Greenhouse Gas / en 福利姬自慰symposium tackles carbon markets and climate finance /news/u-t-symposium-tackles-carbon-markets-and-climate-finance <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">福利姬自慰symposium tackles carbon markets and climate finance</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2018-06-22-climate-conference-lead.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=-QILQUIf 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2018-06-22-climate-conference-lead.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=VDmi9TSZ 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2018-06-22-climate-conference-lead.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=iyr-DiRZ 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2018-06-22-climate-conference-lead.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=-QILQUIf" alt="photo of John Robinson talking to Patricia Koval"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>ullahnor</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2018-06-27T00:00:00-04:00" title="Wednesday, June 27, 2018 - 00:00" class="datetime">Wed, 06/27/2018 - 00:00</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">U of T's John Robinson (left) speaks to another conference organizer, lawyer Patricia Koval, a member of the School of the Environment's environmental finance advisory committee (photos by Noreen Ahmed-Ullah)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/noreen-ahmed-ullah" hreflang="en">Noreen Ahmed-Ullah</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/city-culture" hreflang="en">City &amp; Culture</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/climate-change" hreflang="en">Climate Change</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/greenhouse-gas" hreflang="en">Greenhouse Gas</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/munk-school-global-affairs-public-policy" hreflang="en">Munk School of Global Affairs &amp; Public Policy</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/president-meric-gertler" hreflang="en">President Meric Gertler</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/rotman-school-management" hreflang="en">Rotman School of Management</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/school-environment" hreflang="en">School of the Environment</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Looking for creative ways to fund efforts to reduce its carbon footprint, the University of Toronto brought together the financial community, university leaders, local government officials and climate change advocates for an all-day forum on carbon markets and sustainable finance.</p> <p>As organizations and governments across North America try to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), 福利姬自慰hopes that driving the conversation on funding climate change initiatives could have implications beyond the university.</p> <p>President <strong>Meric Gertler</strong> told the gathering that the discussion was very much in keeping with U of T鈥檚 city-building efforts and its role as 鈥渁n agent of change in the community.鈥</p> <p>鈥淭he challenge of climate change is immense,鈥 said President Gertler. 鈥淚f we are to have any hope of achieving the emissions reductions necessary to avoid the worst consequences, we need to work together to explore, and then implement, the best means to achieve our climate targets.</p> <p>鈥淏y offering the University of Toronto as a case study of innovative approaches to carbon finance, we hope this conference will generate insights that will help us to meet our targets. At the same time, these insights may well be relevant to other organizations and jurisdictions also facing the challenge of financing substantial reductions in GHG emissions.鈥</p> <p>As part of Ontario鈥檚 program to reduce greenhouse gases, 福利姬自慰has set a goal to reduce emissions by 37 per cent from 1990 levels by 2030.</p> <p>To meet the target, 福利姬自慰has embarked on retrofitting old buildings -- many of which qualify as heritage buildings 鈥 constructing new ones with fully sustainable features, and looking at acquiring carbon offsets. Earlier this year, 福利姬自慰received $26.7 million in new provincial innovation funding to launch several 鈥済reen鈥 projects.</p> <p>President Gertler has also established a presidential advisory committee on the environment, climate change and sustainability. The committee has released recommendations on engaging students, faculty, staff and the external community, including initiatives to treat U of T鈥檚 campuses as a living lab so that all operational activities like new buildings, retrofits, landscaping and purchasing are evaluated for performance on sustainability metrics.</p> <p>福利姬自慰has also joined two new university alliances 鈥 one led by the University of California鈥檚 10 campuses to set GHG targets and trigger public engagement on the issue 鈥 and another led by the University of Oxford to explore sustainable finance and green investment.</p> <p>With last week鈥檚 announcement that the province will be scrapping its cap-and-trade program, the university will likely need to explore alternative financing options, especially in the private sector, to fund many of the initiatives.</p> <p>鈥淚t will be very important to consider how to leverage private capital,鈥 said <strong>Tiff Macklem</strong>, dean of the Rotman School of Management, who spoke at the beginning of the forum. 鈥淚t may force us to be more creative.鈥</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__8720 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" height="500" src="/sites/default/files/2018-06-22-climate-conference-2_1.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image" width="750" loading="lazy"></p> <p><em>Tiff Macklem, dean of the Rotman School of Management, talks about his role on the federal expert panel on sustainable finance</em></p> <p>Other speakers included <strong>Jim Baxter</strong>, director of the environment and energy division at the City of Toronto, who talked about the city鈥檚 various green efforts and finance initiatives, including its partnership with Enwave Energy Corp. to explore low-carbon energy networks; <strong>Robert Keen</strong>, who heads Forests Ontario and talked about acquiring carbon offsets; <strong>Tim Stoate</strong>, who oversees the Atmospheric Fund鈥檚 impact investing, and designs and tests new financing options for low-carbon projects; and <strong>Shaaj Vijay</strong> of RBC Capital Markets, who discussed the use of green bonds.