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Results for “sustainable development goals (SDGs)”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

Restoring Pre-Industrial CO2 Levels While Achieving Sustainable Development Goals

Unless humanity achieves United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 and restores the relatively stable climate of pre-industrial CO2 levels (as early as 2140), species extinctions, starvation, drought/floods, and violence will exacerbate mass migrations. This paper presents conceptual designs and techno-economic analyses to calculate sustainable limits for growing high-protein seafood and macroalgae-for-biofuel. We review the availability of wet solid waste and outline the mass balance of carbon and plant nutrients passing through a hydrothermal liquefaction process. The paper reviews the availability of dry solid waste and dry biomass for bioenergy with CO2 capture and storage (BECCS) while generating Allam Cycle electricity. Sufficient wet-waste biomass supports quickly building hydrothermal liquefaction facilities. Macroalgae-for-biofuel technology can be developed and straightforwardly implemented on SDG-achieving high protein seafood infrastructure. The analyses indicate a potential for (1) 0.5 billion tonnes/yr of seafood; (2) 20 million barrels/day of biofuel from solid waste; (3) more biocrude oil from macroalgae than current fossil oil; and (4) sequestration of 28 to 38 billion tonnes/yr of bio-CO2. Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) costs are between 25–33% of those for BECCS with pre-2019 technology or the projected cost of air-capture CDR.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Satellite remote sensing for environmental sustainable development goals: A review of applications for terrestrial and marine protected areas

With few years left to achieve the vital United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), member nations must urgently leverage technological advancements in environmental monitoring to succeed. Remote sensing now provides decades of global observations at a variety of spatio-temporal scales and a litany of data products to guide comprehensive measures for climate action, and aquatic and terrestrial biota preservation. Protected areas, such as national parks and wildlife preserves, represent largely untapped resources for both applying robust conservation measures and testing ambitious new approaches to sustainable development that could jumpstart the much-needed adoption of strategies to efficiently pursue global sustainability. This review summarizes recent demonstrated utilities of remotely sensed data applied to protected areas for research related to SDG goals 13, 14, and 15: “Climate Action”, “Life below Water”, and “Life on Land”. We identify successful uses of such data for each SDG, identify areas for improvement, and provide recommendations from the literature on how to expand what others have done to achieve lofty goals with global impact. We demonstrate that remote sensing provides a valuable tool for achieving SDGs as it facilitates monitoring vegetation health, water quality and condition, and climate variables at large spatial and fine temporal scales, while also evaluating the effectiveness of management and conservation practices. Issues remain, however, in that there is currently no reference from which to relate goal progress to human livelihoods. Further, the current relationship between remotely sensed indices and ecological services that determine sustainable development omit steps that would establish this connection.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Scientists’ call to action: Microbes, planetary health, and the Sustainable Development Goals

Microorganisms, including bacteria, archaea, viruses, fungi, and protists, are essential to life on Earth and the functioning of the biosphere. Here, we discuss the key roles of microorganisms in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), highlighting recent and emerging advances in microbial research and technology that can facilitate our transition toward a sustainable future. Given the central role of microorganisms in the biochemical processing of elements, synthesizing new materials, supporting human health, and facilitating life in managed and natural landscapes, microbial research and technologies are directly or indirectly relevant for achieving each of the SDGs. More importantly, the ubiquitous and global role of microbes means that they present new opportunities for synergistically accelerating progress toward multiple sustainability goals. By effectively managing microbial health, we can achieve solutions that address multiple sustainability targets ranging from climate and human health to food and energy production. Emerging international policy frameworks should reflect the vital importance of microorganisms in achieving a sustainable future.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Assessing the Impact of Renewable Energy Sources to Achieve Net Zero Emissions

