Shale gas is changing the American energy economy at a breakneck pace, and its rapid, widespread domestic utilization is redefining the questions our government must address about energy security, policy and the environment. Shale gas as an energy source poses a huge potential boon to American manufacturers of all stripes, but the relationship between the shale gas boom and U.S manufacturing competitiveness needs clearer understanding.
Nathaniel Szymczak, the Dow Corning Assistant Professor of Chemistry and an Energy Institute Faculty Affiliate, was named a 2014 Alfred P. Sloan Foundation research fellow, along with two other U-M scientists. The award comes with a $50,000 research boost.
Carrie Morton, a member of the Energy Institute team since 2011, is leaving the Institute to join the University’s new Mobility Transformation Center (MTC) as Managing Director. The MTC is a public/private R&D partnership formed to develop the foundations of a commercially viable ecosystem of connected and automated vehicles that will dramatically improve transportation safety, sustainability, and accessibility. The Energy Institute is a partner supporter of the MTC.
The Energy Institute's Partnerships for Innovation in Energy Program seeds new interdisciplinary research programs in sustainable energy science, technology, and policy with funding for a University of Michigan Energy Research Fellowship. This fellowship provides a research team with a postdoctoral position. Successful proposals will combine innovative research plans with concrete timelines for establishing independent funding. Proposals are due on March 31, 2014.
The University of Michigan Energy Institute (UMEI), in partnership with the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) seeks to provide selected U-M undergraduates at all years of study with a $4,000 stipend for a 10-week fellowship to work under the supervision of a University of Michigan faculty member in science, technology, and policy fields related to the following research areas:
The New York Times posted an article today entitled Industry Awakens to the Threat of Climate Change, describing how Coke, Nike, the World Bank and even the tycoons in Davos are looking at the physical impacts of climate change as a business risk with real dollars attached to them in the form of lost resources.
Frank Markus of Motor Trend magazine explains why every carbon molecule in a liquid biofuel, such as ethanol or biodiesel, can't be counted "as an ecological freebie." He reports on the debate about the Renewable Fuel Standard that took place during a panel discussion at this year's Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Government-Industry Meeting in Washington, DC.
Fuel economy must improve 57 percent in order for light-duty vehicles to match the current energy efficiency of commercial airline flights, says a University of Michigan researcher.
Michael Sivak, a research professor at the U-M Transportation Research Institute, examined recent trends in the amount of energy needed to transport a person a given distance in a light-duty vehicle (cars, SUVs, pickups and vans) or on a scheduled airline flight. His analysis measured BTU per person mile from 1970 to 2010.
Three pairs of researchers will be reaching across an ocean this year to spark collaborative energy projects with the receipt of University of Michigan – Ben Gurion University of the Negev Collaboration on Energy Research grants.
The catch? The projects have to feature a research team from each university, working jointly on projects related to global energy security. Teams could choose to focus on one of three topics: photovoltaics and solar technology, liquid fuels and engine combustion, or thermoelectricity, materials, and devices.
Autonomous "robot" vehicles that can drive themselves hold great promise for transforming transportation systems across the world. Part of their appeal is the potential to greatly improve energy efficiency and reduce emissions. Not so fast, notes Bradley Berman in a critical piece on ReadWriteDrive, where he quotes Energy Institute research professor John DeCicco's admonition that technology "doesn't save us from ourselves."
The University of Michigan Regents resolved in 1948 that: “…the University of Michigan create a War Memorial Center to explore the ways and means by which the potentialities of atomic energy may become a beneficent influence in the life of man, to be known as the Phoenix Project of the University of Michigan.” To this end, the Advisory Board of the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Project administers a seed-funding program for research groups developing proposals for external support.
