‘Critical climate solution’ or ‘worse than coal’? Study explores debate around divisive energy technology

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON

A new study has explored the battle lines of public debate around a controversial energy technology which is heralded as “critical to combating climate change” by its advocates and branded “worse than coal” by its critics.

“BE (BECCS) features heavily in the UK government’s plan to achieve a net-zero economy by 2050. But there is low public awareness of the technology, which has split the opinion of scientists, politicians, and media outlets.

BECCS generates energy by burning plants and trees and captures the resulting carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, storing them underground.

Now, research by the University of Southampton has analysed coverage of BECCS in 166 newspaper articles to identify the key storylines about the energy technology and understand whether it is likely to be accepted by people in the UK and beyond.

“With public understanding of BECCS so limited, the media has a crucial role in shaping debate and opinion on the technology,” says Caspar Donnison, Research Fellow in Biological Sciences at the University of Southampton and lead author of the research.

“We’ve seen in the fracking debate how competing storylines are used to influence social acceptance of a new technology, and ultimately whether it becomes part of the UK’s energy mix or not.”

The research published in Energy Research & Social Science identified eight key storylines. On the Pro-BECCS side were Necessary mitigation tool; Keeping the lights on; Anchor for transition; and Revolutionary technology. On the Anti-BECCS side were Worse than coal; Environmental disaster; No silver bullet; and Distraction.

“Sustainable biomass” to “level up the North”

The Necessary mitigation tool storyline was apparent in over half of the national and regional newspaper articles analysed. Drax Group has plans to operate the world’s largest BECCS facility at its power station in Yorkshire. Drax CEO Will Gardiner used this storyline more than any other individual. But it was also referenced by Government spokespeople, the UK Committee on Climate Change (CCC) and Microsoft, as well as being featured in IPCC scenarios. The Keeping the lights on storyline was less prevalent but gained traction following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Storylines focusing on opportunity (Anchor for transition and Revolutionary technology) were most prominent in Yorkshire’s local media. Local MPs referred to “closing the North-South divide” and Rishi Sunak MP described the Drax project as “transformative for the region’s economy”, shortly before becoming Prime Minister.  

“Drax’s proposals in Yorkshire have had a major influence on the UK debate, driving more articles from three regional newspapers than all the national coverage combined,” says Professor Gail Taylor, co-author of the paper and John B Orr Distinguished Professor of Environmental Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis. “The pro-BECCS coalition enjoyed greater dominance in local news media, where the necessity framing was complemented with the promise of socioeconomic benefits to the region.”

“Ecological disaster” and “magical thinking”

The Worse than coal storyline gained prominence following a BBC Panorama documentary on Drax’s supply chain and was featured in 34 articles – mostly in national newspapers. Environmental NGOs and others claim, with limited evidence, that biomass combustion results in similar CO2 emissions to coal, that this carbon may not be re-absorbed by replanting trees and that supply-chain emissions add to the carbon cost. 32 articles framed BECCS as an Environmental disaster, suggesting the land-use demand posed a risk to wildlife and food production.

Countering the Revolutionary technology narrative, 23 national newspaper articles (17 in the Guardian) suggested BECCS was No silver bullet, describing it as “too good to be true” and “not feasible” at the scale and timescale envisaged. A further 10 articles in the Guardian and Independent, largely attributed to NGOs, suggested it was a Distraction, acting as “a licence to keep emitting.”

“The UK government is relying on BECCS to help deliver their net-zero strategy but the battle for public opinion is far from won,” says Donnison. “Our research shows a targeted, limited deployment of BECCS using sustainably sourced biomass could have broad national appeal. But if public concerns aren’t addressed, the government will have to look to a fast-diminishing list of alternative technological and policy options.”

A net-zero storyline for success? News media analysis of the social legitimacy of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage in the United Kingdom is published in Energy Research & Social Science.

