It’s a Saturday morning, and most kids between the ages of 12 and 14 are sleeping in, off to rehearsals or sports team practice, or grudgingly helping with household chores. At Columbia University, a group of middle-school students are eagerly engaging in the scientific method.
Category: Energy
Ph.D. Candidate Studies Natural Carbon Storage in Oman
Amelia Paukert considers herself “environmentally inclined” because of her early exposure to nature and horseback riding in her native Napa Valley, California. Her fascination with the water cycle helped spark her passion for environmental science.
Riding for Change: MSSM Student Rides 300 Miles to Raise Awareness about Sustainability Issues
MS in Sustainability Management student Scott Miller rides 300 miles from New York to Washington, D.C., to raise awareness about sustainability issues and promote support for Earth Institute research and projects.
World Climate Policies: Substantial Progress But Enormous Challenges Remain
Recent analysis by Deutsche Bank Climate Change Advisory (DBCCA) in conjunction with the Columbia Climate Center, shows that the existing world climate policies have the potential to substantially reduce CO2 emissions, but are not aggressive enough to meet the suggested 450 ppm stabilization pathways.
Population, Consumption and the Future
As the world population grows toward 10 billion, consumption of water, food and energy is expanding at a rate that cannot be maintained without depleting the planet’s resources. If we fail to address these two issues together, we face a grim future of economic, social and environmental ills, warns a new report prepared by a group of scientists and other experts for the Royal Society.
EPA Announces New Performance Standards for Power Plants
EPA recently announced new performance standards for power plants that limit carbon dioxide emissions. The proposed rule formally recognizes the importance of regulating carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas and effectively eliminates the construction of conventional coal plants.
Oil Stains on Direct Air Capture?
Affordable direct air capture could shape long-term climate mitigation options. Point source emissions may be the first to be addressed, but the climate change problem is not resolved until the carbon dioxide from the transportation sector is also dealt with. Conflating air capture with a carbon dioxide consuming application like the environmentally questionable EOR should not end up blocking future use of direct air capture for carbon management. To avoid such a fate, it is important that air capture developers are extremely careful when claiming carbon benefits for their early commercial applications.
Rare Earth Metals: Another Challenge for the Green Economy?
Rare earth metals play an important role in our envisaged carbon-free future, but their availability in the future is under question for different political and availability issues, which is worrying for planned reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
Summer 2012 Announcement: Internship Positions
This summer the Earth Institute, Columbia University is offering Columbia students opportunities to intern within various departments and research centers at the Earth Institute. All full-time Columbia and Barnard students are eligible to apply for internships. These internships are funded at a rate of $15/hr for 35 hours per week and up to a maximum [...]
Carbon Management Distinguished Speaker Series
The Earth Institute’s Columbia Climate Center presents “Managing Carbon on Land in the Context of Climate Change,” with Richard Houghton, Senior Scientist, Woods Hole Research Center as part of a new Carbon Management Distinguished Speaker Series.
