Civil and environmental engineer Greeshma Gadikota has long been fascinated by the intersection of energy and the environment – and a believer, she said, that you can’t have your cake and eat it, too. “We’re starting to realize the impacts of unabated fossil energy consumption,” Gadikota said. “It’s led to tremendous economic development and growth, but we have to be very intentional about managing the impacts.” Research by Gadikota’s Sustainable Energy and Resource Recovery Group is advancing carbon capture and sequestration technologies. One that could be used to prevent emissions from power plant or steel factory flues would use solvents to trap carbon dioxide in a liquid phase – like fizz in a pressurized soda can, minus the pressure – then convert it into a durable solid. “We’ve simulated it in the lab, we know it works,” she said. “Now we have to do it with the real thing.”