</p> <p>Macklem, who was recently appointed by the federal government to chair an expert panel on sustainable finance, spoke about the opportunities in Canada and at 福利姬自慰to help develop and test ways for the market to adapt to climate change risks, fund the transition to a low carbon economy, and 鈥減rovide leadership to the world.鈥</p> <p>鈥淚f Canada comes to the table with a financial structure, that will get some attention because we have a reputation for financial stability,鈥 he said.</p> <p><strong>John Robinson</strong>, U of T鈥檚 presidential adviser on the environment, climate change and sustainability, who was one of the co-organizers of the conference, said he hopes that joining the Oxford University network will lead to a greater focus on sustainable finance at the university.</p> <p>鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of finance strength at Rotman, but there hasn鈥檛 been until now a focus on sustainable finance,鈥 said Robinson, who is a professor at U of T鈥檚 Munk School of Global Affairs and the School of the Environment in the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science. 鈥淲e鈥檙e hoping all of these activities will contribute to building academic capacity on sustainability across the university.鈥</p> <p>The forum came out of U of T鈥檚 alliance with 14 other leading research universities in North America that make up the University Climate Change Coalition, or UC3. One of the requirements for 福利姬自慰to join UC3 was a pledge to reduce its carbon footprint and to develop programming to engage the Toronto region on sustainability issues.</p> <p>The alliance formed after U.S. President Donald Trump鈥檚 decision to pull out of the Paris Agreement on climate change. At the time, the University of California Systems鈥 President Janet Napolitano, the former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security under then President Barack Obama, decided to bring together research-intensive universities with local governments and business leaders to continue with strong carbon reduction goals.</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__8721 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" height="500" src="/sites/default/files/2018-06-22-climate-change-3.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image" width="750" loading="lazy"></p> <p><em>Professor John Robinson leads a discussion on creative sustainable financing,&nbsp;with speakers including Tim Stoate, vice-president of impact investing at The Atmospheric Fund, and Rob Keen, CEO of Forests Ontario</em></p> <p>鈥淭he only thing this announcement did was galvanize everybody in the country who is working on climate action,鈥 said Matthew St. Clair, who is leading sustainability efforts across the 10-campus University of California system.</p> <p>鈥淵ou鈥檙e not alone,鈥 he told participants. 鈥淭his was a huge motivator for climate actors in the United States.鈥</p> <p><strong>Scott Mabury</strong>, U of T鈥檚 vice-president of university operations, said he heard a lot of good ideas at the forum, and the university will now look at, 鈥淗ow much can we do, what can we prioritize?鈥</p> <p>鈥淲e now need to plan very formally how we鈥檙e going to hit the 2030 target,鈥 he said.</p> <p>Physics Professor <strong>Kimberly Strong</strong>, director of U of T鈥檚 School of the Environment, helped co-organize the conference. She said one of the takeaways was that other countries like China have significantly ambitious cap and trade programs, and Ontario now runs the risk of being left behind.</p> <p>鈥淐arbon dioxide emissions are very clearly increasing. We can see that in our ground-based measurements,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e can see it in new datasets coming out of satellite observations. We are learning more and more about the carbon cycle, and how emissions into the atmosphere interact with biosphere and oceans, and we need to be reducing those emissions.</p> <p>鈥淎s a scientist, I am interested in understanding what is going on in the atmosphere, but we also need to make a change in what we鈥檙e doing. While we make the case around cultural and behaviour changes, we also need to make an economic case for reining in greenhouse gas emissions. We should be developing green technology. We should be developing financial instruments. If we don鈥檛 do that, other countries will be moving ahead, and at some point, we鈥檙e going to be left scrambling to catch up.鈥&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__8722 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" height="500" src="/sites/default/files/2018-06-22-climate-change-4.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image" width="750" loading="lazy"></p> <p><em>Katie Sullivan, managing director at the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA), and Xiaolu Zhao, the China Climate Initiative program manager with the Environmental Defense Fund, talk about carbon markets around the world including in China and Ontario</em></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Wed, 27 Jun 2018 04:00:00 +0000 ullahnor 137580 at Green infrastructure: New tool by 福利姬自慰researchers to help construction industry reduce carbon footprint /news/green-infrastructure-new-tool-u-t-researchers-help-construction-industry-reduce-carbon <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Green infrastructure: New tool by 福利姬自慰researchers to help construction industry reduce carbon footprint</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-12-11-engineering-green-resized.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=zzp5YX6n 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2017-12-11-engineering-green-resized.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=plWaWuG5 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2017-12-11-engineering-green-resized.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=Fn5aL-bF 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-12-11-engineering-green-resized.