Earth depends on balanced levels of greenhouse gases for our warm climate, averaging 59^oF, to sustain plant and animal life. Since the Industrial Revolution, burning of fossil fuels for energy has resulted in the excessive accumulation of atmospheric gases such as CO₂, raising the temperature of the planet.

Greenhouse gas levels are the highest ever recorded and continue to rise as worldwide energy use is projected to double in the next 10 years. Flue gas is the smoky exhaust from a furnace, boiler or generator and, on a larger scale, the gas that results from combustion at power plants. A major portion of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions (approximately 33%) are attributable to the flue gas resulting from electricity generation by utilities.

While most research into electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide has relied on pure gas feedstocks, CO₂ is more dilute in flue gas at typically less than 20%. The Conn Center project will pursue the development of a stable and efficient method to convert the CO₂ directly from a power plant exhaust stream, which would aid in making the overall process more cost-effective.

Flue gas contaminants can degrade the performance of an electrolysis reactor, making the direct electrochemical conversion of flue gas CO₂ a challenging prospect. The UofL team is working on novel molecular catalysts to guide the selectivity of the reaction within a new high-performance reactor designed for use with both water and organic solvent.

The major challenge of utilizing flue gas CO₂ to produce carbon-based chemicals is to create technology that is efficient, economical and achievable at a commercial scale. Meeting these three criteria would provide an economic incentive for industry by adding value to their waste instead of emitting it to the atmosphere.

These power plant emissions will be processed to convert CO₂ to useful products, including those where the single carbon atoms in CO₂ are combined to form larger compounds with two to four carbon atoms. Such products include formic acid, ethanol and methyl formate, all of which are currently produced using fossil fuels.

The research team is led by Joshua Spurgeon, Ph.D., theme leader for Solar Fuels at the Conn Center for Renewable Energy Research in the , and UofL chemistry professor Craig Grapperhaus, Ph.D., in conjunction with the University of North Dakota’s Institute for Energy Studies. This research has been funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL). Funding of $1.25 million over two years was secured by Spurgeon and Grapperhaus to conduct the research, which has enabled the recruitment of several graduate students and postdoctoral scholars and will include research opportunities for undergraduate students.

The partnership also includes an alumnus of the University of Louisville Speed School. Nolan Theaker, one of Spurgeon’s previous undergraduate researchers, is now a Ph.D. student at the University of North Dakota and a research engineer with the Institute for Energy Studies. Theaker will lead the effort at UND to develop methods to process the flue gas for stable and efficient operation in the electrolyzer. This partnership includes Minnkota Power Cooperative, which will provide access to its coal-based post-combustion flue gas and analysis capabilities.

Spurgeon and Grapperhaus designed this project based on their from similar research on electrochemical conversion of CO₂, including Spurgeon’s work on electrochemical CO₂ reactors and Grapperhaus’s work on molecular catalysts, which bind CO₂ and assist the conversion. In the new effort, they will pursue a high-performance reactor design capable of meeting the metrics necessary for a commercially viable process. This includes achieving much higher operating current densities, similar to water-based electrolyzers, than typical laboratory measurements and very high selectivity (~90%) for the desired chemical products.

“Electrochemical reduction of CO₂ allows for renewable energy-driven production of chemicals and fuels in a distributed and modular fashion,” said Mahendra Sunkara, director at Conn Center. “Conn Center is looking towards the development of a CO₂ electrolyzer in the next five years.”

Aruni Bhatnagar, PhD, director of the at UofL, will discuss the research, the , at the next Beer with a Scientist event on March 14.

“No one knows whether and to what extent trees and neighborhood greenery affect human health and why,” Bhatnagar said. “This work will tell us how to design a neighborhood that supports human health and whether an increase in the urban greenspaces and vegetation could enhance physical and mental health by decreasing the levels of ambient air pollution.”

The Green Heart Project is a collaboration of UofL, The Nature Conservancy, Hyphae Design Laboratory, the Institute for Healthy Air Water and Soil, the U.S. Forest Service and the City of Louisville. The goal of the project is to assess how residential greenness and neighborhood greenspaces affect the health of our communities by decreasing the levels of pollution and promoting physical activity and social cohesion.

The talk begins at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, March 14, at Against the Grain Brewery, 401 E. Main St. in Louisville. A 30-minute presentation will be followed by an informal Q&A session.

Admission is free. Purchase of beer, other beverages or menu items is not required but is encouraged.

At the next Beer with a Scientist, April 18, Deborah Yoder-Himes, PhD, will discuss super bacteria, antibiotic resistance and why everything is labeled “anti-bacterial.”

UofL Physiology Professor Alex Carll says the goal is to, “reduce air pollution levels and therefore, ideally, see improved health.”

