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ORAU receives National Science Foundation grant to study greenhouse gases in Arctic

Posted at 2:01 pm February 5, 2021
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Praveena Krishnan

The National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs has awarded ORAU a collaborative research grant to study greenhouse gas emissions in the Arctic. The award is valued at $581,829.

The grant will be used to study local and regional emissions of isotopes of methane and carbon dioxide. Methane and carbon dioxide are two greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases can help raise the Earth’s temperature, changing the climate and causing other significant changes. (Isotopes are different forms of an element that have equal numbers of protons but different numbers of neutrons in their nuclei.)

In a press release, ORAU said carbon stored in permafrost is increasingly vulnerable to thaw and decomposition by microbes as northern latitudes such as the Arctic continue to warm.

“This decomposition has the potential to lead to large increases in methane and carbon dioxide emissions, both important greenhouse gases,” ORAU said. “Accurate and reliable forecasts of greenhouse gas emissions are critical for the improvement of global models that predict changes to temperature and sea level.”

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Federal, Front Page News, Government, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: Arctic, Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division, carbon dioxide, greenhouse gases, methane, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Science Foundation, net flux, NSF, ORAU, Praveena Krishnan, research grant

Roane State graduate doing climate change research at ORNL

Posted at 10:15 am January 27, 2020
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Rachel Andrews, a graduate of Roane State, is shown in an Oak Ridge National Laboratory lab getting serum bottles ready for an incubation experiment. (Photo courtesy Lynn Freeny/U.S. Department of Energy)

By Bob Fowler, Roane State staff writer

A recent Roane State Community College graduate is researching climate change and the microorganisms that contribute to it.

Rachel Andrews, a Morgan County resident who graduated from the community college in May 2019, is an intern at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. She’s doing research with Christopher Schadt in the Biosciences Division at the lab.

They are investigating methane production in peat, which is formed by the partial decomposition of plants in wet, acidic conditions of bogs. Scientists say methane gas is one of the major contributors to a warming planet.

“We study the methanogens that live in peatland soil,” Andrews said in an emailed response to questions about her research. She said these microorganisms produce quite a bit of methane and carbon dioxide, also identified as a culprit in climate change.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: College, Education, Front Page News, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: Biosciences Division, Christopher Schadt, climate change, methane, methane production, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Office of Science, ORNL, peat, Rachel Andrews, Roane State Community College, U.S. Department of Energy

DOE event marks beginning of landmark ecosystem experiment

Posted at 11:56 pm August 31, 2015
By Oak Ridge National Laboratory Leave a Comment

Carbon Dioxide Test Chambers

By controlling the temperature and the amount of carbon dioxide in the test chambers, scientists hope to learn how microbial communities, moss populations, various higher plant types, and some insect groups respond. (Photo by ORNL)

 

GRAND RAPIDS, Minn.—Scientists are getting a glimpse of the future with a U.S. Department of Energy large-scale experiment designed to answer questions about how carbon-rich peatlands will respond to projected warming of the climate and increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide.

SPRUCE, which stands for Spruce and Peatland Responses Under Climatic and Environmental Change, was launched Wednesday, August 26, at the experiment site about 25 miles north of Grand Rapids. Among those attending the ceremony were Gary Geernaert and Daniel Stover of DOE’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research; Thomas Schmidt, assistant director for research, U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service Northern Research Station; and Martin Keller, associate laboratory director of Energy and Environmental Sciences at DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.

The site consists of about seven acres of raised bog in the peatlands of the Chippewa National Forest. The natural spruce bog in northern Minnesota contains more than 10,000 years of carbon accumulated from peatlands and answers to questions related to the predicted warming of ecosystems. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: atmospheric carbon dioxide, carbon dioxide, carbon-rich peatlands, Chippewa National Forest, climate, Climate Change Science Institute, Daniel Stover, DOE, ecosystem, ecosystem experiment, Energy and Environmental Sciences, Environmental Sciences Division, Forest Service, Forest Service Northern Research Station, Gary Geernaert, Marcell Experiment Station, Martin Keller, methane, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Reservation, Office of Biological and Environmental Research, Office of Science, ORNL, Paul Hanson, peatlands, Randy Kolka, SPRUCE, Spruce and Peatland Responses Under Climatic and Environmental Change, spruce bog, Thomas Schmidt, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Energy, UT-Battelle

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Classifieds

Public Notice: Comment period extended for Draft EA for Lithium Processing Facility at Y-12

EXTENSION OF THE COMMENT PERIOD FOR THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE LITHIUM PROCESSING … [Read More...]

Public Notice: Draft Environmental Assessment Available for Lithium Production Facility at Y-12

AVAILABILITY OF THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE LITHIUM PROCESSING FACILITY AT THE Y-12 … [Read More...]

Availability of the Final Environmental Assessment for the Oak Ridge Enhanced Technology and Training Center (ORETTC) (DOE/EA-2144), Finding of No Significant Impact, and Wetland Statement of Findings

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announces the … [Read More...]

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