Clemson gets EPA Grant to Study Carbon Sequestration

02/25/2010: Clemson University, University of North Carolina At Chapel Hill and Georgia Institute of Technology receive Grants to Support Research on the Impacts of Climate Change

(ATLANTA – February 25, 2010) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded nearly $17 million in Science to Achieve Results (STAR) grants to universities across the country to study the consequences of climate change on the air we breathe and the water we drink. Three universities in the southeast, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Georgia Institute of Technology and Clemson University, are among the twenty-five universities in the nation to receive the STAR grants.

“EPA is engaging the academic research community, through these grants, to enable solutions that will both adapt to and mitigate the impact of climate change,” said Dr. Paul T. Anastas, assistant administrator for the Office of Research and Development.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was awarded $300,000 and Georgia Institute of Technology was awarded $599,963 to research climate change as it relates to air quality. Each university’s research will ultimately help to determine how weather variability, land use decisions, and industrial technology could impact ozone and fine particle pollution over the next 40 years. Findings will support the formation of new air quality management systems that effectively account for climate change and mitigation strategies for air quality.

Clemson University was awarded $891,342 for climate change and carbon sequestration research. Researchers will investigate safe and effective ways to store and sequester carbon. This research will help determine if injecting carbon dioxide (CO₂) deep into the ground threatens the environment and underground water resources.

EPA brings leading-edge science to assess the consequences of climate change on human health, ecosystems, and social well being. One of the agency’s goals is to develop information and tools to make assessments on the overall impact of climate change.

More information about the grants and the grant awardees: http://www.epa.gov/ncer/climate