The mass generation of green energy through the pathway of Renewable Energy Sources (RES), is one of the major decisive components contributing to the concept of decarbonization. The energy sector assessment reveals that out of per kWh energy produced, renewable energy emits between 9 and 1000 gCO2 equivalent on a life-cycle basis. Contemplating the literature and the latest reports released by world-wide energy department(s), this study presents a comprehensive concept of carbon footprint, its causes and effects including major impact on biodiversity and human life. The study discusses the substantial steps taken by developing countries like India in leveraging RES for the production of energy and its progressive impact on ecology. The discussion would be inclusive of major change and transformation which has brought significant drop of 16% in the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by installation of 104.9 GW of RES excluding Hydro. The appropriate steps taken forward therefore align with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nation (UN) in achieving net zero emission (NZE).

decarbonization↗
DOE OSTI2022

Toward evaluating the effect of technology choices on linkages between sustainable development goals

Linkages between the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have sparked research interest because a better understanding of SDG co-benefits may enable faster progress on multiple sustainability fronts. However, SDG linkages are typically analyzed without considering the technologies used to implement a primary SDG, which may have secondary effects on other SDGs. Here, we outline an approach to study this problem by connecting the industries and services required to produce a technology to the United Nations SDG indicator framework, using SDG7 and four energy technologies as an illustrative case. We find that all technologies in our set involve potential co-benefits with SDGs 1, 8–10, 12–13, and 17, and trade-offs with SDGs 6, 8–9, 11–12, and 14–15. Deployment services primarily induce co-benefits; manufacturing has mixed impacts. Our work sheds light on the technology characteristics (e.g., scale, high- or low-tech) that influence linkages while also pointing to SDG-relevant characteristics not captured by UN indicators.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Sustainability of the U.S. Manufacturing Sector: Use of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

The United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim to improve health and education, reduce inequality, and encourage economic growth, while also preserving or improving the conditions of our oceans and forests. Pursuing these SDGs would mean $12 trillion in economic opportunities for companies, while also improving the lives of all people and bettering the planet. Some manufacturing companies are already focusing on sustainability, but not all. In 2019, almost 30% of National Association of Manufacturers members did not have a sustainable policy, goals, or program in place. Business drivers for sustainability and the SDGs are similar, with focuses on economic growth and consumer demands. Despite the shortcomings of the SDGs, they represent an opportunity for manufacturing companies to further improve energy, material efficiency, and productivity. This report evaluates the SDGs and the manufacturing sector. The manufacturing sector was analyzed using the technology assessments (TAs) introduced in the 2015 Quadrennial Technology Review (QTR) review, which focused on concepts, challenges, and solutions to meet the United States' energy needs. Annual or sustainability reporting of companies performing work in one of those TAs were analyzed for mentions of the SDGs. The call-out boxes throughout this report provide examples of companies making progress toward the SDGs. The possible overlap between the SDGs and the Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) was also evaluated. The TAs in the 2015 QTR Review were furthered with detailed targets in the draft Multi-Year Program Plan (MYPP) for Fiscal Years 2017-2021. Direct and likely relationships between the SDGs and the TAs were established. Positives, challenges, SDG-related literature, and future steps are also discussed in this report.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Opportunities for agrivoltaic systems to achieve synergistic food-energy-environmental needs and address sustainability goals

Achieving decarbonization goals to address global climate change and increasing energy needs requires significant continued investments in solar energy. The expansion of utility-scale solar development across the globe has increased the pressure on land resources for energy generation and other land uses (e.g., agriculture, biodiversity conservation). To address this growing issue, greater emphasis has been placed on solar development strategies that maximize the benefits of solar energy generation and multiple ecosystem services, such as the development of agrivoltaics systems that co-locate solar energy production and various forms of conservation and agricultural land uses. The purpose of this paper is to systematically synthesize the potential ecosystem services of agrivoltaics and summarize how these development strategies could address several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Our review will focus on four broad potential ecosystem services of agrivoltaics: (1) energy and economic benefits; (2) agricultural provisioning services of food production and animal husbandry; (3) biodiversity conservation; and (4) regulating ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration and water and soil conservation. In particular, we will highlight the state of the science, challenges, and knowledge gaps that represent opportunities for further study to better understand how solar energy deployment can facilitate sustainable development.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Land use for bioenergy: Synergies and trade-offs between sustainable development goals

