Fifteen researchers from
Michigan Technological University in Houghton are joining a five-year National Science Foundation-backed project to explore two major questions facing the energy industry.
Three dozen scientists from the U.S., Mexico, Argentina and Brazil, led by MTU's Kathleen Halvorsen, will try to answer whether it is possible to develop and produce biofuels in a sustainable way without harming people or the environment, and what policies need to be put in place to help that happen.
"This large, interdisciplinary group of scientists will work together to do socio-ecological and policy analysis of bioethanol and biodiesel development in each of the four countries," says Halvorsen. "The countries all have policy goals of increasing sustainable biofuel production."
Biofuel sources can include trees, sugarcane, soybeans, palm tree nuts and corn; the scientists will be looking at which fuels can produce existing or new energy forms that maximize benefit while minimizing harm in social, economic and environmental terms.
Writer: Sam Eggleston
Source: Kathleen Halvorsen, Michigan Technological University
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