Ends

Contact

Steve Williams, Media Relations, University of Southampton press@soton.ac.uk or 023 8059 3212.

Notes for editors

1. A net-zero storyline for success? News media analysis of the social legitimacy of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage in the United Kingdom is published in Energy Research & Social Science
2. Video explainer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWY91ZfH7lE
3. For Interviews with Caspar Donnison, Research Fellow in Biological Sciences at the University of Southampton and Professor Gail Taylor, Distinguished Professor, Department of Plant Sciences, UC Davis, California please contact Steve Williams, Media Relations, University of Southampton press@soton.ac.uk or 023 8059 3212.

Additional information

The University of Southampton drives original thinking, turns knowledge into action and impact, and creates solutions to the world’s challenges. We are among the top 100 institutions globally (QS World University Rankings 2023). Our academics are leaders in their fields, forging links with high-profile international businesses and organisations, and inspiring a 22,000-strong community of exceptional students, from over 135 countries worldwide. Through our high-quality education, the University helps students on a journey of discovery to realise their potential and join our global network of over 200,000 alumni. www.southampton.ac.uk

www.southampton.ac.uk/news/contact-press-team.page

Follow us on twitter: https://twitter.com/UoSMedia

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JOURNAL

Energy Research & Social Science

DOI

10.1016/j.erss.2023.103153 

ARTICLE TITLE

A net-zero storyline for success? News media analysis of the social legitimacy of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage in the United Kingdom

Mandatory Covid vaccines for care home workers caused reduction in staff, new research finds

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM

New research by the University of Nottingham estimates that the care home sector in England was left with up to 19,000 fewer staff following mandatory Covid vaccines being brought in for workers in 2021.

The research, published in the journal Management Science, is the first piece of empirical evidence about the effects of compulsory Covid vaccination for care workers on take-up, staffing and mortality.

The experts found that the UK’s legal requirement for health and social care staff to be vaccinated against Covid-19 resulted in a three-to-four per cent reduction in staffing – equivalent to 14,000 to 19,000 employees in elderly care homes in England.

In the UK, the policy was announced on the 16th June 2021, with the final deadline for all workers needing to be double-jabbed by the 11th November 2021 - which has since been revoked (March 2022).

To track its impact, the Nottingham academics analysed weekly data from March 2021 to March 2022, at local authority level on the percentage of elderly care home workers who were unvaccinated, on numbers of care home staff and on Covid-19 related deaths amongst residents.

Throughout this period, but especially at the final November 2021 deadline, the academics found reductions both in the percentage of unvaccinated workers in elderly care homes and in staffing numbers. The percentage of care workers in England who were unvaccinated was about 16 per cent before the policy announcement, dropping to just 4 per cent after the final implementation in November.

By November 2021 there were between 28,000 and 41,000 fewer unvaccinated staff working in care homes in England than had the mandate not been in place. However, the experts observe that much of this effect came at the expense of staffing.

They estimate the mandate caused a net reduction in staffing in elderly care homes of between 14,000 and 19,000 employees, around 4 per cent of the total workforce. The academics say that, given that some unvaccinated staff will have been replaced by vaccinated staff, the total number of care workers who left their jobs because of the mandate was almost certainly much larger.  They also noted a big increase in reliance on agency (rather than directly employed) workers over the same period.

More recent data on staffing levels suggest that at least some of the impact on staffing persisted even after the mandate was lifted.  For example, by the start of June 2022, the total employed in elderly residential care was still about 2 per cent lower than just before the mandate was announced in the previous year.  Although this represented a recovery in staffing numbers from when the mandate was in operation, it was driven almost entirely by agency workers.

Although the English vaccine mandate ended in spring 2022, formal mandates and employer-based restrictions are still common in a number of countries including the US, Canada and Australia.

Professor David Paton, Professor of Industrial Economics in the Nottingham University Business School, said: “Our research suggests the vaccine mandate exacerbated the staffing crisis in care homes by driving unvaccinated workers out of the sector. Even worse, we find no evidence that the mandate saved any lives at all.”

