Energy & Infrastructure
[within biophysical limits]
Research Aims
Quantify the ecological costs and benefits of sustainability-oriented energy and infrastructure shifts.
Develop environmental assessment techniques that account for feedback effects from increasing affluence and efficiency.
Frame all research questions in the context of global ecological change and the biophysical limits of our one shared planet.
Describe the policy implications of our research findings.
Highlights
When framed as an energy-material cycle, the labels “renewable” and “non-renewable” do not adequately distinguish between energy systems. All energy systems require material extraction, degradation, and ecological impact.
Mulrow, J., Bozeman, J. F., Pai, S., Grubert, E., & Derrible, S. (2023). Energy-Material Cycles: A materials-based perspective of vehicle energy systems. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 196, 107039. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2023.107039
Scaling up EV charging infrastructure to meet GHG emissions reduction goals will require a massive deployment of materials for installing plugs, upgrading the grid, and constructing charging stations. However, the emissions embodied in these materials will be insignificant compared to the potential emissions offset by the shift to electrified transport.
Mulrow, J., & Grubert, E. (2023). Greenhouse gas emissions embodied in electric vehicle charging infrastructure: A method and case study of Georgia, US 2021–2050. Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability, 3(1), 015013. https://doi.org/10.1088/2634-4505/acc548
Most environmental assessments of cyber-physical systems - such as autonomous vehicles, electronic media, and precision irrigation - are focused on mechanical efficiencies or direct use-phase inputs and effects, which can ignore wider system dynamics… it is likely that the preponderance of impact assessments are underestimates potential environmental impact.
Mulrow, J., Gali, M., & Grubert, E. (2021). The cyber-consciousness of environmental assessment: How environmental assessments evaluate the impacts of smart, connected, and digital technology. Environmental Research Letters, 17(1), 013001. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac413b
January 2024
Join our monthly discussions on degrowth this semester. Culminating with “Degrowth and Sustainability”, a conference bringing together scholars from across the region.
November 2023
Grad students Tripta Bhattacharjee and Natalie Stoflet receive Life Cycle Assessment and Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) GHG Accounting certificates!
October 2023
Canadian Society for Ecological Economics (CANSEE) Conference Presentation: “The ecological-economic possibilities of a non-rapid energy transition”
September 2023
Members of Degrowth Coffee Hour publish their thoughts on technology and degrowth in: resilience.org, CASSE, and Fundación Llano Adentro.
August 2023
New Publication! “Energy-Material Cycles” in Resources, Conservation and Recycling
July 2023
We present critical Ecological Engineering research at the International Conference on Industrial Ecology and SCP23: Transforming Consumption-Production Systems Toward Just and Sustainable Futures
June 2023
Conference Paper: “Reconfigurations of Life Cycle Assessment: Valuing Life over Lithium”
Group Members
We work together to advance environmental assessment of energy and infrastructure systems.
Teaching
Environmental science and engineering courses, past and present.
Degrowth Coffee Hour
A colloquium for environmental researchers to discuss and debate post-growth pathways to sustainability.
Limits to Green
A webcomic about the social and ecological challenges of emerging technology and sustainability trends.
