The Boxer-Kerry bill on climate change now making its way through Congress moves in the right direction, says environmental law expert William Buzbee, but some critical improvements are needed to make the legislation effective.
Buzbee's analysis of the bill, one of a series from the Center for Progressive Reform (CPR) by their member scholars, appears on the CPRBlog.
One unintended consequence of the bill's many implementation steps and corrective mechanisms, writes Buzbee, "is an avalanche of obligations." A big question, he says, is whether this "will lead to implementation delays."
A big risk in Boxer-Kerry, says Buzbee, "is that the federal law could prove too lax, but that the federal legislative and regulatory venues would be gridlocked and hence unable to set new, lower emissions caps or take other actions to lower emissions levels."
If that happens, he writes, "states might once again want to reassume the climate change leadership role they exhibited over the past decade and take actions to reduce emissions."
The bill does have provisions to preserve states' ability to require lower emissions than federally mandated, and provisions to prevent polluters from "simply turning and selling emission allowances or credits outside the jurisdiction."
Boxer-Kerry also retains the power of the federal EPA "to take action to supplement a cap-and-trade scheme if that proves necessary," writes Buzbee. "In reality, the mere threat of such supplemental action could nudge polluters into supporting implementation of the cap-and-trade regime."
Yet the bill is less than clear on whether "state supplemental roles are meant to be preserved under all the bill's provisions," writes Buzbee. A second important but missing element "is a citizen suit provision authorizing citizens to sue regulators, polluters, or other players in the cap-and-trade market for violations of the law."
With a law this complicated, writes Buzbee, "a multiplicity of enforcers is needed."
He concludes that "retention of state roles in combating climate change and adding a citizen suit provision" are near necessities "if a cap-and-trade market is to become a well policed reality."
Buzbee is professor of law and director of the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Program at Emory Law School. He is also a director of Emory’s new Center on Federalism and Intersystemic Governance.
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Showing posts with label emory university. Show all posts
Showing posts with label emory university. Show all posts
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Shining Light on Green Energy
The physical chemistry lab of Tim Lian specializes in ultra-fast spectroscopy, electron transfer processes and quantum dots - nano-particles that hold promise for everything from electronics to medicine and renewable energy.
In collaboration with scientists at Emory and elsewhere, Lian's team is studying ways to convert the sun's energy into cheap and clean solutions to the global energy crisis. "Solar energy conversion is very complex," he says. "Spectroscopy allows us to break it down into small, fundamental steps that you can study carefully."
Quantum dots are good at absorbing light and could provide energy to drive reactions needed for solar energy conversion processes.
"These are all very challenging scientific problems," Lian says, adding that it will take many people, working across disciplines, to make solar energy go mainstream. "We have to solve these problems, because using fossil fuels is not sustainable."
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In collaboration with scientists at Emory and elsewhere, Lian's team is studying ways to convert the sun's energy into cheap and clean solutions to the global energy crisis. "Solar energy conversion is very complex," he says. "Spectroscopy allows us to break it down into small, fundamental steps that you can study carefully."
Quantum dots are good at absorbing light and could provide energy to drive reactions needed for solar energy conversion processes.
"These are all very challenging scientific problems," Lian says, adding that it will take many people, working across disciplines, to make solar energy go mainstream. "We have to solve these problems, because using fossil fuels is not sustainable."
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Monday, August 3, 2009
Tapping New Sources of Energy
Can microbes that live in swamp mud help us produce green energy?
Chemistry Professor Brian Dyer is researching that possibility, through his work at the intersection of chemistry, physics and biology. “I’m really into blurring the lines between traditional disciplines,” he says.
Formerly with the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, Dyer joined Emory this summer to help unite the University’s multi-disciplinary research into renewable energy sources. “The need for renewable energy is one of the key problems of our time,” Dyer says, “and Emory is well-positioned to really make an impact in this area.”
Dyer uses laser spectroscopy to study how light can interact with materials. Early in his career, he began working with proteins that can do photochemistry, drawing his inspiration from natural photosynthesis.
“Ultimately, plants are taking light and storing it as chemical energy,” Dyer explains. “The elegance of some of these reactions is astounding. It’s an incredibly complex process, done with a series of proteins that are highly optimized for a specific function, such as light harvesting and water oxidation. The proteins are like tiny machines. A good analogy is an internal combustion engine, where you actually have integrated, working parts.”
Artificial photosynthesis
In recent years, science and industry have started searching for ways to develop systems of artificial photosynthesis, to help solve the energy shortage and reduce carbon emissions. So far, man’s attempts at tapping the sun’s power have fallen far short of Mother Nature’s.
While living in Los Alamos, located at 7,500 feet above sea level on the Pajarito Plateau, Dyer installed solar panels on his family home. “I wanted to understand the issues of solar energy at the practical level of a home owner,” he says. Even with 320 days a year of New Mexico sunshine, he found conventional solar panels to be inefficient and not cost effective.
“An even bigger problem is the batteries required to store the intermittent solar flux,” Dyer says. “Their storage capacity is limited and their lifetime is short. They also contain hazardous chemicals, like lead and sulfuric acid.”
Mimicking Mother Nature
Dyer is focused on solving this solar energy storage problem. He wants to covert solar energy to fuel, using a particular protein to develop a photocatalyst for solar hydrogen production — which brings up the swamp bugs.