“The results of our study raise significant questions about the of states or employers insisting on Vocid-19 vaccination as a condition of employment in the care sector.”

Professor Sourafel Girma, Professor of Industrial Economics in the School of Economics at the University of Nottingham, said: “The issue of Covid vaccination is particularly sensitive in the case of elderly care homes given the high vulnerability of residents to Covid-19.  At the same time, if a mandate results in care workers being sacked or choosing to leave their job, it may contribute to staffing difficulties. To date, policymakers concerned about this trade-off have had very limited empirical evidence on which to draw. Until now, there has been no attempt to use real world data to estimate the magnitude of any impact on uptake, staffing or mortality. Our research should help to inform politicians and managers in the care home sector about the value or otherwise of policies mandating vaccination for workers.”

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JOURNAL

Management Science

DOI

10.1287/mnsc.2023.4832 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Covid-19 Vaccines As a Condition of Employment: Impact on Uptake, Staffing, and Mortality in Elderly Care Homes

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

27-Jun-2023

Self-harm content is ‘rife’ online and more should be done to protect children, says trauma therapist

Book Announcement

TAYLOR & FRANCIS GROUP

Children are exposed to many types of online trauma including self-harm, a leading psychotherapist has warned, and they need the right support to make sense of what they are seeing.

Catherine Knibbs is a researcher and trauma therapist, who helped counsel survivors of the Manchester Arena terror attack.

In her new book, Online Harms and Cybertrauma, she argues that the amount of self-harm content available to children online is an urgent societal issue which needs to be addressed by parents, policymakers and educators.

Children online

One of her suggestions for schools and children’s services to provide information on self-harm to children in the same way they do with sex, drugs and alcohol. She suggests education programmes would help young people to make safer choices and could reduce deaths.

The author warns that children are being exposed to information ‘beyond their level of maturity’.

“We know that information about drugs and alcohol can result in more conscious decisions and safer choices,” says Knibbs, who is accredited by the UK Council for Psychotherapy.

“We have education packages in schools and youth settings giving out information about sex, drugs and alcohol. This is said to reduce medical interventions and lower the number of deaths.

“So why does this not exist for self-harm in the same way? We urgently need some of these support spaces for young people, whilst discouraging the imagery or detailed reports of how to self-harm being shared.”

Knibbs also argues that more effort should be made by the platforms themselves to discourage graphic imagery and sharing reports of self-harm.

These are among recommendations the clinical and academic researcher makes in her new book, which highlights the serious issues children face online including cyberbullying, stalking, and disinformation.

The book provides evidence-based information about online risks, anecdotes from young people Knibbs has counselled, and advice on how to support children.

Exposure to harms

So great is the concern around internet harms that some countries are introducing laws to increase protections. The UK government’s Online Safety bill – which is expected to become law this year – will require technology firms to alter their platforms including making them safe for children.

In her book, Knibbs references the death of Molly Russell who died from self-harm after viewing harmful social media content. Molly’s father and the then Children’s Commissioner called for such content to be removed.

However, she says this material is so ‘rife’ that to take action is more complicated than just issuing a directive to take it all down. Hence, her suggestion for schools to educate children to minimise the risks.

Viewing self-harm images can be regarded by children as a way of making sense of their feelings and to seek support. However, Knibbs says the reality is that this results in repeat trauma.

This is illustrated by her experience of working with the Manchester Arena attack survivors who revisited the attacks by watching online videos to make sense of the tragic event. She says: “Each time my clients watched this, it resulted in a re-experiencing of the event that re-traumatised them.”

Types of self-harm

Online Harms and Cyber Trauma highlights that self-harm can also occur in ‘slow’ forms such as influencers taking excessively-long ice baths, ‘roasting’ where people are the butt of jokes, and staying up late on technology devices.