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=zzp5YX6n" alt="Photo of professors involved in projet"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>rasbachn</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2017-12-11T11:10:43-05:00" title="Monday, December 11, 2017 - 11:10" class="datetime">Mon, 12/11/2017 - 11:10</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">From left, Brenda McCabe, Daman Panesar, Shoshanna Saxe, Heather MacLean and Daniel Posen of the Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering (photo by Tyler Irving)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/tyler-irving" hreflang="en">Tyler Irving</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/city-culture" hreflang="en">City &amp; Culture</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/environment" hreflang="en">Environment</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-applied-science-engineering" hreflang="en">Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/greenhouse-gas" hreflang="en">Greenhouse Gas</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/infrastructure" hreflang="en">Infrastructure</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>A team of researchers from the University of Toronto is partnering with the construction industry to help reduce the carbon footprint of buildings, bridges, public transit and other major infrastructure projects.</p> <p>鈥淲hat we鈥檙e building is a decision-support tool that can be used in the early stages of design and planning,鈥 says&nbsp;<strong>Heather MacLean</strong>, a professor in the department of&nbsp;civil engineering who is one of five Faculty of Applied Science &amp;&nbsp;Engineering professors involved in the project. 鈥淯ltimately, the goal is to produce infrastructure with much lower greenhouse gas impact.鈥</p> <p>While green building certification programs have existed for decades, MacLean and her collaborators 鈥 including <strong>Brenda McCabe and&nbsp;</strong><strong>Daman Panesar</strong>, professors of civil engineering, and&nbsp;<strong>Daniel Posen</strong>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<strong>Shoshanna Saxe</strong>, assistant professors of civil engineering 鈥 point out that these are typically considered only toward the end of the design process, when most major decisions have already been made.</p> <p>鈥淭he decisions that have the most impact are the ones that are made early in the process,鈥 says Saxe, who specializes in&nbsp;analysis of transit infrastructure. 鈥淭hese include how big it鈥檚 going to be, or what materials it will be made of. Once those are set, it really puts limits on how low the overall emissions can get.鈥</p> <p>Nearly a year ago, the team was approached by&nbsp;EllisDon, a major construction and building services company headquartered in Mississauga. As part of its carbon impact initiative, the company and its partners, including&nbsp;BASF&nbsp;and&nbsp;WSP, are collaborating on projects that aim to elevate efficiency and sustainability in the built environment.</p> <p>In their early talks, the researchers and industry partners quickly identified science-based decision support in the early stages of project planning as a key strategy for emissions reduction. They plan to analyze data from previously constructed projects and publicly available databases to generate predictive digital tools.</p> <p>鈥淟arge-scale infrastructure projects are complex, consisting of many different construction activities, along with associated inputs of material and energy,鈥 says MacLean. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 yet have good data about the on-site and supply-chain emissions associated with these inputs, especially those specific to the Ontario context. If we can cut down on that uncertainty, it will greatly help inform these types of decisions.鈥</p> <h3><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/passive-house-highrises-1.4437973">Read CBC report on massive green construction projects, featuring 福利姬自慰Scarborough residence</a></h3> <p>Ontario's Ministry of Research, Innovation and Science announced last week that the project was among those that received funding&nbsp;through the&nbsp;TargetGHG program, administered by&nbsp;Ontario Centres of Excellence, which supports industry-academic collaborations that will help the province meet more aggressive future GHG targets.</p> <p>鈥淪upporting the efforts of large industries in their quest to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions is an important part of our government鈥檚 Climate Change Action Plan,鈥 says&nbsp;Reza Moridi, minister of research, innovation and science. 鈥淲ith the help of our province鈥檚 innovative clean-tech companies, the TargetGHG program will help build a prosperous, low carbon economy and create a cleaner, more sustainable future for Ontario.鈥</p> <p>In total, the project has attracted more than $2 million in funding from a variety of sources, including the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) as well as financial and in-kind contributions from the industrial partners.</p> <p>鈥淭aking steps to reduce the impacts of greenhouse gases and air pollution on our climate and environment is a key priority in Canada,鈥 says&nbsp;Marc Fortin, vice-president, research partnerships at the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. 鈥淣SERC is proud to partner with Ontario Centres of Excellence to connect Canada鈥檚 top researchers and companies to develop innovative clean technologies that will advance environmental sustainability in Canada and improve the health and quality of life of Canadians.鈥</p> <p>鈥淭his project is a wonderful example of how our researchers leverage&nbsp;strong collaborations with industry to develop next-generation solutions to society鈥檚 most pressing challenges, including climate change,鈥 said&nbsp;<strong>Ramin Farnood</strong>, vice-dean, research at U of T's Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering. 鈥淭his tool has great potential to enhance the sustainability of major infrastructure not just here in Ontario, but around the world.鈥</p> <p>A second 福利姬自慰Engineering project, focused on installation and testing of fast-charging stations for electric vehicles, also received funding through the TargetGHG program. Led by Professor<strong>&nbsp;Reza Iravani</strong>, it will be carried out in collaboration with energy storage company eCAMION.