Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability continues climate innovation despite federal setbacks

STANFORD, Calif. (KGO) -- This week, students and scientists at Stanford have been rolling out innovations waiting to be scaled up and potentially help solve the most urgent problems facing our planet.

But it comes at a time when science is facing new challenges of its own in a fast-changing political climate.

If you ask Arun Majumdar, who is inaugural dean of the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, the world has no shortage of challenges when it comes to creating a sustainable environment.

"I call this the 'human tsunami.' The earth has never seen anything like this before," said Majumdar, pointing to a population graphic while onstage at the Stanford Sustainability Accelerator Showcase.

MORE: Stanford researchers testing biochar to expand carbon removal potential

In broad terms, this includes everything from climate change to mass migration to the distribution of food and critical resources. But the program is designed to launch new innovations aimed at solving many of the Earth's most urgent challenges. And Majumdar is nothing, if not an optimistic, about the planet and Doerr's mission.

"I sleep very well at night, and that is because I believe in the people, the mission out here and the people in the innovation that is going on. Are there changes that are going on in the federal government? Yes, there are, but I think we have to give it some time," he said.

Still, the Accelerator Showcase and Doerr's work on sustainability itself come at a time when many believe climate science is under attack--with the Trump administration slashing agencies from the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration to the Environmental Protection Agency, and with universities, including Stanford, freezing hiring or making other budget moves in the face of growing uncertainty over federal funding.

But Majumdar also believes that climate science is now woven inextricably into our collective futures.

"The quality and security of people's lives and our planet the quality of our planet. So that is that gamut of things just transcends all the human experience," Majumdar said.

MORE: Scientists express growing concern over Trump administration targeting CA environmental laws

And the solutions being promoted by the accelerator are inspiring, starting with a cost-effective way of removing greenhouse gas using electricity and seawater.

"We actually have some right here. So you can see this powder would be our final product of what we captured," said researcher Isabela Rios Amador.

Or what if you could remove that CO2 with supercharged rocks? It's a concept Jade Marcus and her team showed off.

"When you think of concrete and cement, rocks are everywhere. They're quite abundant, they're cheap When you think about carbon removal, you need to think about all of the transportation that's going to be required and you need to think about so the scale," Marcus said.

MORE: Fired NOAA scientists detail how federal layoffs could impact NorCal coast 'for generations to come'

Or how about baking the carbon from plant waste into agricultural-friendly biochar as a mass scale? Postdoc researcher Divya Chalise believes the strategy is clearly scalable.

"If we can convert this plant waste in a really cost-effective way, into stable carbon, then every year we can draw at least that amount of carbon from plants into a stable form that doesn't go back in the air," Chalise said.

While the approaches are different, the common thread may just be the triumph of innovation over obstacles, whether natural or manmade. And it's an exponential force of Stanford researchers coming together from different disciplines to tackle the problem.

"The resources are a way to create a glue for people to come together, and that it's a long-term partnership that will cultivate people that change the fields of research," said Arun Majumdar.

And perhaps the future of our planet.