foley, Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian, Jinsoo Kim, and Joao M. Uratani write about how although concrete has become an essential and ubiquitous construction material for modern society, its use has significant environmental impacts. This paper describes the CCI’s sociotechnical system and energy and environmental impacts, highlights barriers and opportunities for CCI decarbonization, outlines technologies and policies to mitigate negative CCI impacts, and proposes gaps and future agendas for CCI decarbonization research.  April 23, 2023.

Colorado School of Mines partners with Aquagga to commercialize PFAS destruction technology 4/11/2023

Colorado School of Mines partners with Aquagga to commercialize PFAS destruction technology

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Chris Higgins is featured in this article about how Mines researchers developed HALT-PFAS.  This promising technology for the destruction of so-called “forever chemicals” developed by Colorado School of Mines researchers has been licensed by a cleantech startup that aims to use the Mines-patented process to halt the growing environmental and public health challenge posed by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.  April 11, 2023. 

Mines professor demystifying social responsibility in engineering 4/5/2023

Mines professor demystifying social responsibility in engineering

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Jessica Smith is featured in this article about how working engineers manage the social and public accountability dimensions of their careers.  Working engineers solve technical problems on a daily basis—that’s a big part of why many choose to go into the field in the first place. But they also regularly grapple with sometimes less obvious questions that deal with the social, environmental, economic, cultural and ethical facets of their work. April 5, 2023.

Six bold steps towards net-zero industry 3/30/2023

Six bold steps towards net-zero industry

Benjamin K. Sovacool, Payne Institute Director Morgan D. Bazilian, Jinsoo Kim, and Fellow Steven Griffiths write about how the rapid and deep decarbonization of global industry is key to reaching climate policy targets, yet it remains an incredibly difficult challenge. They propose six bold steps for accelerating progress on achieving net-zero industrial carbon emissions by mid-century with a focus on lessons learned and emerging analysis from both the Global North and Global South, the latter of which we consider as low or middle income countries primarily located in Africa, Asia and Latin America.  March 30, 2023.

Samples from Front Range oil and gas wells detect seeping natural gas, benzene and other chemicals 3/22/2023

Samples from Front Range oil and gas wells detect seeping natural gas, benzene and other chemicals

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Jennifer Miskimins contributes to this article about Colorado regulators say the subset of wells tested were known to be troubled, and many have already been plugged and abandoned. Natural gas and chemicals may be seeping through compromised barriers in northeastern Colorado oil and gas wells, according to a federal study, but state regulators and other researchers caution that analysis may overstate the problem.  March 22, 2023.

The Regulation of CO2 Pipelines and Ensuring Public Safety 3/15/2023

The Regulation of CO2 Pipelines and Ensuring Public Safety

Payne Institute CCUS Program Manager Anna Littlefield and student researcher Dwi Nuraini Siregar write that the 45Q tax credit is anticipated to play an important role in accelerating the expansion of the CO2 pipeline network in the United States by providing a financial incentive for businesses to invest in carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) technologies and supporting infrastructure.The Inflation Reduction Act’s amplification of this credit has already increased the number of CCUS projects. March 15, 2023.

Colorado School of Mines part of multi-university team selected by DoD for social science research 3/13/2023

Colorado School of Mines part of multi-university team selected by DoD for social science research

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian and Faculty Fellow Mark Deinert will be contributing to research on critical minerals, battery technology, and reducing dependence on hostile suppliers in the clean energy supply chain along with Payne Institute Fellow Professor Joshua Busby, LBJ School of Public Affairs and the Strauss Center for International Security and Law, University of Texas, Austin and Professor Emily Holland, U.S. Naval War College.  March 13, 2023.  