</p> <p>MacLean and her team are already looking to recruit the graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who will collect and analyze the data, and continue to work closely with their industrial partners as they move forward.</p> <p>鈥淚t鈥檚 exciting to be working with partners that are eager to roll out solutions,鈥 says Posen. 鈥淲e have had great meetings, and we have a strong sense they are looking to turn this research into practical results.鈥</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Mon, 11 Dec 2017 16:10:43 +0000 rasbachn 124519 at Canada's climate change research at risk: 福利姬自慰physicist /news/canada-s-climate-change-research-risk-u-t-physicist <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Canada's climate change research at risk: 福利姬自慰physicist</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-07-14-arctic.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=xYHdzt4V 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2017-07-14-arctic.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=VG7zVV0j 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2017-07-14-arctic.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=cRsCuZHX 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-07-14-arctic.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=xYHdzt4V" alt> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>ullahnor</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2017-07-14T13:17:22-04:00" title="Friday, July 14, 2017 - 13:17" class="datetime">Fri, 07/14/2017 - 13:17</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Researchers at 福利姬自慰and Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society say funding cuts mean less data about changes to Arctic oceans, clouds and glaciers (photo by Education Images/UIG via Getty)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/breaking-research" hreflang="en">Breaking Research</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/climate-change" hreflang="en">Climate Change</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/greenhouse-gas" hreflang="en">Greenhouse Gas</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>A crisis is looming for Canadian climate research, writes 福利姬自慰Physics Professor <strong>Paul J. Kushner</strong>&nbsp;and his colleagues from the National Executive of the Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society (CMOS) in&nbsp;an <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/without-funding-canadian-climate-science-is-in-peril/article35653452/">op-ed&nbsp;for&nbsp;<em>The Globe and Mail</em></a>.</p> <p>Kushner,&nbsp;principal investigator of the Canadian Sea Ice and Snow Evolution Network (CanSISE) and vice-president of CMOS, Wayne Richardson, president of CMOS, and Martin Taillefer, president of Maritime Way Scientific and past president of CMOS, argue that funding cuts will have severe repercussions for climate change research conducted by the Government of Canada鈥檚&nbsp;Climate Change and Atmospheric Research (CCAR) program.&nbsp;</p> <p>鈥淲hile our scientific understanding is advancing, our climate is still changing and we must figure out the causes and impacts of those changes 鈥 this is imperative,鈥 they contend.&nbsp;鈥淐anada needs continued investment in climate research to stay up-to-date with these advances, to lead the market with new technologies, new observations, framework commitments that require accounting for greenhouse gas emissions and sudden environmental changes that will impact us.鈥</p> <p>The&nbsp;$7-million per year in funding has helped train&nbsp;over 350 undergraduate students, graduate students and other research staff&nbsp;and supported field research across Canada.</p> <p>Researchers are studying everything from the role of greenhouse gases and aerosol particles in recent Arctic sea ice loss&nbsp;to the Fort McMurray wildfires. Other research areas in an era of rapid global warming include:&nbsp;the state and future of the Arctic鈥檚 ocean, clouds, air quality and&nbsp;permafrost;&nbsp;the storing of carbon dioxide in the&nbsp;Labrador Sea;&nbsp;and changes to cold climate soils and snow, and their impact on water resources.</p> <p>But the 2017 federal budget did not include a renewal of the CCAR program.</p> <p>鈥淎s a result, these science networks will have to terminate personnel and science positions, cancel training opportunities, shut down field programs and limit Canada鈥檚 participation in international programs that are looking at global aspects of climate change,鈥 the researchers say.&nbsp;</p> <h3><a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/without-funding-canadian-climate-science-is-in-peril/article35653452/">Read the op-ed</a></h3> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Fri, 14 Jul 2017 17:17:22 +0000 ullahnor 110101 at 福利姬自慰brings city together for Toronto Sustainability Summit /news/u-t-brings-city-together-toronto-sustainability-summit <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">福利姬自慰brings city together for Toronto Sustainability Summit</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-04-13-sustain-one.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=7hfqB2oW 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2017-04-13-sustain-one.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=kjVqJHGL 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2017-04-13-sustain-one.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=HZYNlexB 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-04-13-sustain-one.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=7hfqB2oW" alt="photo of panel "> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Romi Levine</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2017-04-13T16:10:09-04:00" title="Thursday, April 13, 2017 - 16:10" class="datetime">Thu, 04/13/2017 - 16:10</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Panelists at the summit included (from left to right) city of Toronto's chief planner Jennifer Keesmaat, U of T's John Robinson and Sara Hughes, Waterfront Toronto's William Fleissig and Ron Swail from university operations (all photos by Johnny Guatto)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/romi-levine" hreflang="en">Romi Levine</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Romi Levine</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/city-culture" hreflang="en">City &amp; Culture</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/sustainability" hreflang="en">Sustainability</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/environment" hreflang="en">Environment</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/greenhouse-gas" hreflang="en">Greenhouse Gas</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">鈥淭he university is a critical partner鈥 </div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>As Toronto continues to grow, so does its carbon footprint.