Other online harms documented in the book include hoaxes where people are dared to take part in pranks. Knibbs reveals she warned a school about one challenge #necknomination which resulted in people drinking bleach, but the staff did not act.

The guide also focuses on neurodiverse children who are particularly vulnerable to and perpetrators of cyberbullying eg virtual ‘mobbing’. This is because they do not understand ‘the rules’ of interaction, according to Knibbs.

Denying children access to technology by holding their devices ‘to ransom’ is not the solution, she says. Knibbs says she introduced her children to computers before the age of five to ‘facilitate their learning and play environments’, and she believes instead, parents should educate them about their brain health.

In a separate book also published by Routledge, Knibbs deals specifically with the impact on children of sex-related dangers. Online grooming, sexting, revenge porn, and pornography are among the issues that she covers in Children and Sexual-Based Online Harms.

 

Further information

Online Harms and Cybertrauma: Legal and Harmful Issues with Children and Young People
By Catherine Knibbs 
Published 28 June 2023   
186 Pages     
Paperback: 9781032266428 | £24.99 GBP | $32.95 USD
Hardback: 9781032266411 | £130 GBP | $170 USD
eBook: 9781003289210 | £22.49 GBP | $29.65 USD

DOI: 10.4324/9781003289210

About the author
Catherine Knibbs is a clinical and academic researcher, a consultant in cyber trauma and online harms, director for Privacy4 Ltd, and a child and adult trauma psychotherapist accredited by the UK Council for Psychotherapy. She is also a TEDx speaker.

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DOI

10.4324/9781003289210 

Colin Powell School psychologist Eric Fertuck and colleagues identify neural signature for Borderline Personality Disorder

Peer-Reviewed Publication

CITY COLLEGE OF NEW YORK

A new study of a brain region called the rostro-medial prefrontal could potentially advance diagnosis and therapies for Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). Entitled “Rejection Distress Suppresses Medial Prefrontal Cortex in Borderline Personality Disorder,” the research appears in the journal Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging.  

Researchers from The City College of New York, Columbia University, and New York State Psychiatric Institute led by CCNY psychologist Eric A. Fertuck discovered that the rostro-medial prefrontal specifically becomes more active when people are rejected by others at greater rates.  However, individuals with BPD -- characterized by interpersonal sensitivity to rejection and emotional instability -- do not display rostro-medial prefrontal cortex activity when rejected. 

The brain reacts with rostro-medial prefrontal activity to rejection as if there is something “wrong” in the environment. This brain activity may activate an attempt to try to restore and maintain close social ties to survive and thrive. This region of the brain also is activated when humans try to understand other peoples’ behavior in light of their mental and emotional state.

“Inactivity in the rostro-medial prefrontal cortex during rejection may explain why those with BPD are more sensitive and more distressed by rejection. Understanding why individuals with this debilitating and high risk disorder experience emotional distress to rejection goes awry will help us develop more targeted therapies for BPD,” said Fertuck, associate professor in CCNY’s Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership, and the Graduate School, CUNY.  

On the significance of the study, Fertuck noted that while previous findings in this area have been mixed, “what we’ve done is improve the specificity and resolution of our rejection assessment, which improves on prior studies.” 

Research continues with several investigations underway examining the role of social rejection in different mental health problems including post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and social anxiety.

Fertuck heads the Social Neuroscience and Psychopathology (SNAP) lab in the Colin Powell School. The lab advances a collaborative program of research at the interface of the clinical understanding of Borderline Personality Disorder and related psychopathology, psychotherapy research, experimental psychopathology, and social neuroscience.
 

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JOURNAL

Biological Psychiatry Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Randomized controlled/clinical trial

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Rejection Distress Suppresses Medial Prefrontal Cortex in Borderline Personality Disorder,

UNC Gillings School plays lead role in new Lancet Commission on Evidence-Based Implementation in Global Health

A new Lancet Commission on Evidence-Based Implementation in Global Health, to be chaired by Dr. Herbert Peterson of the UNC Gillings School, aims to improve how health care interventions are put into practice around the world.