The life and death of a subglacial lake in West Antarctica 3/9/2023

The life and death of a subglacial lake in West Antarctica

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Matthew Siegfried and others write this paper that looks at the last 50 years, and the discovery and initial investigation of subglacial lakes in Antarctica have highlighted the paleoglaciological information that may be recorded in sediments at their beds. In December 2018, we accessed Mercer Subglacial Lake, West Antarctica, and recovered the first in situ subglacial lake-sediment record—120 mm of finely laminated mud. We combined geophysical observations, image analysis, and quantitative stratigraphy techniques to estimate long-term mean lake sedimentation. March 9, 2023

First-ever layered lake-sediment sample extracted from subglacial Antarctica 3/9/2023

First-ever layered lake-sediment sample extracted from subglacial Antarctica

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Matthew Siegfried is part of a NSF-funded project Subglacial Antarctic Lakes Scientific Access (SALSA), that have extracted a layered lake-sediment sample that gives important details into past dynamics of the Antarctic ice sheet and its cold, dark ecosystems. Their findings from analysis of the sediment sample, give important insight into the larger dynamics of the Antarctic ice sheet and its history, including when the ice sheet was smaller than its current size. March 9, 2023

Addressing the Need for Accurate and Comparable Greenhouse Gas Data: The COMET Framework

Addressing the Need for Accurate and Comparable Greenhouse Gas Data: The COMET Framework

Former Payne Institute Program Manager Jordy Lee Calderon writes about how the Coalition on Materials Emissions Transparency (COMET) began as a collaboration between the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI), the Colorado School of Mines (CSM), RMI (formerly known as the Rocky Mountain Institute), and the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UN Climate Change). Its objective is to advance accurate and transparent greenhouse gas accounting through a harmonized set of principles, standards, and reporting requirements. March 2, 2023.

Aurora, other communities await first US limits on ‘forever chemicals’ spills at military sites 3/2/2023

Aurora, other communities await first US limits on ‘forever chemicals’ spills at military sites

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Chris Higgins  contributes to this article and states that “It is very clear there is PFOS and PFOA (on Buckley) and they are at orders of magnitude above the health advisory — which is really not a surprise, being that that is very typical for a foam-fire-fighting site.” He went on to add that this is a national-scale issue that is being addressed everywhere in the country. March 2, 2023.

Carbon capture utilization and storage in review: Sociotechnical implications for a carbon reliant world 3/2/2023

Carbon capture utilization and storage in review: Sociotechnical implications for a carbon reliant world

Payne Institute Fellow Steve Griffiths, Director Morgan Bazilian, CCUS Program Manager Anna Littlefield, student researchers Hope McLaughlin, Maia Menefee, Austin Kinzer, Tobias Hull, along with Benjamin K.Sovacool, and Jinsoo Kim write about how the decarbonization of industry and industrial systems is a pressing challenge given the relative lack of low-carbon options available for “hard to decarbonize” sectors such as steelmaking, cement manufacturing, and chemical production. This review takes a systematic and sociotechnical perspective to examine how CCUS can support industrial decarbonization and relevant associated technical, economic, and social factors.  March 2, 2023.

Market failures and willingness to accept smart meters: Experimental evidence from the UK 3/1/2023

Market failures and willingness to accept smart meters: Experimental evidence from the UK

Payne Institute Fellow Greer Gosnell and Daire McCoy write about how the sustainable energy transition, governments and innovators are encouraging households to adopt smart technologies that allow for increased flexibility in energy grids. This research contributes experimental evidence regarding the import of oft-cited market failures by studying the case of a relatively new technology – the smart electricity meter – in the context of an unprecedented UK-wide government-led public participation campaign. March 1, 2023.

Energy efficient living: Mines professor leads project to refurbish neighborhood 2/28/2023

Energy efficient living: Mines professor leads project to refurbish neighborhood

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Paulo Tabares-Velasco leads a collaborative project to cut carbon emissions, increase energy efficiency in a Colorado manufactured home community.  Many new-construction houses are designed with energy efficient and carbon emission-reducing features, like solar panels and highly insulated windows. A project led Tabares-Velasco aims to extend those energy benefits to a whole community of manufactured homes in Colorado. February 28, 2023.