Bioenergy aims to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and contribute to meeting global climate change mitigation targets. Nevertheless, several sustainability concerns are associated with bioenergy, especially related to the impacts of using land for dedicated energy crop production. Cultivating energy crops can result in synergies or trade-offs between GHG emission reductions and other sustainability effects depending on context-specific conditions. Using the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) framework, the main synergies and trade-offs associated with land use for dedicated energy crop production were identified. Furthermore, the context-specific conditions (i.e., biomass feedstock, previous land use, climate, soil type and agricultural management) which affect those synergies and trade-offs were also identified. The most recent literature was reviewed and a pairwise comparison between GHG emission reduction (SDG 13) and other SDGs was carried out. A total of 427 observations were classified as either synergy (170), trade-off (176), or no effect (81). Most synergies with environmentally-related SDGs, such as water quality and biodiversity conservation, were observed when perennial crops were produced on arable land, pasture or marginal land in the ‘cool temperate moist’ climate zone and ‘high activity clay’ soils. Most trade-offs were related to food security and water availability. Previous land use and feedstock type are more impactful in determining synergies and trade-offs than climatic zone and soil type. This study highlights the importance of considering context-specific conditions in evaluating synergies and trade-offs and their relevance for developing appropriate policies and practices to meet worldwide demand for bioenergy in a sustainable manner.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Effects of Production of Woody Pellets in the Southeastern United States on the Sustainable Development Goals

Wood-based pellets are produced in the southeastern United States (SE US) and shipped to Europe for the generation of heat and power. Effects of pellet production on selected Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs) are evaluated using industry information, available energy consumption data, and published research findings. Challenges associated with identifying relevant SDG goals and targets for this particular bioenergy supply chain and potential deleterious impacts are also discussed. We find that production of woody pellets in the SE US and shipments to displace coal for energy in Europe generate positive effects on affordable and clean energy (SDG 7), decent work and economic growth (SDG 8), industry innovation and infrastructure (SDG 9), responsible consumption and production (SDG 12), and life on land (SDG 15). Primary strengths of the pellet supply chain in the SE US are the provisioning of employment in depressed rural areas and the displacement of fossil fuels. Weaknesses are associated with potential impacts on air, water, and biodiversity that arise if the resource base and harvest activities are improperly managed. The SE US pellet supply chain provides an opportunity for transition to low-carbon industries and innovations while incentivizing better resource management.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Creating a Research Enterprise Framework for Transdisciplinary Networking to Address the Food–Energy–Water Nexus

Urbanization, population growth, and the accelerating consumption of food, energy, and water (FEW) resources bring unprecedented challenges for economic, environmental, and social (EES) sustainability. It is imperative to understand the potential impacts of FEW systems on the realization of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as the world transitions from natural ecosystems to managed ecosystems at an accelerating rate. A major obstacle is the complexity and emergent behavior of FEW systems and associated networks, for which no single discipline can generate a holistic understanding or meaningful projections. We propose a research enterprise framework for promoting transdisciplinarity and top-down quantification of the interrelationships between FEW and EES systems. Relevant enterprise efforts would emphasize increasing FEW resource accessibility by improving coordinated interplays across sectors and scales, expanding and diversifying supply-chain networks, and innovating technologies for efficient resource utilization. This framework can guide the development of strategic solutions for diminishing the competition among FEW-consuming sectors in a region or country, and for minimizing existing inequalities in FEW availability when a sustainable development agenda is implemented.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2021

Scientific and stakeholder evidence-based assessment: Ecosystem response to floating solar photovoltaics and implications for sustainability

