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UC Davis experts: Greenhouse gases, clean energy

These UC Davis experts are available to discuss issues related to greenhouse gases, clean electricity and auto fuels.

Experts drafting the state's 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, Joint Center for Transportation Sustainability Research, UC Berkeley. Contacts: Dan Sperling, Institute of Transportation Studies, (530) 752-7434, dsperling@ucdavis.edu; Bryan Jenkins, California Biomass Collaborative, (530) 752-1422, bmjenkins@ucdavis.edu; and Joan Ogden, Institute for Transportation Studies, (530) 752-2768, jmogden@ucdavis.edu.

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, bmjenkins@ucdavis.edu.

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, afburke@ucdavis.edu.

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, paerickson@ucdavis.edu.

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, tturrentine@ucdavis.edu, and Andrew Frank, Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering, (530) 752-8120, aafrank@ucdavis.edu.

Using existing energy supplies better

Gov. Schwarzenegger presided at the grand opening in April 2006 of the world's leading university-based Energy Efficiency Center 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 Energy Efficiency Center'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, Energy Efficiency Center and Graduate School of Management, (530) 752-2277, abhargadon@ucdavis.edu.

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, rhzhang@ucdavis.edu.

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Last updated April 10, 2007