Drivers and Environmental Impacts of Energy Transitions in Underserved Communities Grants
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Energy and transportation systems are rapidly shifting away from fossil-based energy systems. These changes will help mitigate climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The evolving energy and transportation systems provide both challenges as well as opportunities to improve environmental and public health in ways that also reduce inequities such as environmental health burdens.
EPA awarded $11 million in grant funding to 11 institutions for research to address the drivers and environmental impacts of energy transitions in underserved communities and Tribes.
Energy and transportation systems are rapidly shifting away from fossil-based energy systems. These changes will help mitigate climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The evolving energy and transportation systems provide both challenges as well as opportunities to improve environmental and public health in ways that also reduce inequities such as environmental health burdens.
The following institutions are receiving an award:
University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Mass.
Project Title: Community-Engaged Co-Design of Residential Electrification for a Just and Sustainable Energy Transition
Principal Investigator: Krista Harper
Award Amount: $1,111,418
Project Summary: The goals of this community-based participatory research project are to 1) understand how low- and moderate-income (LMI) households and neighborhoods in a community with environmental justice concerns experience and envision the 21st century energy transition and identify community priorities; 2) develop a robust community-based research platform for designing scalable solutions to the challenge of energy-efficient electrification of aging housing infrastructure; and 3) work with local housing partners to implement and test community co-designed interventions and prototypes to assess their efficacy in addressing household priorities. The project team will engagement with LMI households and neighbors in Holyoke, MA to create knowledge around the drivers, barriers, and environmental co-benefits to household electrification in underserved communities and to build the research platform for continuing collaboration between the community and researchers. Pilot implementation and evaluation of co-designed solutions will inform development of scalable, adaptable solutions for household electrification.
View the research abstract from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
University of Maine, Orono, Maine
Project Title: The Role of State Networks in Advancing Community-Initiated and -Engaged Sustainable Energy Action in Underserved Communities
Principal Investigator: Sharon Klein
Award Amount: $1,125,000
Project Summary: The overarching goal of this project is to understand the role of statewide Local Energy Action Networks (LEANs) in supporting and advancing renewable energy and energy efficiency (REE) adoption in underserved communities. The project team will engage with indigenous, rural, and low-income communities in Maine to improve awareness and understanding of barriers, opportunities, decision drivers related to sustainable energy adoption in underserved communities; develop effective methods for engagement and co-production of knowledge with communities; and provide best practices for state networks and state policy/program design to support local sustainable energy adoption.
View the research abstract from the University of Maine.
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Va.
Project Title: Deliberative Valuation and Integrated Modeling to Accelerate Equitable Decarbonization in New England
Principal Investigator: Ryan Calder
Award Amount: $649,328
Project Summary: The goal of the project is to deliver information and tools that empower community-based environmental organizations to identify and advocate for renewable energy projects that are consistent with community values. The project team will develop a tool that can screen alternative decarbonization scenarios in terms of the various ecological, environmental, and health outcomes of interests; engagement with rural and urban community members in New England to quantify relative importance of competing attributes and identify information that is most important in the formation of attitudes; and provide cost-benefit analyses on renewable energy projects under consideration for New England.
View the research abstract from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
Research Triangle Institute, Research Triangle Park, N.C.
Project Title: Renewable ENergy, Environmental Justice, and Public Wellbeing (RENEW) Evaluating Biogas Transformation in Eastern NC
Principal Investigator: Crystal Lee Pow Jackson
Award Amount: $1,124,999
Project Summary: The project will evaluate the environmental, public health, economic, and environmental justice impacts of a large-scale swine waste-to-energy operation in eastern North Carolina. The project team will interview and survey stakeholders and perform economic analyses to assess risk perceptions and social, economic, and EJ considerations. They will collect and analyze air and water samples to evaluate impacts of swine waste-to energy operations on air and water quality of adjacent communities and compare the impacts with other alternative energy sources. This is the first study on environmental, social, and economic impacts before and during a transition to swine waste-to-energy operation in a community with environmental justice concerns.
View the research abstract from Research Triangle Institute.
Green Umbrella, Cincinnati, Ohio
Project Title: Evaluating the Environmental, Behavioral, and Financial Benefits of Electrification and Energy Efficiency for Underserved Communities
Principal Investigator: Ryan Mooney-Bullock
Award Amount: $1,124,959
Project Summary: The objectives of this community-led project are to evaluate the effects of electrification and energy efficiency on household energy consumption, security, and behavior as well as on indoor air quality for residents of multi-family dwelling units in urban Cincinnati. The study also seeks to identify potential barriers to the widespread adoption of these technologies by underserved populations, at both the household and municipal level. Socioeconomic and behavioral insights from the study will help to advance the diffusion of low-carbon and efficient technologies among low-income households, which is important for facilitating the energy transition for underserved communities in a way that achieves broader decarbonization goals.