Matthew Siegfried wins NSF CAREER Award for Antarctic ice stream research 2/23/2023

Matthew Siegfried wins NSF CAREER Award for Antarctic ice stream research

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Matthew Siegfried has received an NSF Career award for work to improve our understanding of Antarctic ice streams, and their potential impact on global sea level change. He will focus on the Whillans Ice Stream in West Antarctica, whose flow has been slowing over the course of several decades. February 23, 2023.

Night-Time Detection of Subpixel Emitters with VIIRS Mid-Wave Infrared Bands M12–M13. 2/21/2023

Night-Time Detection of Subpixel Emitters with VIIRS Mid-Wave Infrared Bands M12–M13

Payne Institute Earth Observation Group Research Associate Mikhail Zhizhin, Director Christopher D. Elvidge and Alexey Poyda talk about a new approach to subpixel infrared (IR) emitter detection in VIIRS mid-wave (MWIR) infrared bands M12–M13 at night, based on the presence of a tightly clustered background diagonal present in full granule scattergrams of M12 versus M13 radiances. This diagonal is found universally in night-time VIIRS data collected worldwide. The diagonal feature is absent during the day due to solar reflectance. The existence of the diagonal is attributed to close spacing in the bandpass centers of the VIIRS’ two MWIR bands.  Februay 21, 2023.

VIIRS Day/Night Band Power Outage Analysis for the February 6, 2023 Earthquake in Turkey and Syria 2/16/2023

VIIRS Day/Night Band Power Outage Analysis for the February 6, 2023 Earthquake in Turkey and Syria

Payne Institute Earth Observation Group Research Associates Tilottama Ghosh and Mikhail Zhizhin, and Director Christopher D. Elvidge use satellite imagery to look at the power outage in Turkey and Syria caused by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck in the Gaziantep province in Turkey.  February 16, 2023.  

Colorado School of Mines, American Gem Trade Association unveil strategic relationship 2/7/2023

Colorado School of Mines, American Gem Trade Association unveil strategic relationship

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Nicole Smith will lead the effort in a multiyear project, that will examine supply chain for at least 10 colored gemstones — sapphire, ruby, emerald, tanzanite and more – supply chains in Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar, Nigeria and Sri Lanka. Different types of mining and sizes of operations will be examined as well as different environmental and social contexts. In each location, data on the top colored gemstone export will be analyzed — a minimum of 10 different colored stones will be scrutinized.  February 7, 2023.  

A forward looking perspective on the cement and concrete industry: Implications of growth and development in the Global South 2/3/2023

A forward looking perspective on the cement and concrete industry: Implications of growth and development in the Global South

Payne Institute Fellow Steve Griffiths, writes about how the cement and concrete industry serves as the foundation for modern infrastructure. Hence, it has a massive global impact on both energy demand and carbon emissions and so is a key focus of industrial decarbonization efforts. The relationship between cement and concrete production and societal development is made more apparent as a result of the limited degree of international trading of these products. 2/3/2023.

Managing the future of water — in the West and beyond 2/2/2023

Managing the future of water — in the West and beyond

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Adrienne Marshall is among Mines alumni and researchers that are at the forefront of U.S. water management challenges, whether that’s through mitigation, water reuse, new water systems or alternative renewable energy systems. The Colorado River is the lifeblood of the southwestern U.S., with nearly 40 million Americans in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming relying on the Colorado River System for drinking water and to support farming and recreation. However, the Colorado River Basin water supply is dwindling, leading to water management challenges and an uncertain future of water in the West. February 2, 2023.

