Science / Technology
USC Engineer to Lead Study on CO2 Storage
- Dongxiao Zhang works in the Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
- Photo/Jon Vidar
By Maxine Lym on August 25, 2009 1:55 PM
Stanford’s Global Climate and Energy Project has initiated an international collaboration with the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and two Chinese universities to address fundamental issues associated with large-scale sequestration of carbon dioxide in China’s saline aquifers.
A saline aquifer is a subsurface geologic formation which has certain characteristics that could allow it to store significant amounts of carbon dioxide. The Global Climate and Energy Project is awarding close to $2 million for the three-year program, which will use geological modeling, reservoir simulation and laboratory experiments to identify the best approaches to realizing this potential.
Dongxiao Zhang, a professor in the USC Viterbi School of Engineering’s Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, is directing the 39-member team of scientists, researchers and students from USC, Peking University and the China University of Geosciences at Wuhan.
Qingdong Cai, professor of mechanics and engineering science at Peking University, and Yilian Li, professor of environmental studies at Wuhan, are the co-directors of this effort.
“Through the generous support from (the Global Climate and Energy Project), this research is investigating the fundamental issues associated with carbon sequestration in Chinese saline aquifers,” said Zhang, who holds the USC Viterbi School’s Gordon S. Marshall Professorship in Engineering Technology. “We believe such understandings could help guide similar sequestration efforts worldwide.”
“China and the U.S. are the world’s largest emitters of carbon dioxide — and both rely heavily on coal to produce electricity,” said Sally Benson, director of the Global Climate and Energy Project. “We are very excited to support this unique collaboration between three outstanding research institutions in China and the U.S. that could advance technologies for providing reliable electricity supplies while reducing global carbon emissions.”
With the support and participation of four international companies (ExxonMobil, General Electric, Schlumberger and Toyota), the Global Climate and Energy Project explores the science that could lead to energy technologies that are efficient, environmentally benign and cost-effective when deployed on a large scale. The new effort brings the total number of Global Climate-supported research programs to 66, with funding of $87.4 million committed since the project’s launch in the fall of 2002.
“Spearheading this international collaboration among leading Chinese and U.S. researchers to study new potential avenues for carbon sequestration is a key milestone,” said Ashok Belani, chair of the Global Climate and Energy Project’s management committee and chief technology officer of Schlumberger Ltd.
TAGS: research
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The Chronicle of Higher Education mentioned USC’s $6 billion fundraising campaign. The story noted that USC had already raised $1 billion in a “quiet phase,” including the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College.
The Guardian (U.K.) highlighted two major gifts to USC in a list of the 10 biggest philanthropic benefactors in America. The list included the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College, and the $110 million gift from USC Trustee and USC Viterbi School alumnus John Mork and wife Julie to create the USC Mork Family Scholars Program.
The New York Times featured the USC U.S.-China Institute documentary “Assignment: China — The Week that Changed the World.” The documentary, part of a series, examines media coverage of the 1972 Nixon trip that reshaped U.S.-China relations after a quarter century of isolation and hostility. “People look back now and take it for granted that the outcome was preordained,” said the institute’s Mike Chinoy, who produced the documentary. Voice of America also featured the story.
Los Angeles Times featured the Oscar Senti-meter, a tool developed by the USC Annenberg School, Los Angeles Times and IBM that analyzes thousands of tweets about the Academy Awards nominees. The story noted that Mexican actor Demian Bechir received an enormous boost on Twitter the day of the nominations, with a total of 6,893 tweets mentioning him, a 47-fold increase from the day before. The story noted the tool uses language-recognition technology developed in collaboration with USC Viterbi School’s Signal Analysis and Interpretation Lab.
The Times of India (India) featured a three-day medical emergency training workshop organized in association with USC. At the workshop, held at GCS Medical College in India, 50 doctors and more than 100 paramedics learned how to improve emergency support systems. William Mallon of the Keck School of USC said that discussion topics included the use of portable ultrasonic devices to scan patients. “The ultrasound applications help physicians make accurate and timely decisions,” he noted. Daily News & Analysis (India) also featured the workshop.
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