The Deconfinement of Sustainable Development. A Track Record in Research and Development

Whenever I am asked about science and sustainability, I instantly think about the country where I come from: Argentina. I recall the plethora of resources we are fortunate to have, and the equivalent quantity of missed opportunities to lean towards a more sustainable future. 

I graduated in 2014 as a Chemical Engineer at the National University of Mar del Plata, a city famous for its spectacular beaches. In 2016, thanks to a Fulbright scholarship I was able to get my Master at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), where I joined the Energy, Water, Environment, and Sustainability Program and discovered what was then to become my professional passion: water treatment processes. At UIUC, I realized for the first time, how research in environmental sciences is not limited to academia and intangible concepts, but rather seeks to have a real effect on people’s lives. I began to understand the food-energy-water nexus and their relationship with a country’s degree of development, and how access to these indispensable resources influences gender equality and education. It is the interdisciplinary nature and the possibility of materializing knowledge for the greater good that has led me to pursue a career in the water sector. Throughout my Master I worked in desalination and got acquainted with nutrient recovery projects. In my last year, I had the opportunity to join the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC), an applied research institution affiliated to UIUC, where I assisted in developing a forward osmosis process to treat wastewater in coal-fired power plants. My work consisted of scaling up unit operations and heavy metal handling.

In 2019 I moved to Spain, where I worked in research and development consulting on various topics, from carbon capture to plastics recycling. I collaborated with entities from all over the European Union to accomplish the Green Deal’s objectives, among which is achieving net zero emissions by 2050. Working with partners from the public and private sectors, I realized the severity of climate change and the intricacies of potential abatement strategies. In 2021, I decided to come back to the United States and to ISTC specifically, to apply all these concepts in technology development. I am currently managing a project which seeks to leverage a wastewater treatment technology for biofuel production using algae. Algae at the same time, are a promising alternative as a utilization method for captured CO2.

These experiences in my professional trajectory have allowed me to construct a broad vision of current societal/technological needs and strategies to address them. Every six months my sister would ask me what I do exactly, and I usually reply with a technicality I believe will satisfy her. That is evidently not the case since this is a recurring question I have been facing since I graduated. I believe there is no better way to describe my current job than with the phrase that introduced me to engineering: “solving problems.” It has been most gratifying for me to realize that my willingness to undertake more complex challenges grows with experience. I particularly hope to apply all the knowledge I have acquired in Argentina at some point, to assist in guaranteeing access to the previously mentioned fundamental resources: food, water, and energy. To illustrate the imminent need for solutions in these areas, only 56% of the Argentinian population has access to sanitation and when considering underprivileged neighborhoods the value goes down to 2.5% (DNAPS, n. d.).

One of the main differences I have been able to perceive between the USA and Argentina is that in the former, thanks to the socioeconomic situation of the middle classes in general, there is no sense of urgency, and decisions are made based on their mid-to-long-term impacts. This allows the middle-class population to adapt to a certain structure and plan their future ahead since although there is always a risk, the chances of failure are lower with careful planning. This concept is transferrable to the scientific spectrum, where having a vision of future needs allows to anticipate the demand for them. Personally, I find this extremely motivating since it enables me to predict potential areas of development in Argentina that by the time they get identified, they will likely require an immediate solution. Lack of planning ultimately translates into higher costs and unpredictability; the COVID-19 pandemic has been proof of the latter, the same scenario replicating in different parts of the world displaced in time.

What I find enthralling about science and innovation is the abundance of opportunities to apply knowledge. I find it particularly compelling to observe how scientific concepts translate into social impacts. In the water sector, topics such as nutrient and brine management, fouling and scaling control in membranes, mitigation and regulation of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), among others, are at the core of research efforts. Some of these matters can easily be related to human health, such as PFAS control; others, like membrane fouling, do not hold such a clear relationship. However, fouling or scaling reduces the lifetime of membranes and increases the costs of producing water: to obtain the same product more energy will be required, or likewise, using the same amount of energy less product will be obtained. When performing a life-cycle assessment on this process under these circumstances, its carbon footprint increases.

At the moment, there are several initiatives to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, to avoid the drastic consequences of climate change (European Comission, n. d.). Logically, more developed countries are investing the most in this area. What is paradoxical—and produces severe inequities—is that developed countries possess higher adaptability and lower response times when facing its consequences, whereas developing countries are more prone to suffer.

I could provide endless examples of how science and innovation in the water sector can impact several focus areas. However, I do consider that it is relevant to highlight how through collaboration and exchange of ideas, different objectives can be addressed by establishing common priorities. In my case, I believe the main benefit I get from working in this field is time to predict potential evolving situations in Argentina and evaluate what the best course of action would be. In the meantime, I learn and try to contribute to the greatest extent to the development of technologies that would drive our way of doing things for the next years. Every change requires an investment, so their implementation may not be easy; however, I do insist on evaluating the bigger picture whenever making decisions, for this will allow us to solve the problem as opposed to reducing it.

After COVID-19 pandemic, the terms might seem antithetical or may arouse opposing feelings, but this is not the case. I qualified sustainable development as “boundless” to emphasize the relevance of considering the big picture behind scientific developments. Not only because of the concatenated effects in technological, economic, and social areas but also due to their versatility to be applied in different settings facing different realities. To achieve this, I believe it is paramount to collaborate and exchange knowledge among the scientific community. These efforts promote equity and guarantee the continuity of proposed solutions: after all, removing from the atmosphere the 36.3 energy-related gigatons of CO2 emitted in 2021 (IEA, 2022) will require a bit more effort than just turning down the air conditioner

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