The University of Michigan is leading research, analyzing new technologies, and convening and expanding programs and partnerships around critical topics pertaining to sustainable business practices, environmental policy and climate action, and emerging economic trends.
From helping Michigan communities plan for renewable energy use to examining the broader discourse between climate change and national politics, U-M experts are assessing innovative environmental policies, business practices, and economic trends. Some of our key partnerships and initiatives include: the Erb Institute, the Center for Local, State and Urban Policy, and the Urban Collaboratory. Find U-M experts in sustainability and environmental science, across fields and academic units.
Reading about climate-induced immigration prompted negative, nativist attitudes among people toward the affected migrants—an unintended, perhaps even paradoxical effect of many delivering the original messages, according to researchers at U-M and elsewhere. The findings, the researchers say, raise cautionary flags for reporters, advocates and other communicators in their work related to forced migration caused by global climate change.
Engaging researchers from nine units across U-M and several other academic institutions, along with multisectoral partners, the projects will explore community solar, agrivoltaics, carbon-neutral building materials, aviation fuel waste reduction, and sustainable archeology.
Michigan is blessed with a significant portion of the world’s freshwater supply, but water quality and affordability have been persistent issues affecting households throughout the state. Because of the suburbanization of poverty, there are now more residents struggling to afford and access clean, safe water in suburban communities where there are also fewer social welfare institutions to meet their needs.
On the heels of the global chip shortage, U-M is part of a new public-private partnership that will establish a global semiconductor center of excellence in Michigan that focuses on the auto industry.
A new study evaluated the potential decarbonization of industry through the use of nuclear energy, specifically small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs). Researchers performed an analysis on individual facilities and grouped processes within them to quantify the technoeconomic potential when compared to existing fossil fuels. They also tested the economic benefits available if these facilities additionally sell electricity onto the wholesale power market as an additional revenue stream. Key findings of the paper are discussed below.
U-M has launched a report on the use of $300 million in “green bonds,” updated sustainability dashboards and building guidelines, and announced that it is the first university to join the First Movers Coalition, which aims to advance sustainable industrial technologies.
