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The collaboration supports research on energy resiliency for extremely cold regions.
Dartmouth's Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy and Society and Thayer School of Engineering will collaborate with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) to assess ways to improve energy services, delivery, storage, and mobility for military bases in the Arctic.
The project's principal investigator is Professor of Environmental Studies Elizabeth Wilson, director of the Irving Institute. Co-investigators are associate professors of engineering Amro Farid and Jifeng Liu, and Weiyang Li, the William P. Harris Career Development Assistant Professor of Engineering.
"CRREL is ramping up in the energy engineering space, and Dartmouth is ramping up in the energy space. So this is a natural relationship that we really hope to foster and grow over the next couple of decades," says Wilson. "This collaboration builds on Dartmouth's historic strength in the Arctic as we work to develop our focus on the area of cold regions energy systems. This broad collaboration will make Dartmouth stronger."
The Army needs to perform and extend its mission in the Arctic as that region gains international attention for its resources and strategic position, according to the CRREL project description. Energy delivery is central to cold weather operations and must be tackled at the system and technology levels, CRREL writes.
Wilson says this expansion of the College's long-standing research relationship with CRREL "highlights how the Irving Institute can really draw on Dartmouth's strengths to address energy and societal considerations in critical new contexts."
Thayer Dean Alexis Abramson, who is a professor of engineering, says the faculty researchers involved in the project are working at the cutting edge of energy research to solve the technical challenges of creating robust power delivery systems to operate in extremely cold conditions.
"This is an incredible opportunity for Dartmouth engineers to catalyze energy solutions for the Arctic with far-reaching applications beyond the military," says Abramson. "The solutions we develop in collaboration with CRREL and the Irving Institute have the potential to provide communities in these cold regions, where we are seeing the most alarming impacts of climate change, with energy storage solutions and efficient power delivery systems that help them contend with and curb the effects of global warming."
U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), as a senior member of the Senate Appropriations and Armed Services Committees, helped facilitate funding of the work.
"I'm very pleased to see the Irving Institute at Dartmouth be selected for such an important research opportunity, continuing New Hampshire's legacy as a leader in scientific innovation and discovery," said Shaheen. "As our climate continues to change and more areas such as the Arctic become accessible, it's critical that we have the information necessary to adapt and respond, especially when it comes to safeguarding our military installations and ensuring they can meet their energy needs."
The project's objective is to extend the Army's mission capabilities by up to 30 percent while testing new technologies that will lead to the next generation of energy-delivery and storage systems for extremely cold regions.
The overall project comprises three sub-projects, which will be executed simultaneously and led by Thayer faculty:
William Platt can be reached at william.c.platt@dartmouth.edu.