Musical chairs: Analyzing the evolution of stakeholders in Peru’s mining sector through dialogue tables 1/30/2023

Musical chairs: Analyzing the evolution of stakeholders in Peru’s mining sector through dialogue tables

Payne Institute Research Associates Alicia Polo y La Borda Cavero and Aaron Malone, Yezelia Caceres Cabana, and Ronaldo Quinta Soto write about how mining is an important but often contentious activity. Despite substantial research on mining dynamics and conflict, there has been less analysis of the stakeholders. This paper centers stakeholders and analyzes the case of Peru, asking: Who are the stakeholders in dialogues and conflicts around Peru’s mining sector? How have stakeholders changed over time, and how do they vary across contexts?  January 30, 2023.

IFC Net Zero Roadmap for Copper and Nickel Value Chains 1/30/2023

IFC Net Zero Roadmap for Copper and Nickel Value Chains

The Payne Institute is a collaborator in the creation of the IFC Net Zero Roadmap for Copper and Nickel Value Chains.  The Roadmap is a net zero transition guide that sets out a science-based decarbonization strategy for copper and nickel mining value chain actors. It highlights how mining sector actors can lower their emissions footprints, including scopes 1 and 2, and a subset of scope 3. It shows how to take advantage of the growth in demand coming from end users such as EVs, solar, wind, and storage. And it demonstrates how a net zero strategy offers opportunities to improve broader ESG impacts and performance, access sustainable finance, and contribute to a just energy transition.  January 30, 2023.  

Pathways to net-zero emissions from aviation 1/30/2023

Pathways to net-zero emissions from aviation

Candelaria Bergero, Payne Institute Fellow Greer Gosnell, Dolf Gielen, Seungwoo Kang, Director Morgan Bazilian and Steven J. Davis write about how international climate goals imply reaching net-zero global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by roughly mid-century (and net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by the end of the century). Among the most difficult emissions to avoid will be those from aviation given the industry’s need for energy-dense liquid fuels that lack commercially competitive substitutes and the difficult-to-abate non-CO2 radiative forcing. Here we systematically assess pathways to net-zero emissions aviation.  January 30, 2023.

Decarbonizing the chemical industry: A systematic review of sociotechnical systems, technological innovations, and policy options 1/23/2023

Decarbonizing the chemical industry: A systematic review of sociotechnical systems, technological innovations, and policy options

Changwoo Chung, Jinsoo Kim, Benjamin K.Sovacool, Payne Institute Fellow Steve Griffiths, Director Morgan Bazilian, and Minyoung Yang write about how chemicals, essential materials for modern life, emit substantial greenhouse gases during production and use. Like the other carbon-intensive industries, the chemical industry is a complex and diverse industry to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. Decarbonizing the chemical industry is critical to overcoming the climate crisis and building a sustainable and vibrant future. We conducted a comprehensive and systematic review screening more than 5.6 million articles and thoroughly analyzing a shortlist of 246 studies about the decarbonization innovations of the chemical industry. Based on the review results, we identified the sociotechnical system of the industry into four groups: raw materials, chemical making processes, chemical product making and usage, and waste management and recycling.   January 23, 2023.

Ukraine Power Outages Viewed From the NASA/NOAA Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite at Night 1/10/2023

Ukraine Power Outages Viewed From the NASA/NOAA Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite at Night

Payne Institute Earth Observation Group Director Christopher Elvidge, Research Associate Tilottama Ghosh and Mikhail Zhizhin, and student researcher Elijah Mt.Castle write about how as the Russia-Ukraine war approaches the 1 year mark the electrical grid in Ukraine has taken devastating damage. Russia has hit more than 200 targets in the electrical infrastructure. This has left millions of Ukrainian citizens without power in the cold winter months. In the early days of the war Russia captured the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. Russia has now militarized the facility installing several Grad rocket launchers around the dry storage for spent nuclear fuel. Protective structures were erected to defend the launchers, but these structures violate international nuclear and radiation safety regulations.   January 10, 2023.  

