Dow Sustainability Program

The US Studies Centre established the Dow Sustainability Program in February 2010 with a commitment of US$2,000,000 over three years from The Dow Chemical Company Foundation in the United States.

The Dow Sustainability Program brings together academic and policy experts from Australia and the US to develop action-oriented solutions to a range of sustainability challenges concerning energy, water, food and biodiversity that are technologically innovative, commercially scalable and politically viable.

The program is led by The Honourable Robert Hill, Adjunct Professor in Sustainability at the US Studies Centre, former Minister for the Environment and former Ambassador to the United Nations.

Dr Susan Pond AM, Adjunct Professor at the US Studies Centre and the first person to be appointed to the Sustainability Program, will focus initially on biosequestration and biofuels. The first project will assess the commercial potential and appropriate public policies regarding large scale algae farming.

Learn more about this project:

Growth horizons for sustainable aviation fuels by Dr Susan Pond (PDF)
2012 Pacific International Maritime conference: Sustainable Maritime Fuels forum
Australian Initiatives in Sustainable Aviation Fuels presented by Dr Susan Pond
Advanced Biofuels Markets Becoming Reality in the US presented by Dr Susan Pond at the 2011 Bioenergy Australia Annual Conference
Can Human Ingenuity Make Oil presented by Dr Susan Pond at TEDxDubbo
The Good Carbon Story presented by Ichsani Wheeler at TEDxDubbo
The Complexity Imperative For A Sustainable Food System presented by Professor John Crawford at TEDxDubbo
9/11: using biofuels to reduce American dependance on foreign oil
Avalon 2011: Alternative aviation fuels forum
"Advanced biofuels from micoalgae: A review of the industry in the USA and Australia" (PDF)
Systems Biology for Algal Biomass, Biofuels and Bioproducts Seminar

The Australia - United States Climate, Energy and Water Nexus Project (AUSCEW) is a three-year collaboration between the US Studies Centre and the Australian National University, which aims to identify the links between climate, energy and water policies to avoid perverse impacts and favour mutually beneficial solutions across sectors.

In association with the Institute of Sustainable Solutions and the Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources at the University of Sydney, the US Studies Centre will is developing strategies to combat soil degradation which is reducing agricultural productivity around the world and increasing carbon emissions. The Soil Carbon Initiative led by Andrea Koch, is focussed on how changes in agricultural practices and policy can lead to increased levels of carbon in soils. The Soil Carbon Summit hosted by the Centre in February 2011 determined that increasing and managing soil carbon will play a vital role in underpinning future food security, biodiversity and fresh water regulation as well as mitigating climate change. A follow up meeting is being held in Washington DC in September 2011 to bring this issue to the attention of US scientists and policy makers.

The Program will be advised by a group of international experts and will leverage the considerable academic resources in the agricultural, environmental, life and physical sciences of the University of Sydney and other universities in Australia and the US.