</p> <p><u><a href="http://www.research.utoronto.ca/2017-toronto-sustainability-summit/">Enter the Toronto Sustainability Summit</a>.</u></p> <p>As part of <u><a href="/news/we-have-responsibility-take-decisive-action-climate-change-university-toronto-president">U of T's commitment to taking action on climate change</a></u>, the university&nbsp;brought together U of T鈥檚 green experts, government leaders and the city鈥檚 sustainability champions today&nbsp;for a summit that explored&nbsp;opportunities for collaboration and partnership, and highlighted the work 福利姬自慰is already leading.</p> <p>Guests included&nbsp;<strong>Glen&nbsp;Murray</strong>, Ontario minister of environment and climate change, Andrew Bowerbank, global director of sustainable building services at construction company EllisDon,&nbsp;Jennifer Keesmaat, the city of Toronto鈥檚 chief planner, and&nbsp;<strong>John Robinson</strong>, the university鈥檚 first-ever presidential adviser on the environment, climate change and sustainability. They were joined by leaders from some of the&nbsp;successful sustainability-focused startups that have come out of U of T, such as&nbsp;<u><a href="/news/tags/nanoleaf">green technology company Nanoleaf</a></u>.&nbsp;</p> <p>鈥淭he University of Toronto is a global leader in research and innovation in fields related to climate change and sustainability, energy, environment, clean tech, biofuels&nbsp;and environmental policy, and law, just to name a few fields,鈥 福利姬自慰President <strong>Meric Gertler</strong> told the&nbsp;full house at the MaRS Discovery District.</p> <p>Keesmaat, who moderated a panel called&nbsp;Green City, Green Campus, agreed.</p> <p>鈥淲hen we bring policies forward to City Council, we need to make an argument. We need data and evidence. We need analytics to ensure we are defining problems in a way that is based on a sound logic,鈥 said Keesmaat. 鈥淭he university is a critical partner in these kinds of projects.鈥</p> <p><img alt="photo of Keesmat" class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__4246 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" src="/sites/default/files/2017-04-13-keesmat.jpg" style="width: 750px; height: 500px; margin: 10px;" typeof="foaf:Image"><br> <em>The city of Toronto's Chief Planner Jennifer Keesmaat moderated a panel at U of T's Sustainability Summit, titled&nbsp;Green City, Green Campus</em></p> <p>The university is contributing to a number of sustainability projects around the city, including Waterfront Toronto鈥檚 large-scale development.</p> <p><a href="/news/u-t-president-meric-gertler-joins-waterfront-toronto-board">President Gertler鈥檚 appointment to the board of Waterfront Toronto</a> brings the expertise of 鈥渙ne of the world's leading scholars around this idea of urban clusters and creating economic opportunity鈥&nbsp;to the waterfront, as well as the university鈥檚 wealth of resources, said Waterfront Toronto CEO&nbsp;William Fleissig.</p> <p>鈥淚t's just wonderful to have that kind of a partnership of opportunity and to have not only the mental acuity but also the intention,鈥 he said.</p> <p><strong>Robinson&nbsp;</strong>is among faculty members who are working with the city on a <a href="/news/u-t-academics-propose-toronto-engagement-around-sustainability">large-scale engagement strategy</a>, with plans to reach out to communities across the city on climate change issues.</p> <p>鈥淭he world is changing, and the university has a real responsibility and opportunity to deeply engage with that process of societal transformation,鈥 said Robinson. 鈥淲e're not talking about incremental change but transformative change, and the university can play a crucial role because we have characteristics unique to us.鈥</p> <p>The biggest contribution 福利姬自慰can make is its students, he said.</p> <p>鈥淭hey are the most engaged, the most interested. They're already often the most creative. We have an opportunity to take our students and attach them to everything we do across the campus,鈥 said Robinson.</p> <p>Sustainability can be applied to all aspects of the university, he said.</p> <p>鈥淪ustainability is not a subject area we want to build at U of T. Sustainability is a stance 鈥 it's a way of being in the world,鈥 Robinson said. 鈥淚t permeates every single faculty, every single department. There is no component to the academic and operational side of the university that does not relate to sustainability.鈥</p> <p>Through its own on-campus green building initiatives, 福利姬自慰has seen the&nbsp;real, tangible impacts of change, said&nbsp;<strong>Ron Swail</strong>, U of T鈥檚 chief operations officer of property services and sustainability.</p> <p>鈥淥ver the last 10 years, we've been able to reduce the university's environmental footprint by over 50,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas and save&nbsp;the university approximately $40 million in utilities,鈥 Swail said.</p> <p>And 福利姬自慰is taking its commitment to sustainability to the neighbourhoods surrounding the&nbsp;downtown Toronto campus through ambitious initiatives like the&nbsp;<a href="/news/u-t-experts-creative-solution-toronto-s-housing-problems-laneway-homes">laneway housing project</a>, Swail&nbsp;said.</p> <p><img alt="photo of President Gertler at lectern" class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__4247 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" src="/sites/default/files/2017-04-13-gertler-embed.jpg" style="width: 750px; height: 500px; margin: 10px;" typeof="foaf:Image"><br> <em>福利姬自慰President&nbsp;Meric Gertler&nbsp;told summit participants&nbsp;that 福利姬自慰is&nbsp;a global leader in research and innovation in fields related to sustainability</em></p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Thu, 13 Apr 2017 20:10:09 +0000 Romi Levine 106702 at Turning greenhouse gases into something useful at U of T /news/turning-greenhouse-gases-something-useful-u-t <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Turning greenhouse gases into something useful at U of T</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-04-11-ip.