$50M partnership with UT Austin, CSU to tackle oil & gas greenhouse gas emissions accounting. 1/10/2023

COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES ALONG WITH UT AUSTIN, CSU TO TACKLE OIL & GAS GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS ACCOUNTING IN A $50 MILLION PARTNERSHIP

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Dorit Hammerling and Fellow Arvind Ravikumar and the Payne Institute has partnered with the University of Texas at Austin and Colorado State University to stand up a new $50 million multidisciplinary research and education initiative that will address the growing need for accurate, timely and clear accounting of greenhouse gas emissions across global oil and natural gas supply chains.  Data and analysis from this major new endeavor will help both public and private institutions develop climate strategies and actions informed by accurate data, identifying both opportunities for emissions reductions and verification. The Energy Emissions Modeling and Data Lab (EEMDL) will be hosted at UT Austin. January 10, 2023

Comparison of the Gaussian plume and puff atmospheric dispersion models on oil and gas facilities 1/6/2023

Comparison of the Gaussian plume and puff atmospheric dispersion models on oil and gas facilities

Payne Institute Student Researchers Meng Jia and Will Daniels, and Faculty Fellow Dorit Hammerling write about how characterizing methane emissions on oil and gas facilities often relies on a forward model to describe the atmospheric transport of methane. Here we compare two forward models: the Gaussian plume, a commonly used steady-state dispersion model, and the Gaussian puff, a time varying dispersion model that approximates a continuous release as a sum over many small “puffs”. We compare model predictions to observations from a network of point-in-space continuous emissions monitoring systems (CEMS) collected during a series of controlled releases.  January 6, 2023.

Implementing safety zones for lunar activities under the Artemis Accords 1/4/2023

Implementing safety zones for lunar activities under the Artemis Accords

Payne Institute Fellow Alexander Gilbert writes about how improving technology could enable new commercial and scientific activities in outer space, including crewed stations, space mining, and advanced planetary science in locations like the Moon or asteroids. To facilitate novel space exploration activities, the United States led the development of a new multilateral set of principles, the Artemis Accords.  The Accords and other soft law propose the ability to establish controversial “safety zones” surrounding space operations of participant states and mission-authorized nationals. January 4, 2023.  

Methane emission detection, localization, and quantification using continuous point-sensors on oil and gas facilities 12/27/2022

Methane emission detection, localization, and quantification using continuous point-sensors on oil and gas facilities

Payne Institute Student Researchers William Daniels and Meng Jia, with Faculty Fellow Dorit Hammerling write about how they propose a generic, modular framework for emission event detection, localization, and quantification on oil and gas facilities that uses concentration data collected by point-in-space continuous emissions monitoring systems (CEMS). The framework uses a gradient-based spike detection algorithm to estimate emission start and end times (event detection) and pattern matches simulated and observed concentrations to estimate emission source location (localization) and rate (quantification).  Potential uses for the proposed framework include near real-time alerting for rapid emissions mitigation and emission quantification for data-driven inventory estimation on production-like facilities. December 27, 2022.

Could Space-based Satellites Power Remote Mines? 12/18/2022

Could Space-based Satellites Power Remote Mines?

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Ian Lange contributes to this article about how a study from a group of researchers at the Colorado School of Mines looked at one potential use case of space-based technologies – powering remote mining sites that aren’t connected to any electric grid. Unfortunately, even at those extremes, solar power satellites aren’t yet economical enough to warrant the investment.  December 18, 2022.  

Statistical Moments of VIIRS Nighttime Lights

Statistical Moments of VIIRS Nighttime Lights

Payne Institute Earth Observation Group Director Christopher D. Elvidge, Feng Chi Hsu, Mikhail Zhizhin, Tilottama Ghosh, and Tamara Sparks write about how they generated VIIRS day/night band multiyear and annual statistical moments for a widely dispersed set of test areas. The moments were calculated from 15 arc second nightly temporal profiles spanning 2012-2020, filtered to exclude cloudy and sunlit data, with radiance adjustments to reduce view angle and lunar illuminance effects. The moment data were examined in two ways: 1) Geospatial grids-which reveal zonation and temporal changes present in urban areas, and 2) Scattergrams of moment pairs.  December 16, 2022.

