The National Science Foundation has awarded $400,000 to a Clemson University environmental engineer. Shelie Miller, an assistant professor in the department of environmental engineering and earth sciences, received an NSF CAREER Award, which distinguishes young scientists and provides funds to advance their research and visibility.
In her research, Miller conducts life-cycle assessments. Everything from computers to cups of coffee have a beginning, middle and end. She identifies the life-cycle steps, ranging from raw materials through disposing or recycling, then she evaluates a product’s cumulative impact on the environment. Life-cycle assessments provide industry and public leaders with “cradle to grave†analyses of how products and processes affect the environment.
Miller currently is analyzing switchgrass, a hardy perennial grass that shows a lot of promise as a biofuel. Biofuels are plants that can be processed into ethanol and other energy alternatives. To be a realistic option to fossil fuel, a biofuel needs to provide a net energy gain, environmental benefits, be economically competitive and be producible in large quantities without reducing food supply.
Clemson researchers say non-food plants, such as switchgrass and some sorghum varieties, which can grow on marginal lands and need less fertilizers and pesticides, offer advantages for bio-based energy, more so than food crops like corn and soybeans.
Researchers at the Clemson Pee Dee Research and Education Center in Florence and on campus are finding ways to unlock the energy stored in plant materials. Miller’s role is to figure out if switchgrass as a fuel produces a net benefit to the environment after all its costs are identified and evaluated.
The Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program is among the National Science Foundation’s most prestigious awards in support of junior faculty members who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organizations.
via Clemson
