2022-23 Research Seed Grants in Sustainability

2022-23 RESEARCH SEED GRANTS IN SUSTAINABILITY

The goals of MCSI’s Research Seed Grant program are: (1) Catalyze the formation of interdisciplinary synergistic research teams focused on sustainability (2) Fund projects capable of obtaining external funding upon completion; and (3) Enhance Pitt’s national recognition in sustainability and the visibility of interdisciplinary sustainability research and education on campus.

State Public Utility Commissions (PUCs) play a critical role in grid decarbonization, from their review of utilities’ resource plants to their adjudication of utilities’ rate recovery (which in turn shapes the extent and pace of utilities’ shift to renewable energy). This two-part project lays the groundwork for Pitt’s engagement with the Pennsylvania PUC, which regulates electricity distribution companies (EDCs). Part one of the project will provide a report detailing how the PUC can play a positive role in efforts to decarbonize Pennsylvania’s electricity grid. Specifically, under the proposed bipartisan community solar bill, the PUC is tasked with determining the remuneration for solar and with designing regulations to enable the participation of low-income communities. Part two of the project will provide a report that lays out strategies for Pitt’s Environmental Law Clinic to build expertise in utility law. This will lay the groundwork for the Clinic to represent a client at PUC hearings and advocate in favor of renewable energy. PUC deliberations and proceedings are dominated by EDCs, with their powerhouses of lawyers and consultants. By representing a client before the PUC, the Clinic can amplify renewable energy and public interest voices in the changing utility landscape.

The expected massive demand for metals in the new 5G and clean energy era raises unprecedented challenges of sustainable supply by conventional ore mining. Therefore, recycling, reuse, and improving the circular economy of metals, are becoming increasingly important. Pyrometallurgy and hydrometallurgy are the two commonly employed technologies for recovering metals from wastes, but both are energy-intensive, use hazardous chemicals, and have a significant environmental footprint. Biometallurgy that uses biological activities to extract metals is an ecofriendlier alternative, yet current processes lack selectivity. In this work, the PIs propose to overcome these limitations by leveraging recent breakthroughs in cell biology to develop protein compartment-based subcellular bioreactors that can selectively extract metalions from mixtures and yield high-grade metallic particles. This approach, if effective, will enable selective and targeted metal recovery with minimum environmental impacts, which will make a significant contribution toward improving the circular economy of metals.

Shanti Gamper-Rabindran, Graduate School for Public & International Affairs Grant MacIntyre, School of Law & Environmental Law Clinic

The Role of PA’s Public Utility Commission in Efforts to Decarbonize Pennsylvania’s Electricity Grid

Meng Wang, Civil & Environmental Engineering Leanne Gilbertson, Civil & Environmental Engineering

Engineering Subcellular Bioreactors for Selective Metal Recovery as Metallic Particles