To create the inclusive, diverse and resilient food systems of the future, we need bold and knowledgeable change agents to transform public policy.

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Project Cities managed twelve new projects for the fall 2020 semester. There are various project topics, including sustainability park planning, P83 revitalization visioning, solid waste management, and a layered approach to Covid-19 response planning. Some projects are being carried on from the past semester, and others are new, or individual capstone applied research projects.

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Written by Karen Spiegel

Reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is critical to preventing the dangers of climate change, particularly in the industrial sector which accounts for 33% of the anthropogenic emissions. Climate experts suggest that blockchain technology could play a significant role in creating a system of standardization and accountability by accessing the carbon footprint of companies and tracking the offsets. The crux of the issue is settling on a structure for calculating those metrics.

Historically, being able to validate proof of impact has been a challenge. Part of the issue is that the criteria has changed over time.

Typically generating carbon footprints and eventually the offsets require manual meter readings to determine energy consumption, emissions and calculating carbon footprint. This is time consuming and there are many opportunities for data to be unreliable and inaccurate.

It is especially problematic in certain industries such as the hard-to-decarbonize sectors including aviation, shipping, trucking, cement manufacturing and steelmaking. Other issues add to the complexity. Sustainability certifications/schemes such as Guarantees of Origin (GO) system allow fuel to be sold as renewable to consumers, but GO certificates have a slight impact on renewable energy generation and don’t provide evidence of renewable energy capacity. This image illustrates some of the difficulty in removing CO2 emissions from the steel industry.

A key driver to achieve accountability across ecosystems is to push for digitization at a system level. This will increase efficiency by moving away from manual data collection and could enhance the management of energy systems and other industrial networks with complex transactions. Greater investment in digitization technologies, particularly for aviation and heavy transport, along with electrification of the industrial processes that align with policy, is essential.

But what if blockchain could be utilized to determine the carbon footprint and then ultimately be aligned with carbon offsets? This yields real numbers encouraging organizations to refrain from overpromising and underdelivering on emissions reductions since the results could be monitored without the cumbersome manual data requirements. It also permits greater confidence in the metrics encouraging increased financial investment in underlying low-carbon or zero-carbon technology solutions. Beyond this there are tangible benefits such as creating full transparency and traceability within the supply chain, decentralized and sustainable resource management, unlocking new capital, incentivizing a circular economy, transforming the carbon market through the use of cryptographic tokens and creating greater confidence for investors in sustainability reporting, monitoring and verification.

There are numerous organizations developing such ecosystems such as Climate Chain Coalition. It is a global initiative among members to collaborate on the advancement of blockchain and other digital technology to mobilize financing of climate solutions and enhance measurement, reporting and verification of climate actions at scale. Another is Blockchain for Climate, which tags information associated with each credit in order to validate the authenticity of carbon credits. The system tracks and traces along with verifying transactions. And the system can easily scale which is critical due to the volume of transactions.

Other companies are creating blockchain opportunities in the transportation sector. Last year in Singapore, CarbonAir Exchange launched the world’s first global blockchain-based carbon exchange. For companies in the transportation sector, it provides EEU’s (eligible emission units) to secure carbon dioxide (CO2) offsets. The carbon credits will be securitized by tokens and utilize blockchain technology. Manufacturers in the auto sector, such as Mercedes, are teaming up with Circulor to trace carbon emissions in the cobalt supply chain. This will eventually include climate-relevant gases and the amount of recycled materials along the complex supply chains of battery cell manufacturers. Mercedes intends to utilize the data to inform development of its carbon-neutral passenger fleet. Companies in the cement industry, another sector that accounts for approximately 8% of global CO2 emissions, are teaming up with universities to generate innovative solutions to develop and commercialize low carbon concrete.

An array of startup companies, both private and public, are also creating blockchain solutions to encourage additional investment in the energy sector from infrastructure to incentivizing renewable investment.

This is just the beginning. Whether it is tracing and tracking supply chain or the development of robust carbon trading architecture such as the one created at Arizona State University . There is a tremendous amount of momentum toward developing innovative technologies that embrace blockchain in the energy sector, but specifically in industries that produce significant CO2 emissions. Blockchain is becoming an increasingly more useful tool in the decarbonization tool chest. Providing an immutable, secure, trustworthy, and scalable solution to a decarbonized future.