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=KCxb3_9Y 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2017-04-11-ip.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=lvZpgxpF 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2017-04-11-ip.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=CZfEZhc5 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-04-11-ip.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=KCxb3_9Y" alt> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>lanthierj</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2017-04-11T13:48:23-04:00" title="Tuesday, April 11, 2017 - 13:48" class="datetime">Tue, 04/11/2017 - 13:48</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Alexander Ip and his 福利姬自慰research team, led by Professor Ted Sargent, will receive nearly $1 million from the Ontario government for the semi-final round of the Carbon XPRIZE competition (photo by Kevin Soobrian)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/chris-sorensen" hreflang="en">Chris Sorensen</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Chris Sorensen</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/breaking-research" hreflang="en">Breaking Research</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/innovation" hreflang="en">Innovation</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/entrepreneurship" hreflang="en">Entrepreneurship</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/greenhouse-gas" hreflang="en">Greenhouse Gas</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/oil-sands" hreflang="en">Oil Sands</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/carbon" hreflang="en">Carbon</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">Ontario supports 福利姬自慰researchers competing for Carbon XPRIZE</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>University of Toronto researchers are set to receive nearly $1 million from the Ontario government as they compete in the semi-final round of a $20 million global contest that looks for ways to turn harmful greenhouse gases into useful products like fuels and fertilizers.</p> <p>The province recently said the team of over 15 multidisciplinary researchers, known as <a href="/news/u-t-team-advances-next-round-carbon-xprize-competition">Carbon Electrocatalytic Recycling Toronto</a>&nbsp;or CERT, will receive $833,000 to support the development and demonstration of its&nbsp;concept during the <a href="http://carbon.xprize.org/">NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE</a> competition, which boasts $20 million worth of prizes.&nbsp;</p> <p>The 福利姬自慰team鈥檚 technology transforms carbon dioxide (CO鈧)&nbsp;into formic acid, a colourless liquid commonly used to tan leather or as a preservative for livestock feed.</p> <p>鈥淲e鈥檙e excited to see the province supporting U of T鈥檚 Carbon Electrocatalytic Recycling Toronto as it competes in the prestigious XPRIZE competition,鈥 said <strong>Vivek Goel</strong>, U of T鈥檚 vice-president of research and innovation. 鈥淭his funding will help CERT in this clean-tech research that will have meaningful impact on environmental sustainability.鈥</p> <h3><a href="/news/u-t-team-advances-next-round-carbon-xprize-competition">Read more about the team</a></h3> <p>CERT is led by <strong>Ted Sargent</strong>, a <a href="http://www.provost.utoronto.ca/awards/uprofessors/complete.htm">University Professor</a> in U of T鈥檚 department of electrical and computer engineering. The CERT submission builds off previous work using nanoparticle-based catalysts to transform CO鈧&nbsp;into fuels and feedstocks. Now in the competition鈥檚 second round, the challenge for Sargent鈥檚 team is scaling up the technology in a laboratory environment to see how much CO鈧&nbsp;can be converted.</p> <p>鈥淢y team and I are grateful for the support from the province of Ontario,鈥 said Sargent, who also serves as U of T鈥檚 vice-president, international and holds the Canada Research Chair in nanotechnology. 鈥淚鈥檓 very proud of the work by our multidisciplinary team. Their idea for the XPRIZE is truly innovative.&nbsp;</p> <p>鈥淭he team is converting CO鈧&nbsp;by using nanoparticle-based catalysts to produce formic acid, a substance commonly used as a preservative for animal feed and within the textile industry.鈥</p> <p>福利姬自慰researchers make up one of three teams in Ontario who&nbsp;are semi-finalists. They're qualifying for a total of $2.5 million in provincial funding. The international competition was launched in September 2015 by Canada鈥檚 Oil Sands Innovation Alliance and the XPRIZE non-profit. There are&nbsp;25 teams remaining in the competition. It wraps up in 2020.</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Tue, 11 Apr 2017 17:48:23 +0000 lanthierj 106693 at What is public transit's effect on the environment? A 福利姬自慰researcher crunches the numbers /news/what-public-transit-s-effect-environment-u-t-researcher-crunches-numbers <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">What is public transit's effect on the environment? A 福利姬自慰researcher crunches the numbers</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-03-01-transit.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=SvGzee5y 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2017-03-01-transit.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=w31A9lSc 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2017-03-01-transit.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=viVDUljM 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-03-01-transit.