Reports and Proceedings

UNC GILLINGS SCHOOL OF GLOBAL PUBLIC HEALTH

June 27, 2023

The Lancet has announced a new Commissio on Evidence-Based Implementation in Global Health that aims to improve how life-saving and life-enhancing interventions are put into practice around the world, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health is playing a leading role in the Commission, serving as its Secretariat.

Advancements in science and technology have led to innovative health solutions that could help achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including the goal of health and well-being for all. But putting these interventions into practice equitably, sustainably and at scale is a huge challenge – one the new Commission strives to overcome through establishing the vision for evidence-based implementation in global health and developing a blueprint for achieving it.

In so doing, the Commission will strive to improve both the generation and the full and effective use of evidence for implementation. One approach the Commission will use is including the perspective of the implementers for whom the evidence is intended, including policymakers, program managers, front-line providers and funders. The Commission will work to assure that these implementers are involved in the generation and use of the evidence.

The new Commission will be chaired by Herbert Peterson, MD, the William R. Kenan, Jr. Distinguished Professor of maternal and child health and obstetrics and gynecology at UNC-Chapel Hill and director of the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center for Research Evidence for Sexual and Reproductive Health. His co-chairs are Joy E. Lawn, MBBS, PhD, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Queen Dube, MBBS, PhD, from the Ministry of Health of Malawi. Joumana Haidar, DBA, deputy director of the WHO Collaborating Center at the Gillings School, will serve as the lead for the Secretariat. The Commission will be supported by an advisory group of experts in global health implementation that will provide input from the perspectives of key stakeholders on the needs for evidence-based implementation, including how best to build and sustain a global movement to meet those needs.

“We have made great progress in using our best science to create life-saving and life-enhancing interventions and it is now time to do likewise for putting them into practice,” Peterson said.

The Commission’s priorities will include determining the current state of implementation evidence, the evidence that will be most helpful for improved implementation going forward, and how best to generate this evidence and support its full and effective use in practice.

“With this Commission, we have a wonderful opportunity to work toward achieving justice in implementation in global health. We will create a roadmap for building and applying the science needed to assure that our most promising health innovations reach all those they are intended to serve,” Peterson said.

The Commissioners of the Lancet Commission on Evidence-Based Implementation In Global Health are Hanan F. Abdul Rahim, Niveen M. E. Abu-Rmeileh, Richard M. K. Adanu, Ross C. Brownson, David A. Chambers, Peter Cherutich, Elwyn Chomba, Komatra Chuengsatiansup, Queen Dube, Cyril M Engmann, Dean L. Fixsen, Patricia J. Garcia, Lisa R. Hirschhorn, Joy E. Lawn, Susan Michie, Joanna C. Moullin, Per Nilsen, Sania Nishtar, Obinna Onwujekwe, David Peiris, David H. Peters, Herbert B. Peterson, Stefan S. Peterson, Shankar Prinja, Helen Rees, Barbara K. Rimer, Jo Rycroft-Malone, Peter Waiswa, Judith N. Wasserheit, and Dong Roman Xu.

Learn more about The Lancet’s Commission on Evidence-Based Implementation in Global Health in The Lancet Letter.

Comment pieces are written by experts in the field and represent their own views, rather than necessarily the views of The Lancet or any Lancet specialty journal. Unlike Articles containing original research, not all Comments are externally peer reviewed.

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Contact the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health communications team at sphcomm@unc.edu.

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JOURNAL

The Lancet

DOI

10.1016/S0140-6736(23)00870-X 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Commentary/editorial

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Achieving justice in implementation: the Lancet Commission on Evidence-Based Implementation in Global Health

Worm named after a comedian impacting spiny lobster reproduction and could threaten a lucrative fishery

Carcinonemertes conanobrieni could be contributing to decreased landings of the ecologically significant and commercially lucrative species.

