Jordan Kern

The Science and Technologies for Phosphorus Sustainability (STEPS) Center is a convergence research hub for addressing the fundamental challenges associated with phosphorus sustainability. The vision of STEPS is to develop new scientific and technological solutions to regulating, recovering and reusing phosphorus that can readily be adopted by society through fundamental research conducted by a broad, highly interdisciplinary team. Key outcomes include new atomic-level knowledge of phosphorus interactions with engineered and natural materials, new understanding of phosphorus mobility at industrial, farm, and landscape scales, and prioritization of best management practices and strategies drawn from diverse stakeholder perspectives. Ultimately, STEPS will provide new scientific understanding, enabling new technologies, and transformative improvements in phosphorus sustainability.

This proposed work will weave together new and existing knowledge about natural hazards, power systems, and financial/economic markets in order to explore interdependencies and feedbacks between the U.S. power sector������������������s efforts to manage extreme weather and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Research efforts will focus on developing a deep understanding of system dynamics in different testbeds distributed across the U.S. These testbeds will facilitate investigation of how regional differences in natural resources, climate, infrastructure, and human institutions shape interactions between extreme weather and decarbonization efforts. The unifying thread throughout, and the major research objective of this proposal, is the development and application of a systems analysis framework for resilient and robust management of weather risk in grids transitioning to renewable energy.

Collaboration between Colorado School of Mines, NC State, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Study will examine the probability of drought causing "dead pool" events at reservoirs in the Western United States (where water levels fall so low that hydropower production is impossible), and the impacts on the cost and reliability of bulk electric power system operations.

The responsibilities of Emergency Management agencies are extensive and constant, through four generally recognized phases: Mitigation, Preparedness, Response and Recovery. Energy assurance is only one of many key emergency support functions, and the availability of electricity during and after a disaster is a very important metric for community resilience. In this project the team will develop Energy Resiliency Metrics and a Playbook for Community Energy Resilience to guide Emergency Managers and their community to assess and implement assist energy resilience to mitigate the effects of energy loss during a disaster. The core of the playbook will be a framework for integrating enhanced community energy resilience in the planning and execution for each phase of emergency management. A primary focus will be the use of distributed energy resilience resources, such as solar photovoltaics (PV) and energy storage at several points levels of local disaster response ��� local critical infrastructure facilities, community outposts and low income housing. The team will develop and test a process for selecting facilities, assessing for economic feasibility, determining resilience benefits and developing the resilience resources. Finally, metrics for community energy resilience that are appropriate for use by emergency management at the local and state level will be developed. The NCCETC in collaboration with the State of NC Emergency Management, the NC State Energy Office, the Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA), the NC Justice Center and A Better Chance A Better Community will support several local government emergency management stakeholders and their communities including: - City of Asheville/Buncombe County Urban center in mountainous area; - City of Wilmington/New Hanover County; - Roanoke Rapids / Halifax County - Rural, inland area

This project will develop an improved understanding of the coupled dynamics among the natural processes that underpin drought and poor air quality, the human systems that manage water resources and electricity supply, and localized human exposure to fine particulate matter and ozone pollution, all under the influence of two anthropogenic drivers: technology adoption and climate change.