Universities researching here-and-now solutions to global warming stand the best chance of snagging part of the $100 million in grant money that's been offered up for the cause by The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (DDCF). Specifically, the foundation is most interested in funding research efforts that promise to encourage rapid deployment of existing clean-energy technologies, or spur the development of new technology breakthroughs.
|
Joe Dysart
|
About two-thirds of the funding will go to these 'here-and-now' solutions, which include research into pricing policies for greenhouse gas trade-offs. The remainder of the grant money is earmarked for solutions that will enable society to adapt to global warming and its impacts on agriculture, forest and freshwater resources, wildlife, public health, coastal management and emergency preparedness.
Foundation president Joan E. Spero cautions: "If we continue to build inefficient buildings and polluting power plants – large, infrastructure projects that will last for decades – we will lock ourselves into years of high carbon emissions. The good news is there are a number of pragmatic policy and technology solutions we can implement now to keep our options open for dealing with climate change in the future."
Much of the funding will go to universities, nonprofits and research institutions that will be hand-picked by the Foundation later this year, or invited by the Foundation to submit a competitive proposal. Any university or college may also submit its own unsolicited request for a share of the funding, which will be awarded over a five-year period. Proposals should take the form of a two-page letter describing how the institution's research will further the Foundation's own global warming research priorities. They should be sent to the Office of Grants Admission, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, 650 Fifth Avenue, 19th Floor, New York, NY 10019.
"Addressing climate change is a long-term proposition,' says Andrew Bowman, director of the Foundation's Climate Change Initiative. "The Foundation's goal is to keep us from losing the game in the first quarter so that we will still be in a position to win in the fourth quarter."
Joe Dysart is an internet speaker and business consultant based in Thousand Oaks, California. Reach him by e-mail at joe@joedysart.com