Peer-Reviewed Publication

CLEMSON UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: THE SPINY LOBSTER IS AN ECOLOGICALLY SIGNIFICANT AND COMMERCIALLY LUCRATIVE SPECIES IN THE CARIBBEAN SEA AND THE GULF OF MEXICO. A WORM DISCOVERED BY A CLEMSON UNIVERSITY SCIENTIST IS AFFECTING ITS REPRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCE. view more 

CREDIT: CLEMSON UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF SCIENCE

A species of nemertean worm discovered by a Clemson University marine biologist five years ago affects the reproductive performance of Caribbean spiny lobsters, a critical species in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.

Antonio Baeza, an associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, discovered the new wormwhile researching parental behaviors of the spiny lobster Panulirus argus in the Florida Keys. Baeza good-naturedly named the worm Carcinonemertes conanobrieni after comedian Conan O’Brien because of its physical characteristics — long-bodied and pale with a slight tint of orange. 

The worm has been found off the coast of the Colombian and West Indies.

Caribbean spiny lobsters, which get their name from the forward-pointing spines that cover their bodies, live in the Atlantic Ocean’s tropical and subtropical waters as far north as North Carolina, as well as the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. They are one of the Caribbean’s most ecologically significant and commercially lucrative species.

Caribbean spiny lobster landings have decreased over the past decade. Scientists don’t know why, although they have identified several possibilities – overfishing, declining water quality, global climate change and environmental degradation. 

A new study published in the journal BMC Zoology shows the worm discovered by Baeza is likely a contributor, too.

Artisan fishers caught 90 egg-bearing spiny lobsters near Pueblo Viejo, Magdalena, Colombia, to determine whether C. conanobrieni affected embryo mortality, fecundity and reproductive output in brooding females.

Of the 90 lobsters, nearly 88% had either nemertean worms or worm cysts and egg masses.

Embryo mortality, indicated by empty capsules and dead embryos, ranged between 0% and 43.81% in infected gravid females. Embryo mortality was absent in non-infected gravid female lobsters.

Researchers also confirmed that the presence of the worm impacted reproductive output.

“The effect of the parasite varies from female to female. Some may be heavily affected; others may not. We don’t know why yet,” Baeza said. “We know the egg predator is affecting the population level, but we cannot say for how much of an effect yet, whether it will be bad or devastating because we don’t have that data yet.”

Carcinonemertes worms have been responsible for the collapse of crustacean fisheries on the west coast of North America.

Caribbean spiny lobsters are vital for the marine ecosystem because they are prey for many predators, including sharks, large fish such as grouper and snapper, turtles and octopuses. They are predators, too, and eat snails, crabs and clams. The clams are part of a different tropic chain, so when lobsters eat them, they link tropic networks and energy flow through the entire ecosystem.

“A whole industry and coastal communities along the entire Caribbean basin rely on this species,” Baeza said.

Baeza said if researchers can understand the prevalence of the egg predator and its effects, a modeling approach might predict future landings and inform those managing the fishery to minimize adverse effects.

In addition to Baeza, Clemson graduate student Natalie Stephens and researchers from Colombia and Chile contributed to the study. Their findings are detailed in the paper “The effect of the egg-predator Carcinonemertes conanobrieni (Nemertea) on the reproductive performance of the Caribbean spiny lobster Panulirus argus.”

 

 

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JOURNAL

BMC Zoology

DOI

10.1186/s40850-023-00165-w 

ARTICLE TITLE

The effect of the egg-predator Carcinonemertes conanobrieni on the reproductive performance of the Caribbean spiny lobster Panulirus argus

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

26-Jun-2023

Virginia Tech leads multi-institution research on polymeric solid fuel combustion

University partners will conduct experiments and develop computational models that detail how a variety of solid fuels will burn in various flow conditions.