Floating solar photovoltaic (FPV) installations are increasing globally. However, their interaction with the hosting water body and implications for ecosystem function is poorly understood. Understanding potential impacts is critical as water bodies provide many ecosystem services on which humans rely and are integral for delivering the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Here, we used scientific evidence from a systematic review and stakeholder expertise, captured through an international survey and a workshop, alongside existing understanding of the role of water bodies in delivering ecosystem services and the SDGs. We found 22 evidence outcomes that indicated potential physical, chemical and biological impacts of FPV on water bodies. Assessment by stakeholders from across sectors indicated that reduced water evaporation is the greatest opportunity, whilst changes to water chemistry, including nitrification and deoxygenation, are the greatest threat. Despite these findings, FPV operators reported no observed water quality or ecosystem impacts. However, only 15% of respondents had performed water quality analysis; visual inspection alone cannot ascertain all water quality impacts. Based on the integration of these findings, we determined that FPV could impact nine ecosystem services. Furthermore, established linkages between ecosystem services and SDGs indicate the potential for impacts on eight SDGs, although whether the impact is positive or negative is likely to depend on FPV design and water body type. Our results further the understanding of the effects of FPVs on host water bodies and may help to ensure the anticipated growth in FPVs minimises threats and maximises opportunities, safeguarding overall sustainability.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Effectiveness of nature-based solutions to reduce flooding in Quad Cities Metro Area (QCMA) using SWMM-HEC based flood model

Nature-based solutions (NbS) have gained significant attention as strategies for addressing urban environmental challenges, particularly since the establishment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030. However, the current research on NbS for urban flood management lacks comprehensive methodological approaches for identifying suitable areas and evaluating their effectiveness across different urban settings. Here, this study attempts to fill this gap by proposing a methodological framework integrating multi-criteria analysis with a SWMM-HEC-based hydrologic and hydraulic (HH) model to assess the suitability of NbS for the Quad Cities Metro Area (QCMA), consisting of Davenport, Bettendorf, Moline, and Rock Island. Eight NbS options-green roofs, rain gardens, infiltration trenches, permeable pavements, vegetative swales, dry detention basins, retention ponds, and rain barrels/cisterns - were considered based on volumetric efficiency and runoff reduction efficiency. The study reveals that implementing the proposed NbS could have substantially reduced flood depths in key historical flood events by 21% in 1993, 15% in 2008, 16% in 2011, 23% in 2014, 40% in 2019, and 10% in 2023. The findings highlight a critical trade-off between peak runoff and NbS implementation: while NbS effectively reduce flood impacts, they also enhance volumetric efficiency by approximately 43%. In high-density areas of the QCMA, flood depth reductions of around 20% suggest that NbS are a viable solution for dense urban environments with limited space. This shows the potential for integrating NbS into existing infrastructure, offering a promising approach for cities facing increasing flooding risks. The proposed methodology provides a practical framework for incorporating NbS into urban stormwater management, addressing gaps in optimizing NbS performance, and offering a pathway to scale their application in other urban areas with various environmental and social contexts.

CMIP6↗
DOE OSTI2022

Assessing synergies and trade-offs of diverging Paris-compliant mitigation strategies with long-term SDG objectives

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement are the two transformative agendas, which set the benchmarks for nations to address urgent social, economic and environmental challenges. Aside from setting long-term goals, the pathways followed by nations will involve a series of synergies and trade-offs both between and within these agendas. Since it will not be possible to optimise across the 17 SDGs while simultaneously transitioning to low-carbon societies, it will be necessary to implement policies to address the most critical aspects of the agendas and understand the implications for the other dimensions. Here, we rely on a modelling exercise to analyse the long-term implications of a variety of Paris-compliant mitigation strategies suggested in the recent scientific literature on multiple dimensions of the SDG Agenda. The strategies included rely on technological solutions such as renewable energy deployment or carbon capture and storage, nature-based solutions such as afforestation and behavioural changes in the demand side. Results for a selection of energy-environment SDGs suggest that some mitigation pathways could have negative implications on food and water prices, forest cover and increase pressure on water resources depending on the strategy followed, while renewable energy shares, household energy costs, ambient air pollution and yield impacts could be improved simultaneously while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Overall, results indicate that promoting changes in the demand side could be beneficial to limit potential trade-offs.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

A new framework to map fine resolution cropping intensity across the globe: Algorithm, validation, and implication

