Experts on Transportation, Energy and Air Quality

Experts on Transportation, Energy and Air Quality

January 18, 2007

The following UC Davis faculty members are available to speak on topics related to California's new initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks, and air pollution and human health.

Experts drafting the state Low Carbon Fuel Standard

Cleaner and alternative fuels

Biomass in California's energy future

Power systems for hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles

Hydrogen fuel production

Clean auto fuels and technologies

Using existing energy supplies better

Turning garbage into biogas

Air quality

Air pollution, climate and health

Air pollution and lung health

Infrastructure, planning and behavior

Transportation infrastructure and air quality

Transportation planning and policy

Travel behavior

Context: media, geology and economics

What the public is hearing

Oil geology and future finds

Economics of transportation

EXPERTS DRAFTING THE STATE LOW CARBON FUEL STANDARD -- The plan to help California reduce oil imports, reduce greenhouse gases and boost investments in alternative fuels will be written by four UC researchers, including three from UC Davis. "This very innovative and very important new policy will be a model for the rest of the world," says UC Davis' Dan Sperling, the project co-director and an international authority on research and development in advanced transportation fuels and fuel technology. Sperling directs the UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies. Joining Sperling to design the state plan during the next three months are Bryan Jenkins, an expert in converting biomass to energy and leader of the Bioenergy Research Group at UC Davis, and Joan Ogden, a UC Davis professor of environmental science and policy and the co-director of the ITS-Davis Sustainable Transportation Energy Pathways Program. Also: Alex Farrell, JointCenter for Transportation Sustainability Research, UC Berkeley. Contacts: Dan Sperling, Institute of Transportation Studies, (530) 752-7434, ; Bryan Jenkins, California Biomass Collaborative, (530) 752-1422, ; and Joan Ogden, Institute for Transportation Studies, (530) 752-2768, .

CLEANER AND ALTERNATIVE FUELS

BIOMASS IN CALIFORNIA'S ENERGY FUTURE -- In November, the California Biomass Collaborative, based at UC Davis, gave the California Energy Commission a draft plan for greatly increasing biofuels production and the generation of electricity from biomass. California Biomass Collaborative director Bryan Jenkins is a UC Davis professor of biological and agricultural engineering, and the director of the UC Davis Bioenergy Research Group. Jenkins can discuss what biomass is (such as forest trimmings, rice straw, tree prunings, animal manures and urban waste), how it can be used to produce renewable fuels (ethanol, methanol, hydrogen, biodiesel, syngas, synfuels and biomethane) and basic materials for products (plastics, solvents, inks and construction materials), and how it can be employed to help meet state goals (expand renewable energy, reduce petroleum dependency, provide economic development and improve environmental quality). Contact: Bryan Jenkins, California Biomass Collaborative, (530) 752-1422, .

POWER SYSTEMS FOR HYBRID AND FUEL-CELL VEHICLES -- Andrew Burke, a research engineer with the UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS-Davis), has 30 years of experience studying electric- and hybrid-vehicle design and analysis in industry (General Electric), government (Idaho National Engineering Laboratory) and academia (Union College and UC Davis). At UC Davis, Burke directs the Advanced Vehicle Power Systems Laboratory, and conducts research and teaches graduate courses on advanced electric driveline technologies, specializing in batteries, ultracapacitors, fuel cells and hybrid-vehicle design. Contact: Andrew Burke, ITS-Davis, (530) 752-9812, .

HYDROGEN FUEL PRODUCTION -- Paul Erickson, UC Davis assistant professor of mechanical and aeronautical engineering, studies the production and use of hydrogen for fuel-cell systems, including fuel-cell vehicles. Fuels such as methanol, gasoline, diesel and coal could be carried on a vehicle and processed to produce hydrogen using an on-board reformation process. He is also working on production of hydrogen from renewable sources such as ethanol, and hybrid vehicles with internal combustion and electric motors. Contact: Paul Erickson, Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering, (530) 752-5360, .

CLEAN AUTO FUELS AND TECHNOLOGIES -- Gov. Schwarzenegger launched the state's Hydrogen Highways program at UC Davis in 2004 because of its Institute of Transportation Studies and the institute's international leadership in research, teaching and public education that focus on clean vehicle fuels, technologies and policy. Experts on hydrogen systems, including institute director Daniel Sperling, are listed online. Experts on plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVS) are Tom Turrentine, ITS-Davis, (831) 685-3635, , and Andrew Frank, Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering, (530) 752-8120, .

USING EXISTING ENERGY SUPPLIES BETTER -- Gov. Schwarzenegger presided at the grand opening in April 2006 of the world's leading university-based EnergyEfficiencyCenter at UC Davis. The new center is dedicated to speeding the transfer of new energy-saving products and services into the homes and lives of Californians. The EnergyEfficiencyCenter's founding director is Andrew Hargadon, an associate professor at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management who is an expert on innovation in business and technology transfer. He can discuss how the state can bring together the people who devise new ways to save energy, those who finance their development, the manufacturers who make the products, and the industries and consumers who buy and benefit from them. Contact: Andrew Hargadon, EnergyEfficiencyCenter and Graduate School of Management, (530) 752-2277, .