View the research abstract from Green Umbrella.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, Ill.
Project Title: Electrification, Emissions, Exposure, and Equity: Community-Driven Scenarios for Freight Vehicle Electrification
Principal Investigator: Julie Cidell
Award Amount: $991,796
Project Summary: This project seeks to understand how air quality, the environment, and public health in underserved communities might be improved through freight vehicle electrification while minimizing potential negative impacts; identify approaches or strategies to ensure that freight vehicle electrification provides air quality benefits and reduces environmental risks while meeting the needs of underserved communities; and understand how socioeconomic, organizational, and institutional factors affect decisions regarding the adoption and diffusion of electric freight vehicles in these communities. The research will focus on the southwestern Chicago neighborhood of Little Village and will be conducted in partnership with the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization. The project will improve understanding of potential public health and air quality risk tradeoffs of freight electrification transitions in underserved communities and provide socioeconomic and cultural insights to inform future electrification scenarios.
View the research abstract from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Michigan Technological University, Houghton, Mich.
Project Title: Drivers of energy service transitions and impacts on well-being in forest dependent rural communities
Principal Investigator: Chelsea Schelly
Award Amount: $1,124,999
Project Summary: The goal of this project is to inform regional-scale energy transitions in forest-dependent rural communities and Tribal Nations regarding pathways that maintain or enhance employment opportunities and improve air quality in the context of community priorities and the urgency of addressing climate change. Project investigators will engage with tribal and rural community leaders in the Great Lakes region of northern Michigan. They will analyze impacts of current energy systems and pathways for energy transitions that enhance well-being in underserved communities through improved public health, economic opportunity, and energy justice outcomes.
View the research abstract from Michigan Technological University.
The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
Project Title: FLEETS for All: Facilitating Local Electrified Energy and Transportation Services for All
Principal Investigator: Jeffrey Bielicki
Award Amount: $1,120,313
Project Summary: This project aims to bend trajectories for electrified energy and transportation systems in ways that improve conditions for fifteen underserved communities in the Columbus Metropolitan Area. The team will partner with the fifteen underserved communities to understand community needs for electrification and mobility while evaluating current efforts. The research will provide community assessments and toolkits to support local and regional decision-makers on just energy transitions that improve health, environmental, and social conditions over time.
View the research abstract from The Ohio State University.
University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Calif.
Project Title: Community Health and Air Quality Implications of Refinery Retrofits and Retirements (CHAIRS)
Principal Investigator: Lara Cushing
Award Amount: $1,125,000
Project Summary: The project will assess and communicate the air quality and health implications of a transition from oil refining to biofuel for energy production. The team will use the 2020 Marathon oil refinery closure in Martinez, CA to create a model for the air quality, health, and economic impacts of retiring four San Francisco Bay Area oil refineries. The researchers will engage communities near oil refineries in northeast San Francisco Bay to develop a web-based tool to inform petroleum refinery conversion or retirement. The results will inform future policy decisions and better equip affected communities to participate in the decision-making process to transition from oil to biofuel production.
View the research abstract from University of California - Berkeley.
Arizona State University, Tempe, Ariz.
Project Title: Environmental Justice Implications of Public Transit Electrification and Changing Generation Portfolios in Arizona
Principal Investigator: Danae Hernandez-Cortes
Award Amount: $649,998
Project Summary: Using Maricopa County, Arizona as a case study, the project will estimate the impact of transportation and electricity generation on air pollution. The team will develop a framework for evaluating the changes in air pollution that arise from transitioning to various alternative future scenarios for public transportation and electricity generation. The team will also evaluate the environmental justice impacts of these scenarios. This research will help cities identify which planned electrification and transportation policies can reduce environmental disparities in underserved communities.
View the research abstract from Arizona State University - Tempe.
Portland State University, Portland, Ore.
Project Title: Environmental Justice Impacts across the Life Cycle of Energy Storage
Principal Investigator: Alida Cantor
Award Amount: $649,492
Project Summary: The goal of this research project is improvement of the understanding of environmental justice impacts throughout the life cycles of renewable energy storage infrastructures. The team will engage communities in the western U.S. in a variety of ways, including holding interviews with experts and community members, attending community forums, and holding community-engagement workshops. The project will produce community-engaged research projects, such as recommendations for just and sustainable renewable energy storage and presentations for a variety of forums. The project aims to inform how to maximize potential positive impacts and minimize potential negative impacts of renewable energy transitions on underserved communities. The team also seeks to strengthen community capacity and build working relationships that will continue long past the life of the project.
View the research abstract from Portland State University.