Saudi Arabia’s Future Minerals Forum partners with global think tanks ahead of January conference 12/5/2022

Saudi Arabia’s Future Minerals Forum partners with global think tanks ahead of January conference

Saudi Arabia’s global conference Future Mineral Forum has partnered a host of major think tanks to drive innovation and thought leadership, according to a statement.  Launched in 2022 by the Kingdom’s Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, the FMF has now joined forces with the Development Partner Institute, the Center for Energy Studies at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, Clareo, and the Payne Institute at the Colorado School of Mines.  Through these partnerships with the think tanks and research institutions, the FMF is targeting to provide dynamic insights that propel the development of the industry in line with strict environmental, social and governance principles. December 5, 2022. 

CONCRETE SOLUTIONS TO INFRASTRUCTURE CHALLENGES 11/8/2022

CONCRETE SOLUTIONS TO INFRASTRUCTURE CHALLENGES

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Lori Tunstall is featured in this article about how she is developing novel methods of improving concrete to help lower its overall environmental footprint.  She’s trying to help make concrete more durable so it can stand up to the punishing freeze-thaw cycle that exists in many cold climates, as well as other causes of degradation that, over time, cause concrete to crack, crumble and break apart. Concrete that lasts longer doesn’t need to be replaced as often which, in turn, will help reduce the demand for the heavy CO2-emitting production process.   November 8, 2022.  

A multinational Delphi consensus to end the COVID-19 public health threat

A multinational Delphi consensus to end the COVID-19 public health threat

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian co-authored this paper about how despite notable scientific and medical advances, broader political, socioeconomic and behavioural factors continue to undercut the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  In the wake of nearly three years of fragmented global and national responses, it is instructive to note that three of the highest-ranked recommendations call for the adoption of whole-of-society and whole-of-government approaches, while maintaining proven prevention measures using a vaccines-plus approach that employs a range of public health and financial support measures to complement vaccination.  November 3, 2022.  

The Future of Oil and Gas Production in Urban and Suburban Environments 10/25/2022

The Future of Oil and Gas Production in Urban and Suburban Environments: “Is Colorado an Example of Where the North American Crude Oil and Natural Gas Industry Might be Headed?”

Mines Student Researcher Wyatt Lindsey, Alumni William Jordan, Student Researcher Chiang Cheng Siew and Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Jim Crompton write about how there has and is much discussion about the future of fossil fuels, specifically the oil and gas industry. With growing concern on climate change, the need for a diversified energy portfolio, incorporation of clean energies into energy production, and the expectation for an energy transition away from fossil fuels to non-carbon energy solutions, such as renewables, signifies that the energy transition has already begun. While the energy industry is transitioning due to market forces, public policies, and technological advances, fossil fuels are not yet forgotten in the total energy supply of the future.  October 25, 2022.  

Mines professors contribute to roadmap for successful wind energy projects 10/14/2022

Mines professors contribute to roadmap for successful wind energy projects

Electrical Engineering’s Kathryn Johnson and Payne Faculty Fellow Engineering, Design & Society’s Jessica Smith were co-authors on the findings recently published in JOULE.  The two Colorado School of Mines professors were part of an effort to create a first-of-its-kind roadmap that demonstrates how communities, governments and researchers can work together to consider social, technical, economic and political challenges and opportunities to create successful wind energy projects – even when the wind doesn’t blow. October 14, 2022.

John G. Speer honored with IFHTSE Medal 10/10/2022

John G. Speer honored with IFHTSE Medal

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow John Speer received the international IFHTSE award which recognizes distinguished achievements in heat treatment and surface engineering.  Speer was honored for “his life-time achievement in physical metallurgy, development and heat treatment of advanced steel concepts from theory to practical application, with particular focus on his leading role in the development of the Quenching and Partitioning Process.”  October 10, 2022.