Grant and Award Announcement

VIRGINIA TECH

 

IMAGE: MASTER’S STUDENT ETHAN SCHLUSSEL PREPARES A 2D OPTICALLY ACCESSIBLE CHAMBER ON A SOLID FUEL RAMJET RIG FOR EXPERIMENTAL TESTING AT THE ADVANCED PROPULSION AND POWER LABORATORY. THIS PARTICULAR EXPERIMENT IS LOOKING TO IMPROVE FLAME HOLDING CAPABILITIES OF A NUMBER OF SOLID FUEL SOURCES. view more 

CREDIT: PHOTO BY JAMA GREEN FOR VIRGINIA TECH.

Fascination surrounding spaceflight and rockets is at an all-time high. Sites near launchpads draw crowds of spectators, eager to witness the flash of fire and feel the vibrations as the rumble of the motor becomes a roar. People, squinting and craning their necks to watch the rocket hurtle out of sight, aren’t likely thinking about the science behind the propulsion that makes it all possible. 

What are the key elements that influence the combustion process? Are there advantages to utilizing solid propellants versus liquid? Simplicity, lower cost, and ease of storage and handling make solid fuel sources ideal for military and space applications. 

To advance the fundamental knowledge of how polymeric solid fuels combust, the Department of Defense (DOD) has awarded $7.5 million to a multi-university partnership as part of the agency’s Multidisciplinary University Research Initiatives program. 

The project, led by Virginia Tech over the next three years, will bring together leading researchers and engineers from Penn State, Georgia Tech, Iowa State University, Stanford University, University of California Riverside, and North Carolina State University to conduct experiments and develop computational models that detail how a variety of solid fuels will burn in various flow conditions.

Research on the combustion of polymeric solid fuels has a long history, but high-level studies have revealed fundamental gaps in the chemistry and physics needed to predict results for new polymeric solids and combustors. This research is being sponsored by the Office of Naval Research, as the data gathered is relevant to the U.S. Navy and can be applied to developing high speed and hypersonic vehicles.

“Our goal is to develop a unified understanding of solid fuel combustion for different fuels under a diverse set of flow conditions,” said Virginia Tech’s Gregory Young, the primary investigator leading the multi-institutional research effort. “Through detailed measurements and computations, we will have a better understanding of the fundamental processes. This knowledge will allow for the future development of revolutionary solid fuels that may operate in extreme conditions such as high speeds and altitudes.”  

Young, associate professor in the Kevin T. Crofton Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering, is a leading expert in energetic materials, combustion, and propulsion. His research over the past decade has focused on the development, characterization, and optimization of energetic materials and propellants, specifically for applications in pyrotechnics, rocket propulsion, and high speed air breathing systems such as ramjets and scramjets.

Solid fuel combustion is crucial to hypersonic and space-propulsion systems. Fuel types and flowfields influence the combustion process – specifically heat transfer, pyrolysis, condensed phase chemistry, mixing, and gas phase chemistry.

Using a coordinated multidisciplinary approach involving novel experimental, theoretical, and numerical techniques, the research team aims to unravel complex, highly coupled combustion behavior of solid fuels over a wide range of conditions. Researchers will then integrate the obtained knowledge into a unified and reliable model for solid fuel combustion.

Large scale experimentation will be conducted at research facilities at Virginia Tech and Penn State. At Virginia Tech, Young and his graduate students will investigate aspects of solid fuel combustion in both subsonic and supersonic flows at the Advanced Propulsion and Power Laboratory. The interdisciplinary research facility is equipped with several state-of-the-art experimental rigs and diagnostic instrumentation systems.

Data derived from this study will enable scientists and engineers to better understand the characteristics and behavior of physicochemical processes in solid fuel combustion. With the comprehensive knowledge on how specific fuels burn at higher altitudes and accelerated speeds, researchers will be able to utilize the model to make predictions for revolutionary solid fuel sources as they are developed. 