On August 31, 2020, Mongabay released a new opinion piece written by Conservation Solutions Lab co-founder Michael Brown, along with other affiliated conservation researchers. The commentary piece is titled “Communities, conservation, and development in the age of COVID: Time for rethinking approaches.”

In this op-ed, the authors advocate for systemic, long-term solutions to existing biodiversity conservation and sustainable economic development challenges aggravated by the current pandemic.

“The existing systems and structures upon which conservation is based must evolve. Climate change, biodiversity conservation, and poverty elimination efforts have been further complicated by Covid-19, with the brunt of the pandemic borne most acutely by the poorest and most vulnerable.”

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A new field guide co-authored by sustainability scientist David Pearson is the first definitive identification guide to all 241 species of tiger beetles known to occur in India. Its descriptions of habitats, behavior and ecology make available a group of spectacular insects for both amateur enthusiasts and professional biologists to observe and study. In addition to their value as a hobby, with this field guide tiger beetles can now better serve as a valuable tool for understanding general patterns of biodiversity, biogeography, and conservation within India.

Pearson is a research professor in the School of Life Sciences, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. He has conducted research on tiger beetle ecology, biogeography, and their uses in mathematical modelling worldwide. For six years he ran field studies on these beetles throughout India in cooperation with professors and students from Chandigarh (Panjab University) and Bengalaru (University of Agricultural Sciences)

The book, ISBN 978-81-211-0933-8, is published by Abhimanyu Gahlot and available for order by mail using the information on this flyer, provided by Dr. Pearson.

The following opportunity may be of interest to School of Sustainability faculty and students:

Ethical engineering for sustainability, wicked problems and beyond

An online interdisciplinary undergraduate conference for tomorrow’s leaders

December 11—12, 2020

Current and impending social and environmental issues require bold and critical thinking to deliver mitigatory effects. Developing such measures could also serve humankind by charting ethical ways forward regarding how we live with and through technology. Advances in engineering can bolster such pursuits significantly. Attaining common ground for conversation can help advance these aims. This online conference will provide a way for soon-to-be leaders to gain feedback, network, and inspire each other to create a world worth wanting. Here is the challenge for instructors and their students:

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Inspired by the way plants and other photosynthetic organisms collect and use the sun’s radiant energy, they hope to develop technologies that harvest sunlight and store it as carbon-free or carbon-neutral fuels. The research appears in the current issue of the American Chemical Society journal Applied Energy Materials and graces its cover.

The new research from Biodesign Center for Applied Structural Discovery and School of Molecular Sciences provides a framework for better understanding catalytic performance in solar fuel devices and points the way to further discoveries.

"This article describes a general yet useful strategy for better understanding the role of catalysts in emerging technologies for converting sunlight to fuels," corresponding author Gary Moore said. The goal is to maximize energy efficiency and where possible, make use of earth-abundant elements.

Arizona State University President’s Professor Ariel Anbar has been awarded the Arthur L. Day Medal from the Geological Society of America, in recognition of his outstanding research contributions, mentoring generations of students, and vigorous promotion of science in the public sphere.

Anbar is a scientist and educator interested in Earth’s past and future as an inhabited world, and the prospects for life beyond. He is on the faculty of the School of Earth and Space Exploration and the School of Molecular Sciences, and a distinguished sustainability scholar in ASU’s Global Institute of Sustainability and Innovation. Anbar also directs ASU’s Center for Education Through eXploration, which is reinventing digital learning around curiosity, exploration and discovery.

The Geological Society of America’s Arthur L. Day Medal is awarded annually to recognize outstanding distinction in the application of physics and chemistry to the solution of geologic problems. A formal ceremony for the award will take place during the Geological Society of America's annual meeting to be held Oct. 25–28.

Past recipients of the Arthur L. Day Medal include Crafoord Prize laureate Wallace Broecker, who had close ties to ASU, as well as Nobel Prize laureates Willard F. Libby and Harold C. Urey.

This Workgroup was created in the summer of 2020 to share heat forecasts and warnings with communities; highlight approaches to heat relief, communications strategies and resources; identify opportunities and gaps in heat-related research; and connect cities and counties to regional and state resources and information. Read more on the Workgroup's webpage.