Multiscale Methane Measurements at Oil and Gas Facilities Reveal Necessary Frameworks for Improved Emissions Accounting 10/6/2022

Multiscale Methane Measurements at Oil and Gas Facilities Reveal Necessary Frameworks for Improved Emissions Accounting

Jiayang Lyra Wang, Payne Institute Researcher Associate William S. Daniels, Faculty Fellow Dorit M. Hammerling, Matthew Harrison, Kaylyn Burmaster, Fiji C. George, and Fellow Arvind P. Ravikumar write about how methane mitigation from the oil and gas (O&G) sector represents a key near-term global climate action opportunity. Recent legislation in the United States requires updating current methane reporting programs for oil and gas facilities with empirical data. While technological advances have led to improvements in methane emissions measurements and monitoring, the overall effectiveness of mitigation strategies rests on quantifying spatially and temporally varying methane emissions more accurately than the current approaches. In this work, we demonstrate a quantification, monitoring, reporting, and verification framework that pairs snapshot measurements with continuous emissions monitoring systems (CEMS) to reconcile measurements with inventory estimates and account for intermittent emission events.  October 6, 2022.  

WHAT THE WAR IN UKRAINE LOOKS LIKE FROM ABOVE 9/22/2022

WHAT THE WAR IN UKRAINE LOOKS LIKE FROM ABOVE

Payne Institute Communications Associate Brooke Bowser, Earth Observation Group Researcher Fen-Chi Hsu and Director Christopher Elvidge, and Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian write about how satellite imagery can help us understand kinetic activity in Ukraine.  To better understand how the war is progressing the Payne Institute’s Earth Observation Group has collected satellite images showing the light and fire patterns accompanying the military activity.  September 22, 2022.  

Demand in the dark: Estimating the true scale of unmet electricity demand in Sub-Saharan Africa 9/11/2022

Demand in the dark: Estimating the true scale of unmet electricity demand in Sub-Saharan Africa

Mines Mineral and Energy Economics student researcher Sankalp Garg, Payne Institute Fellow Benjamin Attia, Payne Institute Program Manager Brad Handler, and Director Morgan Bazilian write about how although the understanding the scale of energy poverty remains elusive, it is a key metric in the global effort to eradicate poverty.  This paper provides insights into the true scale and impacts of unreliable electricity service provision and introduces a simple and novel approach to quantifying the difference between electricity supply and demand, accounting for both met and unmet demand in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).  September 11, 2022.

Colorado School of Mines, BHP announce founding partnership for Global Energy Future Initiative 8/30/2022

Colorado School of Mines, BHP announce founding partnership for Global Energy Future Initiative

Colorado School of Mines Global Energy Future Initiative and BHP announce a founding partnership ahead of the Inaugural Global Energy Future Innovation Forum and Innov8x Challenge set for Sept. 7-8.  BHP becomes a founding partner of the initiative to drive innovative sustainable energy solutions. Through this partnership, BHP will sponsor research projects and participate in steering committees and working groups, adding industry expertise to solve complex problems. In exchange for their expertise, BHP will gain access to cutting-edge research critical to building a sustainable future for the mining industry. Through this partnership, BHP and GEFI aim to develop renewable, secure, resilient, and adaptive energy systems and infrastructure, fostering worldwide economic development while reducing environmental impacts.  August 30, 2022.

 

The Payne Institute experts are regional, national, and international leaders in applied research in natural resources, energy, and the environment. Our team is involved in a wide variety of research projects in these fields, and are committed to sharing these results with academic and professional audiences.

 

DISCLAIMER: The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed are those of the author alone and do not reflect the opinions, beliefs, viewpoints, or official policies of the Payne Institute or Colorado School of Mines.