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=SvGzee5y" alt="Photo of Shoshanna Saxe"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>ullahnor</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2017-03-01T10:30:56-05:00" title="Wednesday, March 1, 2017 - 10:30" class="datetime">Wed, 03/01/2017 - 10:30</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Professor Shoshanna Saxe analyses the environmental and social impact of large public transit infrastructure projects, equipping policymakers with data as they decide which investments to make (photo by Tyler Irving)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/tyler-irving" hreflang="en">Tyler Irving</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Tyler Irving</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/breaking-research" hreflang="en">Breaking Research</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/environment" hreflang="en">Environment</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/transit" hreflang="en">Transit</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/infrastructure" hreflang="en">Infrastructure</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/public-transportation" hreflang="en">Public Transportation</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/greenhouse-gas" hreflang="en">Greenhouse Gas</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-applied-science-engineering" hreflang="en">Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/sustainable-cities" hreflang="en">Sustainable Cities</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/smart-cities" hreflang="en">Smart Cities</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">The latest extension of the London Underground 鈥渢urned out to be a bit of a mixed bag,鈥 and Toronto's Sheppard subway line initially struggled to provide greenhouse gas savings with low ridership</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>The benefits of building public transit include reducing greenhouse gas emissions, relieving traffic congestion and expanding a growing city. Yet each transit project is unique, and often the immediate environmental benefits can be a mixed bag.</p> <p>Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering <strong>Shoshanna Saxe</strong> crunches the numbers on existing infrastructure to provide key decision-makers with a reality check&nbsp;on the environmental and social impacts of today鈥檚 transit investments.&nbsp;</p> <p>鈥淓ngineers usually aren鈥檛 involved in policymaking, and policymakers usually aren鈥檛 involved in engineering,鈥 says Saxe. 鈥淚鈥檓 trying to bridge that gap.鈥</p> <h3><a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/03/11/transit-construction-can-cause-greenhouse-gas-emissions-that-take-decades-to-offset-study-says.html">Read about her work at the <em>Toronto Star</em></a></h3> <p>Saxe joined U of T's Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering in August 2016.</p> <p>Before completing her PhD at the University of Cambridge, she spent three years at a major consulting engineering firm in Toronto, working on projects such as the Eglinton Crosstown transit line and the Toronto-York Spadina subway extension.</p> <p>鈥淚 love design 鈥 it鈥檚 amazing,鈥 she says. 鈥淗owever, when you鈥檙e building things that people are going to use, you have to stay well within the limits of what you know for sure. I was curious about questions that we didn鈥檛 already know the answers to.鈥</p> <p>During her PhD, Saxe conducted a detailed analysis of the London Underground鈥檚 extension of the Jubilee Line, which was completed in 1999. She gathered data on the greenhouse gases produced during construction and operation of the line, then used transit and land-use surveys to estimate the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions attributable to people using the line and living near it. By combining the two, she could calculate the net environmental benefit of that transit project.</p> <p>鈥淚t turned out to be a bit of a mixed bag,鈥 she says. 鈥淚f you make some optimistic assumptions, you could say that it broke even in terms of greenhouse gas emissions around 2012 or 2013. If you are more pessimistic, you鈥檙e looking at a greenhouse gas payback of twice as long.鈥</p> <p>Saxe says that the Jubilee Line extension sees approximately 175 million trips per year. On projects where ridership is low, the environmental payback period can be much longer.</p> <p>Saxe also studied the Sheppard subway line in Toronto&nbsp;and found it initially struggled to provide greenhouse gas savings with a much lower ridership. Over time, the Sheppard Subway Line has benefited from the decreasing emissions associated with electricity in Ontario. The results of the Sheppard Subway study were recently published in the journal <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1361920916300621"><em>Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment</em>.&nbsp;</a></p> <p>鈥淚f you鈥檙e at Don Mills station, and you want to go north, east, or even southeast, the network doesn鈥檛 serve you yet,鈥 she says. 鈥淲e still see people from that area driving 70 per cent of the time&nbsp;so unfortunately there鈥檚 just a lot less opportunity for savings.鈥</p> <p>Saxe says that her dream project would be to follow a major piece of infrastructure&nbsp;such as a new transit line&nbsp;from conception through construction and use for 20 or 30 years.</p> <p>鈥淚 want to answer questions like:&nbsp;why did we originally build it, how did we originally build it, how did it perform over its lifetime, how did we maintain it and what did it need?鈥 she says. 鈥淚f we know how our present decision-making affects things decades from now, we can make better decisions.鈥</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Wed, 01 Mar 2017 15:30:56 +0000 ullahnor 105283 at Saving the planet with carbon dioxide 鈥 福利姬自慰hosts gathering of experts on climate change /news/saving-planet-carbon-dioxide-u-t-hosts-gathering-experts-climate-change <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Saving the planet with carbon dioxide 鈥 福利姬自慰hosts gathering of experts on climate change</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2016-10-07-smog-flickr.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=VFVxEVio 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2016-10-07-smog-flickr.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=D1GhPc78 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2016-10-07-smog-flickr.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=_E3pQ3wt 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2016-10-07-smog-flickr.