Partners:

Healthy Urban Environments (HUE)

Knowledge Exchange for Resilience (KER)

Sustainable Cities Network (SCN)

Personnel:

• Melissa Guardaro, Assistant Research Professor, ASU Julie Ann Wrigley Institute of Sustainability; Healthy Urban Environments (HUE) & Knowledge Exchange for Resilience (KER)
• Liza Kurtz, ASU PhD Student, Global Health
• Anne Reichman, Director, ASU SCN & Project Cities
• David Hondula, Associate Professor, ASU School of Sciences and Urban Planning
• Paul Iniguez, Science & Operations Officer, NOAA/National Weather Service Phoenix, AZ
• Braden Kay, Sustainability Director, City of Tempe

A multiday immersion, part of Lawai'a 'Ohana Camp in South Kona, offered children in the coastal fishing village of Miloli'i the opportunity to learn about Indigenous island culture, local traditions, and environmental research and stewardship. In addition to the students there in person, 30 more students living in other regions of Hawaii joined virtually via Zoom and Facebook Live, due to COVID-19 safety measures.

Sustainability scientist Greg Asner, director of ASU’s Center for Global Discovery and Conservation Science (GDCS) and professor in the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, and Robin Martin, associate professor in the same school, were volunteer teachers at the summer camp.

Asner and Martin’s participation in the camp is just one piece of an important partnership that places ASU in the center of important work to break down geographic barriers to education and expand opportunities to Native and non-Native Hawaiian communities.

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Arizona State University, through its partnership with Conservation International, joins the University of Washington and the Nippon Foundation to announce the Nippon Foundation Ocean Nexus Center. The Ocean Nexus Center is an interdisciplinary research initiative that focuses on social equity, ocean sustainability and climate change. The Ocean Nexus Center will bring uncompromised, critical voices to policy and public conversations that will help enable research and policy engagement. The new center is supported by the Nippon Foundation’s investment of $32.5 million over 10 years.

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“Be authentic. Be yourself. Make sure your superpower is your persistence because you are going to need it,”

Valrie Grant — Founder and MD, GeoTechVision, Jamaica

2020 WE Empower Awardee, Latin America/Caribbean

As the first black woman-owned spatial solutions business in the Caribbean, Grant understands the intersectional challenges that women face entering a male-dominated industry. Despite these hurdles, Grant has fostered a geospatial business that impacts systemic inequities in education and access to digital technology. WE Empower intern, Revere Wood, interviewed Valrie Grant and expands on her company’s support of the UN SDGs.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has forced nearly every business to adapt their business model to ever changing times, and small businesses especially are now having to live by nature's rule — evolve or die. One of the hardest hit industries has been the bar and restaurant industry, which has seen forced closures, partial re-openings, and re-closures in just a matter of months. These abrupt challenges have also brought a sustainability business opportunity to those bars and restaurants who have sought out new, innovative business models.

One start-up company that is paving the way is GrowlyDelivers, a zero waste, milkman-style service that delivers local craft beer, cold brew coffee, specialty teas, and kombucha in returnable growlers. Their website proclaims, "Growly was founded to help deliver positive change by offering a different kind of delivery service, one that has purpose behind it. It is a delivery system that can help you make a difference every single time you place an order." This type of purpose-driven business is exactly what the economy needs to build back better, and to create a socioeconomic system that is equitable for both people and the planet. What better way to help the environment than by enjoying locally-brewed beer delivered right to your doorstep?

View Growly's interview on Good Morning Arizona, and visit their website to learn more & sign up.

GrowlyDelivers is co-founded by ASU School of Sustainability alums Sean Murray (MS:GSS, 2017) and Daniel Velez (MSUS, 2017). As a special offer, School of Sustainability students, faculty, and staff who would like to try the service out will receive one month of free delivery.

This blog post was written by Arizona State University graduate student Karli Moore. In addition to studying Food Policy and Sustainability Leadership at ASU, Karli is an Associate Program Officer at the Native American Agriculture Fund.

As an avid traveler, I’m always interested in how people outside of the United States conceptualize our country. It’s certain that US popular culture is overrepresented on the global scene, but the predominate picture of the nation is heavily skewed to NYC, LA, and Miami. In truth, it’s not just people across oceans who have this urban-centric view; a sizeable (and growing) population within our borders has no realistic perception of rural America today, much less what the future holds for people like my family living on a farm.

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The National Academy of Inventors has named three Arizona State University faculty members to the August 2020 class of NAI senior members.

