The Discovery Partners Institute, part of the University of Illinois System, has been awarded $5 million from the National Science Foundation (NSF) simultaneous to a £5 million grant by the UK Research and Innovation Engineering and Physical Sciences Council to the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom to establish the NSF-led Global Center for Clean Energy and Equitable Transportation Solutions (CLEETS). CLEETS will bring together eminent climate, energy, data science, and transportation experts to search for ways to reduce carbon emissions in road transportation.
The NSF-UKRI partnership for the CLEETS Global Center aims to accelerate equitable, use-inspired decarbonized road transportation pathways — meaning, fair and useful alternatives to current high carbon options — by engaging government, the private sector, and communities in collective research, education, and problem-solving for transitions to clean energy. The insights gleaned from this work will be designed to inform local and international policy decision-making and contribute directly to carbon neutrality goals. Road transportation is essential to many societal interests and the global economy. However, it is still largely powered by fossil fuels, which are a key source of pollutants and carbon emissions impacting public health and the climate. The transportation sector accounts for over one-fifth of global CO2 emissions, and three-quarters of these emissions originate from road transport. Continue to the full press release.
Greenleaf is proud to partner with DPI and CLEETS to bridge partnerships with our network around clean energy, climate change, transportation, real estate, and land use planning. We are excited to share the learnings from the CLEETS Global Center to provide best practices that can be implemented in the Great Lakes region, in particular to underserved and disadvantaged communities who are disproportionately affected by climate change and air pollution. This toolkit will help us communicate with EJ communities and policymakers with evidence-based information on environmental and climate justice issues.
CLEETS Test Beds