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Ambitious EPA rules to face stark permitting realityPayne Institute Program Managers Anna Littlefield and Brad Handler, and Director Morgan Bazilian write about how in early May EPA proposed major new carbon emissions standards for coal and many gas-fired electric power plants. Prominent among the options is carbon capture and storage (CCS)—this represents a unique and significant possibility for the technology. The proposal highlights the pressing need to accelerate permitting of CO2 pipelines and injection wells.
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China's consolidation of rare earth elements sectorPayne Institute student researcher Tinzar Htun writes about how today China is the biggest global supplier of rare earth elements (REEs), accounting for around 70 percent of global mine production (1.2 million tons) in 2022. More importantly, China holds the dominant role in the downstream process of REE, separating and processing. The partial shutdown of the Lynas facility in Malaysia will grant China near-exclusive control over the production and distribution of REEs in the global market.
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Applying post-quantum cryptography – survey and application of machine learningPayne Institute student researcher Mack Osborne writes about how quantum computing poses a considerable threat in the world of cyber security. Policy makers are largely unprepared for a post-quantum world, significantly due to a lack of understanding and awareness. The goal of this paper is to improve understanding and provide a new and effective way to analyze post-quantum cryptography, for researchers and security engineers alike.
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The mining boom is coming, but where can their workers live?Payne Institute Research Associate Caitlin McKennie writes about how building out a robust talent pipeline for the mining sector through providing quality jobs to workers and advancement opportunities (i.e., training, upskilling, and next skilling efforts) will be a central factor for ramping up domestic critical mineral production and strengthening U.S. energy security. Yet, the labor force associated with nonfuel mineral mining in the U.S. has remained roughly stagnate over the last five years, and aligns with new statistics coming from employers.
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Sage CampusThe SAGE Campus platform provides 18 different courses with roughly 220 hours of online learning modules. The author reviewed the service from the perspective of a college student to see if it was an appropriate learning environment. The primary audience for the courses are graduate students in the social sciences, but undergraduate and graduate students of all disciplines may find courses that are worthwhile to investigate. At the time of the review, the course topics covered content such as information literacy, data management and other data science skills, research design, and how to get published. Many librarians and teaching faculty may recommend students take these courses to supplement their education. Students can learn through these courses in a self-paced manner, and there are no scores or grades associated with completion of a course. Overall, the SAGE Campus platform provides a low-stress way for students to enhance their understanding of many topics relevant to research in the social sciences.
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Global Registry of Fossil FuelsThis resource provides a new way for people to investigate greenhouse gas emissions data from a wide variety of countries and from a global perspective. The creators of the database are aiming to inform corporate investors and policy makers, but it will be found by high school students and college students needing data for their papers concerning global warming. When researchers come across a new resource that provides global information on fossil fuel production and storage, the user should be cognizant of a bias to the presentation of the data. This resource is not immune to that issue. Overall, this resource is recommended, but the user should look carefully at the publishing source, the Carbon Tracker Initiative, to understand its motivations for creating this resource.
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Cooking up open access LIS journalsThis recipe is intended to help librarians start, build, grow, and maintain an open access journal in the field of library and information science (LIS). There are many recipe variations when it comes to the creation of open access journals. Most of this recipe will use the Journal of Creative Library Practice (JCLP) as a model because the author is more familiar with recent details of the technology and procedures. In the case of JCLP, several members of the Library Society of the World (LSW) are also involved in that project.
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Critical mineral mining and sustainable development in AfricaPayne Institute student researcher Mama Nissi Abanga Abugnaba writes about how as a continent with abundant natural resources, such as large reserves of vital minerals, Africa could play a critical role in facilitating the energy transition. This will be possible through a just energy transition that supports the retention of jobs, social aid for affected workers, upskilling of current employees, environmental restoration, and the development of local businesses. April 10, 2023.
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Burning landfill in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan detected by VIIRS NightfirePayne Institute Earth Observation Group Director Christopher Elvidge writes about a landfill burning in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan as seen through the VIIRS Nightfire satellite imaging systems as part of their global monitoring program.
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PermafrostPermafrost, or perennially frozen ground, is defined as soil or rock having temperatures below 0oC over at least two consecutive winters and the intervening summer. Much of the permafrost has been frozen since the Pleistocene time. Permafrost occurs in the Arctic, Antarctic and high alpine regions. About one-fifth of the total land area of the world is underlain by permafrost (Burdick et al. 1978). The top layer of the ground in which the temperature fluctuates above or below 0oC during the year is defined as the active layer (Andersland and Ladanyi 1994). Other terms such as seasonally frozen ground, seasonal frost and annually thawed layer are synonyms for the active layer. The thickness of this layer varies spatially and temporally. The upper boundary of permafrost is defined as the permafrost table. In the discontinuous permafrost zone, taliks form between the active layer and the permafrost table. Taliks, or unfrozen ground, are layers of ground that remain unfrozen throughout the year (Andersland and Ladanyi 1994). In the continuous permafrost zone, taliks often occur underneath shallow thermokarst lakes or rivers, where the water below a certain depth may not freeze in winter and, thus, the soil underneath will not freeze either. Other terms, such as thaw lake or cave-in lake, have also been used for a thermokarst lake. Open talik is an area of unfrozen ground that is open to the ground surface but otherwise enclosed in permafrost. Through talik is unfrozen ground that is exposed to the ground surface and to a larger mass of unfrozen ground beneath. Unfrozen ground encased in permafrost is known as a closed talik.
