I think it is great to see these kinds of grants, it gives such great opportunities and good for our future. Educating at an early age gives a greater understanding of what changes we can implement to improve our future sustainability.
I was recently involved in a local dragons den style, where students pitched ideas http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/News/pressreleases/2010/September/UKIndiaresearchersinbusinesscontestfinal.aspx it was rewarding to see how involved they got.
If you’re wondering what the future might hold as far as technologies to help with corporate sustainability and agribusiness, the list of 55 student grants awarded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency might provide some clues.
The new funding detailed on the EPA’s Web site is part of the agency’s People, Prosperity and Planet Awards (Phase I) for 2011 to 2011. During the first phase of the grant cycle this year, university and college teams are receiving $10,000 for developing their ideas. A few of the teams — which represent categories including water, energy, agriculture, built environment, and materials/chemicals — will later get $75,000 to potentially help them commercialize their project. Those “Phase II” teams will be picked at the 7th Annual National Sustainable Design Expo being held next April in Washington, D.C.
So, okay, I can’t feature all 55 of the projects that are being funded, but I can highlight a few that seem personally intriguing.
- Appalachian State University and University of Missouri in Kansas City are both working on research involving solar-powered disinfection for clean water
- The University of Georgia is studying how to use renewable energy sources (including the most obvious source, cow dung) to help cool milk at small dairies
- Stanford University has a team working on a nitrogen-selective membrane for carbon capture plus one researching strategies for renewable energy partnerships at the university campus level
- And, this fun one: The University of Delaware is exploring technologies that use renewable bio-based materials for apparel and footwear
Supporting heightened interest across corporate and agri-America in strategies for sustainable water resource management, quite a few of the projects boast water filtration, purification or conservation as a focus.