We report accurate estimation of cropping intensity (CI), an indicator of food production, is well aligned with the ongoing efforts to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs) under diminishing natural resources. The advancement in satellite remote sensing provides unprecedented opportunities for capturing CI information in a spatially continuous manner. However, challenges remain due to the lack of generalizable algorithms for accurately and efficiently mapping global CI with a fine spatial resolution. In this study, we developed a 30-m planetary-scale CI mapping framework with the reconstructed time series of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from multiple satellite images. Using a binary crop phenophase profile indicating growing and non-growing periods, we estimated pixel-by-pixel CI by enumerating the total number of valid cropping cycles during the study years. Based on the Google Earth Engine cloud computing platform, we implemented the framework to estimate CI during 2016–2018 in eight geographic regions across continents that are representative of global cropping system diversity. Comparison with PhenoCam network data in four cropland sites suggests that the proposed framework is capable of capturing the seasonal dynamics of cropping practices. Spatially, overall accuracies based on validation samples range from 80.0% to 98.9% across different regions worldwide. Regarding the CI classes, single cropping systems are associated with more robust and less biased estimations than multiple cropping systems. Finally, our CI estimates reveal high agreement with two widely used land surface phenology products, including Vegetation Index and Phenology V004 (VIP4) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer Land Cover Dynamics (MCD12Q2), meanwhile providing much more spatial details. Due to its robustness, the developed CI framework can be potentially generalized to produce global fine resolution CI products for food security and other applications.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Fragile Earth: AI for Climate Mitigation, Adaptation, and Environmental Justice

The Fragile EarthWorkshop is a recurring event that gathers the research community to find and explore howdata science can measure and progress climate and social issues, following the framework of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).Fragile Earth 2022: AI for Climate Mitigation, Adaptation, and Environmental Justice is a workshop taking place as part of the ACM's KDD 2022 Conference on research in knowledge discovery and data mining and their applications. The dates for the Conference are August 14-18, 2022.

Abe, Naoki↗
DOE OSTI2021

Enhancing integrated analysis of national and global goal pursuit by endogenizing economic productivity

Analysis with integrated assessment models (IAMs) and multisector dynamics models (MSDs) of global and national challenges and opportunities, including pursuit of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), requires projections of economic growth. In turn, the pursuit of multiple interacting goals affects economic productivity and growth, generating complex feedback loops among actions and objectives. Yet, most analysis uses either exogenous projections of productivity and growth or specifications endogenously enriched with a very small set of drivers. Extending endogenous treatment of productivity to represent two-way interactions with a significant set of goal-related variables can considerably enhance analysis. Among such variables incorporated in this project are aspects of human development (e.g., education, health, poverty reduction), socio-political change (e.g., governance capacity and quality), and infrastructure (e.g. water and sanitation and modern energy access), all in conditional interaction with underlying technological advance and economic convergence among countries. Using extensive datasets across countries and time, this project broadly endogenizes total factor productivity (TFP) within a large-scale, multi-issue IAM, the International Futures (IFs) model system. We demonstrate the utility of the resultant open system via comparison of new TFP projections with those produced for Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSP) scenarios, via integrated analysis of economic growth potential, and via multi-scenario analysis of progress toward the SDGs. We find that the integrated system can reproduce existing SSP projections, help anticipate differential economic progress across countries, and facilitate extended, integrated analysis of trade-offs and synergies in pursuit of the SDGs.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Chapter 11

The AR5 was published in 2014. The Paris Agreement and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted in 2015. An increasing number of countries have since announced ambitions to be carbon neutral by 2045–2060. The COVID-19 pandemic shocked the global economy in 2020 and motivated economic stimulus with demands for green recovery and concerns for economic security. All this has created a new context and a growing recognition that all industry, including the energy and emissions intensive industries, need to reach net zero GHG emissions. There is an ongoing mind shift around the opportunities to do so, with electrification and hydrogen emerging among key mitigation options as a result of renewable electricity costs falling rapidly. On the demand side there has been renewed attention to end-use demand, material efficiency, and more and better-quality recycling measures. This chapter takes its starting point in this new context and emphasizes the need for deploying innovative processes and practices in order to limit the global warming to 1.5°C or 2°C (IPCC 2018a).

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