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Aeromagnetic surveyAn aeromagnetic survey (AMS) is an air-borne geophysical survey performed using a magnetometer aboard or towed behind an aircraft. A magnetometer is an instrument used to measure the magnetic field. Aeromagnetic surveys are probably one of the most common types of air-borne geophysical surveys. The applications of AMS in engineering geology include, but are not limited to, near-surface geological mapping, structural geology mapping, aiding three-dimension (3D) geological subsurface model construction, groundwater study, environmental study, and geologic hazards assessment. In an aeromagnetic survey, an airplane, flying at a low altitude, carrying a magnetic sensor flies back and forth in a grid-like pattern over an area, recording disturbances in the magnetic field (Fig. 1). Height and gridline spacing determine the resolution of the data. Geologic processes often bring together rocks with slightly different magnetic properties, and these variations cause very small magnetic fields above the Earth’s surface. The differences in the magnetic field are called “anomalies.” (Blakely et al. 1999).
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GIS for natural resources (mineral, energy, and water)Natural resources embrace a broad array of categories, including agricultural, conservational, forestry, oceanic, water, energy, and mineral resources. This chapter only focuses on the latter three. Traditional methods for natural resource management include, but are not limited to, geophysical exploration, field geological mapping, geochemical analysis, and aero-photo interpretations. Natural resource related research is by nature a spatial problem. Integration of field survey data and other pertinent information can be a time-consuming task by traditional ways. With the help of GIS, most of the tasks can be conducted in ways that are nearly impossible in traditional methods. Three case studies of GIS application in natural resource analyses will be presented in this book chapter to demonstrate the GIS applications in compiling, integrating, analyzing and visualizing natural resource data.
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GIS for earth sciencesGeographic Information System (GIS) supports data collection, geospatial data analysis, visualization, scientific communication and research collaboration. GIS has implications for many fields of the Earth Sciences, which are about and beyond one’s imagination. Since the development of the first computerized GIS in the 1960s, the need by professionals for geospatial technology in fields that utilize geospatial data has never stopped expanding. As noted by a market analysis in August 2017: “The GIS Market was valued at USD 5.33 Billion in 2016 and is expected to reach USD 10.12 Billion by 2023, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 9.6% between 2017 and 2023.” (marketsandmarkets.com, August 2017). Earth Sciences encompasses a broad and diverse array of technical areas, such as geology, geomorphology, geography, geophysics, hydrology, hydrogeology, environmental sciences, oceanography, meteorology, and atmospheric sciences. All of these fields are using geospatial data to solve complex problems related to the planet Earth. Some of these problems are nearly impossible to solve without the use of GIS. This article presents a brief introduction to GIS and examples of its applications to the Earth sciences. Three case studies highlight the utility of GIS applications in compiling, integrating, analyzing and visualizing geospatial data.
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The regulation of CO₂ pipelines and ensuring public safetyThe 45Q tax credit is anticipated to play an important role in accelerating the expansion of the CO₂ pipeline network in the United States by providing a financial incentive for businesses to invest in carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) technologies and supporting infrastructure. The Inflation Reduction Act's amplification of this credit has already increased the number of CCUS projects. This activity, in addition to continuing demand for CO₂ for oil and gas operations, will require an expansion of the US CO₂ pipeline network. This expansion has raised questions and concerns among landowners, project stakeholders and the public regarding the safety of these pipelines and to what extent regulations should be consistent with or more stringent than those for the more abundant natural gas pipelines.
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Securing mineral supply: backwards vertical integration for technology companiesThe demand for minerals has increased with the growing production of standard technologies, such as EV car batteries, wind turbines, and solar panels. However, major mining companies need help to satisfy the demand at the current rate, leading to inconsistent and expensive supply chains and environmental and geopolitical concerns. Technology companies should consider backward vertical integration strategies to mitigate against risks associated with supply chain issues, which would merge upstream processes essential to companies' value chains. By doing so, they can mitigate the mine's health, safety, and ecological impacts by employing the latest mining technologies.
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Addressing the need for accurate and comparable greenhouse gas data: the COMET frameworkThe Coalition on Materials Emissions Transparency (COMET) began as a collaboration between the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI), the Colorado School of Mines (CSM), RMI (formerly known as the Rocky Mountain Institute), and the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UN Climate Change). Its objective is to advance accurate and transparent greenhouse gas accounting through a harmonized set of principles, standards, and reporting requirements.
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Turning wastes to rare valueThere remain considerable uncertainties surrounding critical mineral supply chains, and their relationship to energy transitions and energy security. There is clear evidence that they will play an increasing role, but the pathways to the future are unclear. As we strive for answers, one clear area to look is in recycling and circular economy concepts.
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VIIRS day/night band power outage analysis for the February 6, 2023 earthquake in Turkey and SyriaOn February 6, 2023, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck at a depth of about 11 miles (17.9 km) in Gaziantep province in Turkey (https://www.worldvision.org/disaster-relief-news-stories/2023-turkey-and-syria-earthquake-faqs). At least 120 aftershocks have been felt around the region, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). At least 41,000 people have lost their lives till date (February 15th, 2023) and the number continues to rise. The natural disaster has aggravated the preexisting humanitarian need in the region as many Syrian refugees are concentrated in the 10 affected provinces of southern Turkey, and Syria, and have been already suffering from over a decade of civil war.
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Ukraine power outages viewed from the NASA/NOAA Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer suite at nightAs the Russia-Ukraine war approaches the 1 year mark the electrical grid in Ukraine has taken devastating damage. Russia has hit more than 200 targets in the electrical infrastructure. This has left millions of Ukrainian citizens without power in the cold winter months. In the early days of the war Russia captured the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. Russia has now militarized the facility installing several Grad rocket launchers around the dry storage for spent nuclear fuel. Protective structures were erected to defend the launchers, but these structures violate international nuclear and radiation safety regulations.