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=VFVxEVio" alt="photo of smokestacks"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>lanthierj</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2016-10-07T15:40:47-04:00" title="Friday, October 7, 2016 - 15:40" class="datetime">Fri, 10/07/2016 - 15:40</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">(photo by Isengardt via flickr) </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/arthur-kaptainis" hreflang="en">Arthur Kaptainis</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Arthur Kaptainis</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/our-community" hreflang="en">Our Community</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-forestry" hreflang="en">Faculty of Forestry</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/environment" hreflang="en">Environment</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/sustainability" hreflang="en">Sustainability</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/greenhouse-gas" hreflang="en">Greenhouse Gas</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/carbon" hreflang="en">Carbon</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Its official title is <a href="http://forestry.utoronto.ca/faculty-is-hosting-transformative-research-to-combat-climate-change-challenge-workshop/">Transformative Research to Combat Climate Change</a> but Professor <strong>Geoffrey Ozin</strong> dubs it 鈥渢he Woodstock of carbon dioxide鈥.</p> <p>On October 12, experts from around the world will gather at the University of Toronto for a cross-disciplinary look at one of the biggest challenges humanity faces. And they鈥檙e finding hope where many of us might not think to look: greenhouse gases.</p> <p>鈥淚 think you can call this the Woodstock of carbon dioxide in Ontario,鈥 says Ozin.</p> <p>A <a href="http://www.provost.utoronto.ca/awards/uprofessors.htm">University Professor </a>in the department of chemistry, Ozin&nbsp;will give a presentation entitled CO2 Chemistry and Engineering Solutions to Climate Change.</p> <h2><a href="http://forestry.utoronto.ca/faculty-is-hosting-transformative-research-to-combat-climate-change-challenge-workshop/">Learn more about the event</a></h2> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Possibly the most widely reviled compound on the planet thanks to&nbsp;its effect on the environment, carbon dioxide is seen by most people as nothing more than a byproduct of fossil&nbsp;fuel consumption. But Ozin is one of a number of scientists who look at the most famous of greenhouse gases as a potential source of energy.</p> <p>鈥淛ust as you recycle plastic, glass and paper, why not recycle carbon dioxide?鈥 Ozin asks.</p> <p>It won't happen overnight, Ozin says.&nbsp;At the core of the problem is the chemical stability of carbon dioxide. Energy must be applied to the molecule, preferably from renewable sources, to transform it into a fuel or product (manufacturing being a secondary aim of carbon-dioxide researchers).</p> <p>It鈥檚 a process that could be compared to photosynthesis, the natural process by which plants generate energy from carbon dioxide and water. And the&nbsp;parallel has made biochemists and even forestry experts part of the CO2 research endeavour.</p> <p>鈥淭here are many ways to tackle the climate change challenge, or, I would say, fight the climate change war,鈥 says Professor <strong>Mohini Sain</strong>, dean of the <a href="http://forestry.utoronto.ca/">Faculty of Forestry</a>, which is the host of the conference.</p> <p>鈥淭he Paris Agreement took two pathways: mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions and reduction of fossil-fuel consumption. What we are saying at the University of Toronto is that there are other ways of doing this.</p> <p>鈥淲e are bringing in a third paradigm: Use CO2 as a resource, just as we have used petroleum as a resource.鈥</p> <p>Ontario Minister of the Environment and Climate Control Glenn Murray is set to open the event at U of T's Faculty Club. Speakers include&nbsp;a nanochemistry authority from Penn State University; a representative of the National Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada (NSERC); and several alternative-energy company executives, as well as the director of alternative fuel platform management for Volvo trucks. Peter Styring, professor of chemical engineering and chemistry at the University of Sheffield and director of the UK Centre for Carbon Dioxide Utilization will deliver the plenary speech.</p> <p>Ozin says it makes sense for Ford Canada to sponsor a conference dedicated to finding alternatives to fossil fuels.&nbsp;</p> <p>鈥淐an you imagine the pressure that the automobile industry is under?鈥 he asks. 鈥淭hey put out 35 per cent of the emissions in the city.&nbsp;There are strict controls coming along. They have to figure them out. As do all the CO2 industries.鈥</p> <p>The CO2 economy is a complex subject in its own right and Ozin does not hesitate to&nbsp;use the modifier 鈥渦topian鈥 to describe his long-term thinking. But the basic goal is to turn CO2 into to a commodity with value.</p> <p>&nbsp;鈥淭he beauty is this,鈥 he says. 鈥淔ossil fuel will run out. Carbon dioxide will be recycled for the rest of time.鈥</p> <p>Sain foresees a cohort of young scientists occupying this research area, both in universities and in corporate research departments. He expects some will migrate from crowded fields where research is taking a traditional approach to the CO2 dilemma.</p> <p>鈥淲e want to make it happen,鈥 he says. 鈥淣ot only from the research point of view, but making a transition to demonstrating its viability.鈥</p> <p><em>(<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/isengardt/4567244435/in/photolist-7XAjDH-wS6HU-dv3juG-ysAd-3Qjz7-6bGh1-wS2w6-rykHgu-fcSEdx-wRYVA-mMeDtr-8ppGCt-cHooQL-bbFAeD-9M9WB6-djTP5-aRMuXc-aRMuZT-9uhdfy-bwAmwK-98WDQN-D8Th5-qQyZqs-4WipNG-6LHw9E-tEAtz-mMeCzn-6TJoKg-c1oop-DnK2Q-MChB-wS9xD-wRWJF-rnB3w5-5mqkCa-htPtFo-8Hy72a-wS45P-6vjrcq-4VdoFc-8qypYb-8s1qv2-WuSRx-4y4pbt-dnQV1k-dnUM3m-2mfdRz-8tsSmq-8tpQVD-Dz1EM">Visit flickr to see the original of the photo used above</a>)</em></p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Fri, 07 Oct 2016 19:40:47 +0000 lanthierj 101375 at