“These are complex issues, and we’ll be one of the first groups to tackle this problem in this level of detail,” said Young.

A community of subject matter experts

To expand the educational impact for students across institutions, the team will actively cross-train students among the various laboratories. For instance, Virginia Tech students will have the opportunity to travel to partner universities for hands-on experience with advanced diagnostics approaches, while students from other institutions will be able to participate in the large-scale experiments in Blacksburg.

Similarly, students will interact and cross-train on continuum modeling efforts and multiscale modeling improvements.

“This cross-training will be key in demonstrating the power of multidisciplinary research,” said Young. “We hope this experience will foster a collaborative relationship that the students can build upon as they enter the workforce together.” 

The research will also involve collaborators from government labs, such as the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory; U.S. Naval Surface Warfare Center, Indian Head Division; U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center, China Lake; and the Air Force Research Laboratory. With a goal of training the next generation of scientists and engineers to lead the aerodynamics, combustion, and energetics communities, the project will introduce students to internship opportunities at DOD laboratories and facilities.

The model developed and knowledge gained will enable the DOD to develop revolutionary solid fuels to operate under extreme conditions of altitude and combustor residence times. The modeling and diagnostic tools developed will improve future studies on fundamental and applied combustion, and the resulting kinetic models for solid fuels represent the initial framework for binder chemistry necessary to develop composite solid-propellant models.

Bigger bottles keep champagne bubbly for decades

Peer-Reviewed Publication

AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY

Tiny bubbles bursting in a drinker’s face and the bite of carbonation are all part of the experience when sipping champagne and sparkling wines. But how long can these drinks be stored in sealed bottles before they go flat? According to researchers reporting in ACS Omega, the answer depends on the container’s size. They estimate a 40-year shelf-life for 750-milliliter (25-ounce) bottles, and 82 and 132 years for 1.5-liter (50-ounce) and 3-liter (101-ounce) bottles, respectively.

Champagne and other sparkling wines get their bubbliness and tingly sensation from carbon dioxide, which is generated during a second round of fermentation that happens inside their bottles. Combining yeasts, sugar and wine launches the production of this gas and additional alcohol. Although the yeast die within a few months, complex aromas develop as the bottles age undisturbed for 15 months to several decades. But at the same time, the beverage is losing carbon dioxide, which is slowly escaping through the sealed metal caps or corks. So, Gérard Liger-Belair and colleagues wanted to answer the question: How does the size of the bottle influence how long you can age a champagne before it’s flat?

The researchers measured the carbon dioxide in different champagne vintages aged for multiple decades, and estimated the original amount of yeast-produced carbon dioxide. They found that the amount of gas inside the vessels, which were sealed with metal caps, decreased the longer the bottles aged. For example, the oldest vintage from 1974 lost the most carbonation, nearly 80%. Additionally, the team observed a correlation between the volume of a bottle and the carbon dioxide level, such that larger bottles retained gas substantially better than smaller ones.

In the end, the researchers developed a formula to calculate a bottle’s shelf life, or how long aged champagne would still spontaneously produce bubbles when poured in a glass. They predicted a shelf life of 40 years for standard 750-milliliter bottles, 82 years for 1.5-liter bottles and 132 years for 3-liter bottles, after which point the champagne would be flat. From their large selection of aged champagne, going back nearly 50 years, the researchers say they’ve shown how the drink’s bubbliness over time depends on the bottle’s size.

The authors acknowledge the contributions of samples from Champagne Castelnau. Some authors are employees at Champagne Castelnau and Pe-di, a manufacturer of stoppers for the wine industry.

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JOURNAL

ACS Omega

DOI

10.1021/acsomega.3c01812 

ARTICLE TITLE

“Losses of Yeast-Fermented Carbon Dioxide during Prolonged Champagne Aging: Yes, the Bottle Size Does Matter!”