Senior member status within the international organization recognizes engineers, scientists and others whose work has produced significant innovations resulting in technologies with the potential to have widespread benefit to society.

Professor Wim Vermaas and associate professors James Abbas and Cody Friesen join fellow NAI colleagues in the senior membership ranks who, along with their research accomplishments, have been successful in earning patents, acquiring licensing and commercializing technology they have developed. Vermaas and Friesen are sustainability scientists in the Global Institute of Sustainability and Innovation.

Over the next century, climate change and population growth will subject more people to dangerous heat and cold. A new paper, The motley drivers of heat and cold exposure in 21st century U.S. cities, was published online Aug. 17 in the "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences." It is the first study of its kind to consider population-weighted heat and cold exposure that directly and simultaneously account for greenhouse gas and urban development-induced warming.

Authors Ashley Broadbent and Matei Georgescu of ASU's School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning faculty used state-of-the-art modeling tools to analyze how three key variables would affect human exposure to extreme temperatures from the beginning of this century to its end. They concentrated on the following three key factors: climate change brought about by greenhouse gas emissions, urban development-induced impacts arising from the growth of cities, and population change in individual cities.

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Last month, Phoenix broke its record for the most days at 110-plus degrees, while being the world's hotspot for coronavirus. This case critical discussion brings together ASU, the City of Phoenix, as well as a local nonprofit and a national NGO, to discuss the compounding crises of extreme heat and COVID-19.

Sustainability scientist Ariane Middel advances the field of urban climate science in her work with ASU’s HUE initiative. Juan Declet-Barreto is a contributing author of Killer Heat in the US and a blog that analyzed the compounding crises of extreme heat and COVID-19. Mark Hartman, from the City of Phoenix, is working with ASU’s HUE project to understand and mitigate extreme heat in Phoenix. Masavi Parea represents CHISPA, a community-organizing program advocating for resilience and climate justice in Phoenix.

Co-hosted by ASU's HUE (Healthy Urban Environment) initiative.

Register via Zoom

A study published Aug. 2 in the Journal of Animal Ecology finds that migrating locusts carbo-load before flying up to 350 kilometers in a single night.

Marion Le Gall, an assistant research professor in the Global Locust Initiative in the Global Institute of Sustainability and Innovation, conducted a locust field study in 2017 in Senegal.

Her findings showed that Mongolian locusts did better in overgrazed pastures than in a normal pasture. Co-author and sustainability scientist Arianne Cease tied this to the nutritional content of plants: Land that was overgrazed contained less nitrogen and plants were more sugar-based. That was good for the locusts.

The abstract follows.

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More than half of the world's aboveground carbon is stored in tropical forests, the degradation of which poses a direct threat to global climate regulation. Deforestation removes aboveground carbon in the form of trees, reducing the size of global carbon stocks in the process. Once forests are degraded, they are often perceived to have little ecological value, despite evidence of their ability to continue to provide important ecosystem services and to store significant amounts of carbon.

This misconception has marked degraded forests as prime candidates for full conversion to agricultural plantations, but recent research challenges this idea and offers a promising alternative — forest restoration is a more sustainable solution capable of both replenishing carbon storage and preserving biodiversity. While this concept isn't new, the adoption of restoration practices has been impeded by uncertainties over its effectiveness.

Now, an international team of scientists from 13 institutions, including researchers from the Arizona State University Center for Global Discovery and Conservation Science, has provided the first long-term comparison of aboveground carbon recovery rates between naturally regenerating and actively restored forests in Southeast Asia. The researchers found that restoration practices improved carbon storage recovery by more than 50% compared to natural regeneration. The paper was published Aug. 14 in Science.

The blasts at a Beirut warehouse storing highly explosive ammonium nitrate on Aug. 4 killed at least 220 people, caused 7,000 injuries and left as many as 300,000 people homeless in Lebanon’s capital city.

While there has been wide speculation on the cause of the explosion, including fireworks, gunpowder and paint housed in close proximity, the ammonium nitrate stored for six years in a warehouse without even basic hazardous materials safeguards seems universally considered the explosive component in the incident.

Read the Q&A with sustainability scientist Kiril Hristovski, an associate professor in Arizona State University's Polytechnic School and the program chair for the Environmental and Resource Management Program with expertise in hazardous materials management.