Note: This seminar is being hosted by the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Title: Sustainable water and mineral resources: Development of new data and methods for evaluating costs and environmental effects

Abstract: Increasingly, technology and policy developers seek insights into which emerging technologies that can address societal challenges are most cost competitive and offer environmental advantages compared to baseline technologies. Multiple analysis tools can serve to answer these questions. They can often be used in concert to provide holistic insights to support decision making. This presentation will explore data and methods used in developing greenhouse gas inventories, life cycle assessments (attributional and consequential), and integrated assessment models. It will emphasize the application of these methods to address resource recovery from wastewater and expanding mining operations to satisfy growing minerals demands.

Bio: Jennifer Dunn is a professor of chemical and biological engineering at Northwestern. Her research group evaluates the sustainability and cost competitiveness of emerging energy, material, and water systems. She also leads the Midwest Nuclear Direct Air Capture Hub and the Sustainable, Resilient, Responsible Global Minerals Supply Chain. Dunn has served on two National Academies committees, contributing her expertise on life-cycle assessment for the evaluation of sustainable fuels and carbon capture and utilization technologies. Prior to coming to Northwestern, she worked in government, in consulting, and at Argonne National Laboratory. Dunn holds a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Michigan.