TURNING GARBAGE INTO BIOGAS -- UC Davis engineering professor Ruihong Zhang sees a vast untapped resource in yard clippings, household table scraps and other biodegradable materials: enough methane and hydrogen to power the trucks that collect the waste from our curbsides, or to keep the lights burning in thousands of California homes. Zhang has built a commercial-scale anaerobic digester, a $4 million project funded by the California Energy Commission and industry partner Onsite Power Systems Inc. The concept is elegantly simple -- garbage in, good stuff out, including "biogas" to burn in vehicle engines or electric generators. Contact: Ruihong Zhang, Biogas Energy Project, (530) 754-9530, .

AIR QUALITY

AIR POLLUTION, CLIMATE AND HEALTH -- Anthony Wexler, director of the UC Davis Air Quality Research Center, studies the chemical and physical nature of air pollution. He is co-director of an $8 million U.S. EPA research grant to study air pollution in California's huge San JoaquinValley, where bad air causes the nation's highest rates of asthma in children. He also studies how tiny airborne particles contribute to global climate change. Contact: Anthony Wexler, AirQualityResearchCenter, (530) 754-6558, .

AIR POLLUTION AND LUNG HEALTH -- Kent Pinkerton, director of the UC Davis Center for Health and the Environment, studies the microscopic changes that occur in our cells when they react to air pollutants. Pinkerton is co-director of an $8 million U.S. EPA research grant to study air pollution in California's huge San JoaquinValley, where bad air causes the nation's highest rates of asthma in children. He recently showed for the first time how secondhand cigarette smoke damages babies' lungs. Contact: Kent Pinkerton, Center for Health and the Environment, (530) 752-8334, .

INFRASTRUCTURE, PLANNING AND BEHAVIOR

TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE AND AIR QUALITY -- Deb Niemeier, a UC Davis professor of civil and environmental engineering, can discuss transportation project priorities and transportation air-quality issues. Niemeier's research is focused on quantifying the effects of transportation on air quality and studying the processes used to select projects and to manage major transportation infrastructure. She recently oversaw the analysis of two transportation propositions on the Nov. 7 California ballot http://www-news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=7943; another such analysis (on the air-quality effects of vehicle emissions standards) is expected in early 2007 http://johnmuir.ucdavis.edu/policy/policygrants.html. Niemeier, a UC Davis associate vice chancellor for research, is director of the John Muir Institute of the Environment and the UC Davis-Caltrans Air Quality Project. Contact: Deb Niemeier, Civil and Environmental Engineering, (530) 752-8918, .

TRANSPORTATION PLANNING AND POLICY -- Susan Handy, a UC Davis associate professor of environmental science and policy, is an expert in transportation planning, land-use planning, the connections between transportation and land use, and travel behavior. She has studied the impact of neighborhood design on driving and walking in eight Northern California neighborhoods, in addition to offering a critique of assumptions associated with "smart growth" efforts and an assessment of the transportation benefits of "the new urbanism." She has given many talks at professional conferences in the U.S. and abroad on the role of transportation planning in efforts to increase physical activity, a major public health concern. Contact: Susan Handy, Environmental Science and Policy, (530), 752-5878, .

TRAVEL BEHAVIOR -- Patricia Mokhtarian, a professor of civil and environmental engineering, studies the impacts of information and communication technologies (specifically including telecommuting and Internet shopping, but more broadly as well) on transportation and related areas; attitudes toward travel in general and commuting in particular; travelers' strategic responses to traffic congestion; and residential choice and the impact of residential location on travel behavior. Contact: Patricia Mokhtarian, Civil and Environmental Engineering, (530) 752-7062, .

CONTEXT: MEDIA, GEOLOGY AND ECONOMICS

WHAT THE PUBLIC IS HEARING -- John Theobald, a lecturer in communication, can talk about energy issues in the news. He can also discuss the politics that print and broadcast media encounter in attempting to communicate transportation fuel news to the public. Theobald is founder of the UC Oil Forum, an annual conference created to explore the issues of oil and gas production. In addition to classes about science in the news, Theobald teaches "The Media Industry," "Media Analysis" and "News Policies and Practices." Theobald is a former television news producer. Contact: John Theobald, Communication, (707) 322-6340 cell, .

OIL GEOLOGY AND FUTURE FINDS -- UC Davis geologist David Osleger, who studies the types of rocks where oil and gas deposits are found, can talk about how those deposits are formed and why some are easier to extract than others. He says it is very unlikely that major oil fields remain to be explored. The last "supergiant" field was found about 20 years ago. Earlier in his career, Osleger worked as a geologist for the Gulf Oil Corp. and also at the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas. Contact: David Osleger, Geology, (530) 754-7824, .

ECONOMICS OF TRANSPORTATION -- UC Davis economist Christopher Knittel can talk about transportation economics, especially how the various markets related to transportation function. A specialist in the economics of industrial organization, Knittel teaches about the various transportation industries: automobile, airline and oil. He also can explain the dynamics between demand for various autos and government regulation of the industry and how consumers make decisions on cars with better mileage when gasoline prices skyrocket. Contact: Christopher Knittel, Economics, (530) 752-3344, .

Media contact(s):

Sylvia Wright, UC Davis News Service, (530) 752-7704,