UofL, The Nature Conservancy, Hyphae Design Laboratory and the Institute for Healthy Air Water and Soil are collaborating on the Green Heart Project. They planted more than 100 trees in St. Mary Margaret’s front lawn with the idea that the trees could filter out heavy traffic pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide and nitric oxide. Previous research has connected high levels of pollution to the risk of cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses. 

UofL is monitoring the air as well as the health of both students and staff with preliminary results showing improvements in all areas. 

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“These findings suggest that living in a polluted environment could promote the development of high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke more pervasively and at an earlier stage than previously thought,” said Aruni Bhatnagar, PhD, study co-author and the at the University of Louisville. “Although we have known for some time that air pollution can trigger heart attacks or strokes in susceptible, high-risk individuals, the finding that it could also affect even seemingly healthy individuals suggests that increased levels of air pollution are of concern to all of us, not just the sick or the elderly.”

“These results substantially expand our understanding about how air pollution contributes to cardiovascular disease by showing that exposure is associated with a cascade of adverse effects,” said C. Arden Pope, PhD, study lead author and Mary Lou Fulton Professor of Economics at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.

is known to contribute to cardiovascular disease and related deaths. In 2004, the American Heart Association released a , updated in 2010, warning of the risk and recommending that people talk to their doctor about avoiding exposure to air pollution specific to their area. What remained unclear, however, was how air pollution actually affects the blood vessels to increase the risk of disease.

For this study, investigators analyzed the component of air pollution known as fine particulate matter — the tiny pieces of solid or liquid pollution emitted from motor vehicles, factories, power plants, fires and smoking. They found that periodic exposure to fine particulate matter was associated with several abnormal changes in the blood that are markers for cardiovascular disease. As air pollution rose, they found:

• Small, micro-particles indicating cell injury and death significantly increased in number;
• Levels of proteins that inhibit blood vessel growth increased; and
• Proteins that signify blood-vessel inflammation also showed significant increases.

Study participants included 72 healthy, nonsmoking adults in Provo, Utah. Their average age was 23, most were white and more than half were male. During the winters of 2013, 2014 and 2015, participants provided blood samples, which researchers then tested for markers of cardiovascular disease. Due to the unique weather and geographical features of Provo, they were able to evaluate these informative blood markers with various levels of air pollution.

However, researchers noted that the third study year, 2015, was relatively unpolluted, which could have affected the results.

The other co-authors from the study were also from UofL and include: James P. McCracken, PhD; Wesley Abplanalp, PhD; Daniel J. Conklin, PhD; and Timothy O’Toole, PhD. The National Institutes of Health funded the study.

St. Margaret Mary School, 7813 Shelbyville Road, is the new site of an experiment designed to use trees and shrubs to create a living filter for roadway air pollution. The project will be a model for metro-wide “greening” projects that use our environment to improve health.

The Louisville Green for Good project is a collaboration among the Diabetes and Obesity Center at the , and the City of Louisville’s

The current levels of air pollution at the school will be measured and then half of the school’s front yard will be filled with a green buffer of shrubs, deciduous trees and pines. Then the team will measure air pollution levels a second time. The goal is to test the idea that a greener neighborhood is a healthier neighborhood.

“This project has the potential to improve the health of nearby students and residents for years to come by improving local air quality,” said Aruni Bhatnagar, PhD, the and director of the University of Louisville . “St. Margaret Mary was chosen due to its location which is close to a high traffic roadway. The school also includes a spacious lawn that allows for the addition of foliage, which will act as an air-cleansing barrier between the school and the street.”

said, “I am committed to helping Louisville become a greener and healthier place to live – and, I’m a data guy. So I’m excited that this project will provide the data we need to move forward on our sustainability goals for the city.”

Principal Wendy Sims said she is excited about this project for the parish, school and community. 

“In his ,’ Our Holy Father Pope Francis reminds us that ‘we must regain the conviction that we need one another, that we have a shared responsibility for others and for the world, and that being good and decent are worth it … social love moves us to devise larger strategies to halt environmental degradation and to encourage a “culture of care” which permeates all of society’,” Sims said. “This project is a wonderful lesson for our students, faculty, and parents about how to foster such a culture of care, now and for future generations.”

Air monitoring will start this summer. The trees and shrubs will arrive in October with a second round of air monitoring taking place later this year. Students will participate in the monitoring work.

In addition to tracking certain pollutants, the project team will collect data on traffic and weather.

The project includes ecology experts from around the country with deep understanding of air pollution and the power of plants.

Funding comes from the

The research effort is a project of the Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities. The grant was matched with $50,000 from the Owsley Brown Charitable Foundation and $25,000 from an anonymous donor in Louisville. The Institute for Healthy Air, Water, and Soil received the funds and will be managing the project.