Energy
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Research at the Earth Institute is organized into nine themes. Energy is one of them.
Featured Projects and Centers:
Energy issues are an important part of a sustainable future. One of the major interests of the Earth Institute is the study of energy and the ways that it is connected to climate change, poverty alleviation and sustainable development.
As part of an integrated approach that involves policy, education and outreach, our researchers work to develop new energy technologies and applications for a complex world. Earth Institute scientists are studying the relationships between energy and other areas of study such as climate change, water, poverty and human health, in order to develop future energy systems and help define the future of energy for our planet.
The following are research centers and initiatives at the Earth Institute that address issues of sustainable energy:
The Lenfest Center for Sustainable Energy
The mission of the Lenfest Center is to develop technologies and institutions to ensure a sufficient supply of environmentally sustainable energy. To meet this goal, the center supports research programs across Columbia University to develop solutions that will satisfy the world’s future energy needs.
Most of the center’s work is focused on the technology and institutions needed for development of the three major energy resources sufficient to support the world's projected population in 2100 without increased carbon emissions: solar, nuclear, and fossil fuels combined with carbon capture and storage.
Lenfest Center projects include the development of a technology roadmap toward zero-emissions power plants, the creation of high-efficiency carbon fuel cells, mechanisms to store carbon dioxide harmlessly in minerals beneath the Earth’s crust and deep beneath the ocean floor, and a methodology to evaluate the carbon management and energy sustainability options of major corporations.
Read more about these and other Lenfest Center energy projects.
The Earth Engineering Center
The Earth Engineering Center (EEC) is the engineering unit of the Earth Institute. Its mission is to develop technologies that aid the sustainable development of the Earth’s resources: minerals, energy, water and the environment. The researchers at the center include Columbia engineers from various disciplines as well as specialists from other universities and organizations.
A major initiative underway at the EEC is the recovery of renewable energy from municipal solid wastes both in OECD countries and developing nations like China, where the need for environmental control is most acute. Also, with the help of Waste Management Charitable Foundation, EEC has recently launched a new center for excellence in the Sustainable Use of Resources. The central mission of the Sustainable Use Resources Center is the quantification of greenhouse gas emissions from solid waste management practices and the advancement of the best means for sustainable waste management and resource utilization, in the U.S. and globally.
The Global Roundtable on Climate Change
The Global Roundtable on Climate Change (GROCC)—a group of high-level, critical stakeholders from all regions of the world, including senior executives of major corporations and leaders of international governmental and non-governmental organizations—is a critical forum for examining and building consensus on key scientific, economic and policy issues surrounding climate change. Since energy and climate change are closely linked issues, sustainable energy represents a major focus of these important annual discussions.
In addition to its yearly dialogue, the Roundtable supports a variety of practical research projects and specialized task forces endorsed by the members of the group. Projects relating to energy include research on the sequestration of carbon in Icelandic basalt deposits, reduced carbon emissions from agricultural practices, exploration of efficient, clean LED lighting, and the formation of a Global Task Force on Carbon Capture and Sequestration.