ISSE Shapes Sustainable Research Agenda
Sustainability, a term still fairly new to the lexicon, defies a tidy definition in part because it can be applied to virtually every aspect of human activity and thus encompasses the complex interaction among economic, social, and environmental factors. Perhaps the best working definition of the term is derived from the 1987 report titled Our Common Future, also known as the Brundtland Report. The report identifies sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
We now know that our development patterns, our exploitation of natural resources, our seemingly insatiable demand for energy, and the growing disparity between rich and poor nations are inextricably linked and, together, will shape the world we leave behind for those who follow. Garret Hardin, in his 1968 essay for Science titled “Tragedy of the Commons,” addresses the inequitable distribution of the planet’s resources. Hardin argues that the self-interested “haves”—including the United States and other rich, developed countries—profit most from consumption of common though finite natural resources like fossil fuels. Meanwhile, the environmental burdens that result from that exploitation—among them pollution and global climate change—are shared by all of the world’s peoples, including the “have-nots.” To illustrate, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, in 2004 the United States consumed 22.5 percent of the global energy supply but boasted only 4.6 percent of world’s population and produced a mere 15.9 percent of the world’s energy.
In Hardin’s widely shared view, continuation of current policies and practices is clearly not sustainable and will, if unaltered, pass on a legacy of overtaxed ecological systems, polluted air and water, dire poverty, and a critical shortage of nonrenewable natural resources.
We at ISSE are determined to capitalize on our science and public policy skills to help ensure that future generations inherit a healthy—and sustainable—planet. Science provides us with powerful tools for understanding the complex interrelationship between human behaviors and limited, fragile natural systems. Public policy affords us the opportunity to encourage practices that sustain, rather than degrade, the natural environment. ISSE scientists have operated successfully in these research areas for more than 30 years.
The National Academies have recognized this important area of research and formed a Roundtable on Science and Technology for Sustainability, housed within the Policy and Global Affairs Division.
In harmony with the National Academies’ efforts, we at ISSE have identified a nexus where our sustainability science and policy agenda can thrive and have the greatest impact. It exists at the convergence of three of the more critical factors influencing environmental health and sustainability: the carbon cycle and carbon sequestration, climate and natural systems response, and renewable bioenergy. These three foci, like all elements of sustainability, are themselves closely linked.
Climate and natural systems respond to such adverse impacts as landscape fragmentation, intensive agriculture, deforestation, and extraction and use of fossil fuels. Current emissions of greenhouse gases—chiefly carbon dioxide—are the major contributor to global climate change, and combustion of fossil fuels is the primary source of these gases. As global carbon dioxide emissions increase and more and more of the Earth’s forested lands are cleared, fewer trees and other woody plants are available to absorb and store airborne carbon.
But there are other natural “sinks” for capturing atmospheric carbon dioxide, including oceans and soils. ISSE will explore this dynamic relationship by focusing on efforts to enhance the planet’s ability to capture and store carbon dioxide, thus removing it from the atmosphere. In pursuit of that goal, we will seek a deeper understanding of how natural systems—including climate—respond to adverse human impacts.We will also explore policy measures that discourage wasteful and destructive practices and encourage adoption of sustainable energy resources and development patterns.
Continued large-scale combustion of fossil fuels is, by any metric, wholly unsustainable. Bio-based fuels like ethanol and biodiesel will, in time, begin to supplant fossil fuels as our major source of energy. Domestically produced biofuels—along with other renewable forms of energy like solar, wind, and geothermal—will help the nation reduce its dependence on foreign sources of oil and spur the development of new sustainable industries.
Though few would dispute the fact that biofuels are—or ultimately will be—environmentally preferable to the fossil fuels they replace, these fuels currently are not fully sustainable. In some cases—for instance, in the use of switchgrass, poplar trees, and corn stover as sources for cellulosic ethanol—production of these fuels uses more energy than it produces when burned. In other cases, conversion of arable lands from food to fuel production—chiefly by diverting corn from the table to the fuel tank—can threaten global food supplies. In yet other cases, cultivation of monocultures—like corn, poplar trees, and other biofuel feedstocks—can compromise the diversity and health of natural ecosystems.
The state of Tennessee and the federal government have invested millions of dollars in R&D focused on producing a sustainable supply of bio-based fuels, and ISSE will do all it can to support and contribute to that effort.
But concerns over a sustainable energy supply are global in scope, and efforts to resolve them must engender international collaboration. With that in mind, ISSE co-hosted a workshop in September that brought together scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and researchers from ISSE, the University of Tennessee, the Joint Institute for Biological Sciences, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
“Environmental Aspects of Bioenergy Production and Sustainability” represents the latest activity of the China-U.S. Joint Research Center for Ecosystem and Environmental Change. The center, launched in July 2006, creates a collaborative framework for scientists from participating organizations to capitalize on shared resources and research knowledge. Over three intensive days, participants explored improved processes for converting lignocellulose to ethanol and examined the unintended environmental impacts that result from current biofuels production. We will report on the activities of this new center as they evolve.
As always, we welcome questions about our institute and its research focus as well as opportunities for collaboration.
[Randall Gentry is director of the University of Tennessee’ s Institute for a Secure and Sustainable.]