A type of anaerobic bacteria that lives deep in the mud of swamps, where there is little oxygen, survives by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen. While humans need to use expensive systems to perform this process on a large scale, the bacteria does it naturally by generating the protein hydrogenase — the most efficient catalyst known for making hydrogen.
By studying the biological system, Dyer hopes to find ways to adapt the microbial catalysis of hydrogenase so that it can be harnessed for solar hydrogen production.
“You can trick bugs to make lots of certain kinds of proteins, like a little factory,” Dyer explains. “It’s called ‘directed evolution,’ where you push bacteria a certain way, forcing it to adapt and to produce an evolved protein that has the properties you need.”
His goal is to generate hydrogenase in a form that allows the protein to bind to quantum dots, which are good at absorbing light and could provide the energy to drive the reaction.
“We envision producing hydrogen in a photochemically driven process, where the electrons and protons needed to produce the hydrogen are furnished by water,” Dyer explains. “You could then burn the hydrogen as fuel and get water back. It would be a perfectly clean cycle.”
Renewable energy center
At Emory, Dyer is teamed with other scientists in his experiments, including Tim Lian, William Henry Emerson Professor of Chemistry and a leader in quantum dot technology, and Stefan Lutz, an associate professor of biomolecular chemistry who specializes in protein engineering.
Dyer will also serve as the director of a renewable energy center on campus, to launch this fall. The aim is to further integrate ongoing energy research among chemists, physicists, biologists and computer scientists.
“The energy field has suffered from 30 years of people saying that the search for more energy is an engineering problem,” Dyer says. “Actually, it’s primarily a science problem. Emory has a good track record of bringing together interdisciplinary teams, and tremendous strengths in the bio-sciences, as well as the physical sciences. Most of the advances in renewable energy are going to be made at that interface.”
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Chemistry Professor Brian Dyer is researching that possibility, through his work at the intersection of chemistry, physics and biology. “I’m really into blurring the lines between traditional disciplines,” he says.
Formerly with the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, Dyer joined Emory this summer to help unite the University’s multi-disciplinary research into renewable energy sources. “The need for renewable energy is one of the key problems of our time,” Dyer says, “and Emory is well-positioned to really make an impact in this area.”
Dyer uses laser spectroscopy to study how light can interact with materials. Early in his career, he began working with proteins that can do photochemistry, drawing his inspiration from natural photosynthesis.
“Ultimately, plants are taking light and storing it as chemical energy,” Dyer explains. “The elegance of some of these reactions is astounding. It’s an incredibly complex process, done with a series of proteins that are highly optimized for a specific function, such as light harvesting and water oxidation. The proteins are like tiny machines. A good analogy is an internal combustion engine, where you actually have integrated, working parts.”
Artificial photosynthesis
In recent years, science and industry have started searching for ways to develop systems of artificial photosynthesis, to help solve the energy shortage and reduce carbon emissions. So far, man’s attempts at tapping the sun’s power have fallen far short of Mother Nature’s.
While living in Los Alamos, located at 7,500 feet above sea level on the Pajarito Plateau, Dyer installed solar panels on his family home. “I wanted to understand the issues of solar energy at the practical level of a home owner,” he says. Even with 320 days a year of New Mexico sunshine, he found conventional solar panels to be inefficient and not cost effective.
“An even bigger problem is the batteries required to store the intermittent solar flux,” Dyer says. “Their storage capacity is limited and their lifetime is short. They also contain hazardous chemicals, like lead and sulfuric acid.”
Mimicking Mother Nature
Dyer is focused on solving this solar energy storage problem. He wants to covert solar energy to fuel, using a particular protein to develop a photocatalyst for solar hydrogen production — which brings up the swamp bugs.
A type of anaerobic bacteria that lives deep in the mud of swamps, where there is little oxygen, survives by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen. While humans need to use expensive systems to perform this process on a large scale, the bacteria does it naturally by generating the protein hydrogenase — the most efficient catalyst known for making hydrogen.
By studying the biological system, Dyer hopes to find ways to adapt the microbial catalysis of hydrogenase so that it can be harnessed for solar hydrogen production.
“You can trick bugs to make lots of certain kinds of proteins, like a little factory,” Dyer explains. “It’s called ‘directed evolution,’ where you push bacteria a certain way, forcing it to adapt and to produce an evolved protein that has the properties you need.”
His goal is to generate hydrogenase in a form that allows the protein to bind to quantum dots, which are good at absorbing light and could provide the energy to drive the reaction.
“We envision producing hydrogen in a photochemically driven process, where the electrons and protons needed to produce the hydrogen are furnished by water,” Dyer explains. “You could then burn the hydrogen as fuel and get water back. It would be a perfectly clean cycle.”
Renewable energy center
At Emory, Dyer is teamed with other scientists in his experiments, including Tim Lian, William Henry Emerson Professor of Chemistry and a leader in quantum dot technology, and Stefan Lutz, an associate professor of biomolecular chemistry who specializes in protein engineering.
Dyer will also serve as the director of a renewable energy center on campus, to launch this fall. The aim is to further integrate ongoing energy research among chemists, physicists, biologists and computer scientists.
“The energy field has suffered from 30 years of people saying that the search for more energy is an engineering problem,” Dyer says. “Actually, it’s primarily a science problem. Emory has a good track record of bringing together interdisciplinary teams, and tremendous strengths in the bio-sciences, as well as the physical sciences. Most of the advances in renewable energy are going to be made at that interface.”
-----
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