environment

Washington University in St. Louis is creating a new International Center for Advanced Renewable Energy and Sustainability (I-CARES) to encourage and coordinate university-wide and external collaborative research in the areas of renewable energy and sustainability — including biofuels, CO2 mitigation and coal-related issues. The university will invest more than $55 million in the initiative, according to Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton.

The International Center for Advanced Renewable Energy and Sustainability (I-CARES) at Washington University in St. Louis will be shaped and supported by advisory and steering committees comprised of both internal and external leaders, Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton announced.

The International Symposium on Energy and Environment, sponsored by the McDonnell International Scholars Academy, will bring prominent international university presidents to campus May 4-7, marking the first such gathering in the United States.

For the first time in the United States, the presidents of 12 premier universities from Asia and the Middle East will gather at Washington University in St. Louis May 4-7 to discuss ways their institutions are addressing global energy and environmental concerns. The International Symposium on Energy and Environment is sponsored by Washington University’s McDonnell International Scholars Academy.

Entrepreneurs with good business instincts and a sense of social responsibility will take their plans to the people this week at the second annual Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation Competition (SEIC). On Thursday, March 22nd at 6 p.m. sixteen semi-finalists will present their ideas for new social ventures in an “elevator pitch” first to a panel of judges and then to an audience of community members and students. Audience members will then vote on which pitch should win. The event takes place in the Lab Sciences auditorium on Washington University’s Danforth Campus, and is free and open to the public.

Photo courtesy R. K. Henning and D1 Oils; www.jatropha.orgJatropha plantsDuring a practicum for the World Agricultural Forum, Washington University M.B.A. students realized that using ethanol as an alternative fuel in developing countries isn’t cost effective. Instead, they stumbled upon the jatropha plant, a hardy shrub with seeds that can easily produce oil to power basic generators. The students’ work demonstrated the potential for economic stability that jatropha could offer small villages. More…

WarrenSpending by federal regulatory agencies is scheduled to decline when adjusted for inflation according to “Moderating Regulatory Growth: An Analysis of the U.S. Budget for Fiscal Years 2006 and 2007,” this year’s edition of the annual report on regulatory spending and staffing by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and the Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy at Washington University in St. Louis.

A simple way to conserve is to use compact fluorescent lightbulbs wherever possible.On June 5, mayors of some of the largest cities around the world took the historic step of signing the Urban Environmental Accords in San Francisco in recognition of United Nations World Environment Day 2005. The international treaty sets out 21 specific actions for sustainable urban living. The accords address seven environmental areas common to all the world’s large cities; including water, energy and waste. While the focus was on the mayors’ pledge to take specific actions toward making their cities greener, an environmental health and safety expert at Washington University in St. Louis says there are many things individuals can do in their own homes and offices to promote sustainable living.

In his talk, Murray Gell-Mann will look back to 1905 when Albert Einstein, an unknown scientist, published several papers, each with a revolutionary idea. He will examine Einstein’s creative thinking, how current cosmological discoveries relate to his work, and today’s efforts to find a unified theory of everything. Gell-Mann received the Nobel Prize in physics in 1969 for his discovery of the quark – the basic building block of all atomic nuclei throughout the universe.

Are you just about finished reading this issue of the Record? When you are, don’t throw it away — recycle it! Recycling keeps trash out of landfills, helps the environment and allows materials to be reused. The University’s Committee on Environmental Quality (CEQ) was restructured last academic year to better serve the WUSTL community and […]