UC Davis experts: Transportation

UC Davis has more faculty, staff and students studying issues related to hydrogen fuel technology and transportation than any other university. Many are associated with the UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies. ITS-Davis administers over $6 million in research contracts and grants, is staffed by 100 researchers, and specializes in advanced transportation technologies, energy and environmental impacts, and travel behavior. Here is a list of UC Davis experts on hydrogen-fueled transportation. For more information, contact Sylvia Wright, News Service, (530) 752-7704, swright@ucdavis.edu.

Hydrogen transport in the real world

• Future of hydrogen-powered tranportation
• Mapping a hydrogen-powered future
• Consumer response to fuel-cell vehicles
• Environment and energy analysis of hydrogen vehicles
• Cleaner trucks and buses

Hydrogen and other energy sources

• Hydrogen energy
• Hydrogen fuel production, fuel-cell buses
• Biomass reformation for fuel cells
• Hydrogen-storage technology

Vehicle power systems and technology

• Alternative-vehicle propulsion
• Power systems for hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles
• Carbon-supported metals for fuel cells
• Fuel-cell materials

HYDROGEN TRANSPORT IN THE REAL WORLD

Future of hydrogen-powered tranportation

Daniel Sperling is a leading international expert on transportation technology assessment, energy and environmental aspects of transportation, and transportation policy. He is a UC Davis professor of civil engineering and of environmental science and policy, and founding director of the UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS-Davis). Sperling recently completed service on a National Academy of Science committee that issues a major report on hydrogen and fuel cell vehicles. Sperling is founding chair and an emeritus member of the Alternative Transportation Fuels Committee of the U.S. Transportation Research Board. He serves on advisory committees and boards of directors of environmentally oriented organizations and consults for international automotive and energy companies. He has testified numerous times to the U.S. Congress and frequently provides major addresses at international conferences. Contact: Daniel Sperling, ITS-Davis, (530) 752-7434, sperling@ucdavis.edu.

Mapping a hydrogen-powered future

Anthony Eggert, an associate research director at the UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS-Davis), is research manager of the Hydrogen Pathways Research Program. The four-year program identifies strategies for the introduction and adoption of hydrogen use in the transportation sector. It evaluates the technical, economic, business and policy implications of a hydrogen transportation future, and engages energy, automotive, investment and government stakeholders. Its research projects will include the initial deployment of vehicles and fuel stations; the design of hydrogen fuel stations and distribution infrastructure; air-pollutant and greenhouse-gas emissions, lifecycle costs and energy use of hydrogen. Contact: Anthony Eggert, ITS-Davis, (530) 754-9000, areggert@ucdavis.edu.

Consumer response to fuel-cell vehicles

Ken Kurani, a research engineer at UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS-Davis), is director of fuel-cell market research. He leads campus efforts to identify the most promising early markets for fuel-cell vehicles; educate communities about hydrogen and fuel-cell vehicles; and recommend designs for consumer-friendly hydrogen refueling stations. A major element of his current research focuses on consumer responses to fuel cell vehicles. Two Toyota fuel cell hybrid vehicles (FCHVs) are leased to UC Davis to support his three-year research program. Contact: Ken Kurani, ITS-Davis, (530) 752-6500, access@foothill.net.

Environment and energy analysis of hydrogen vehicles

Mark Delucchi, a research scientist at the UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS-Davis), evaluates the performance and economics of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. He analyzes the environmental aspects of hydrogen-powered vehicles for the ITS-Davis Hydrogen Pathways Research Program. He has written an analysis of the energy and environmental impacts of a range of transportation systems (for example, commuter trains vs. buses vs. van pools), a comprehensive and detailed analysis of the social costs of motor-vehicle use, and headed an ITS-Davis team that modeled the performance and life-cycle costs of electric vehicles. Contact: Mark Delucchi, ITS-Davis, (916) 989-5566, madelucchi@ucdavis.edu.

Cleaner trucks and buses

California will enforce strict new emission standards for heavy-duty vehicles such as trucks and buses in 2007. The UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS-Davis) is evaluating new technologies that employ "clean diesel," hydrogen and fuel-cell systems. In trucks, ITS-Davis is pioneering an effort to reduce diesel emission during idling through the use of fuel-cell auxiliary power units. ITS-Davis is also evaluating clean bus technologies that rely on fuel-cell power, the use of a hydrogen/compressed natural gas (CNG) mixture, and proposed clean-diesel systems. Trucks contact: C.J. Brodrick, ITS-Davis, (530) 752-4122, cjbrodrick@ucdavis.edu. Buses contact: Marshall Miller, ITS-Davis, (530) 752-8758, mmiller@ucdavis.edu.

HYDROGEN AND OTHER ENERGY SOURCES

Hydrogen energy

Joan Ogden, a UC Davis associate professor of environmental science and policy, is co-director of the Hydrogen Pathways Research Program of the UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS-Davis). A 2003 transfer to UC Davis from Princeton University, Ogden is considered by many scholars to be the premier U.S. analyst of hydrogen energy. She teaches energy policy, policy analysis and hydrogen-energy systems, and studies how the United States might transition from its current transportation system to one based on hydrogen fuel. Contact: Joan Ogden, Environmental Science and Policy, (530) 752-2768, jmogden@ucdavis.edu.

Hydrogen fuel production, fuel-cell buses

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. He is a pioneer in research using acoustic-field modulation to improve the reformation of hydrocarbon fuels into pure hydrogen. His current research involves both fundamental and applied research in the hydrogen production and utilization field. He studies the reformation of fuels including methanol, gasoline, diesel and coal, and hydrogen production from renewable sources. He also studies prototype fuel-cell buses for vibration effects on systems and the general durability of components. Contact: Paul Erickson, Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering, (530) 752-5360, paerickson@ucdavis.edu.

Biomass reformation for fuel cells

Bryan Jenkins, a UC Davis professor of biological and agricultural engineering, studies the use of biomass fuels (such as straw) in energy applications, including fuel cells. Much of his research concentrates on understanding the role of inorganic materials in biomass when it is converted by combustion and gasification to heat and power. He hopes to increase the efficiency and reduce the cost of the process. He currently has laboratory studies as well as full-scale experiments at power plants underway, many of them with industry and U.S. national laboratories. Contact: Bryan Jenkins, Biological and Agricultural Engineering, (530) 752-1422, bmjenkins@ucdavis.edu.

Hydrogen-storage technology

Joanna Groza, a professor of chemical engineering and materials science, focuses on the processing and characterization of materials used in fuel cells, supercapacitors, energy storage and automotive materials. Her interests include nanocrystalline materials, heat treatment, non-conventional powder consolidation techniques, superconductors and processing-microstructure-property relationships. She supervises several UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies students who are studying hydrogen storage technologies, and is involved in the Advanced Vehicle Power Systems Laboratory. Contact: Joanna Groza, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, (530) 752-8825, jrgroza@ucdavis.edu.

VEHICLE POWER SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGY

Alternative-vehicle propulsion

Marshall Miller, a senior development engineer at the UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS-Davis), studies electric and hybrid vehicle propulsion systems and how to integrate these systems in vehicles to optimize performance. He manages the UC Davis hydrogen refueling station. He is the technical manager of the Hydrogen Bus Technology Validation Program, which operates a hydrogen-fueled bus in the Unitrans system serving the UC Davis campus and the city of Davis. He also manages the Advanced Vehicle Power Systems Laboratory, where he studies storage battery, ultracapacitor and fuel-cell technology. Using data generated in that lab, he develops computer models to simulate the performance of electric and hybrid vehicles using a variety of propulsion systems. Prior to joining UC Davis full-time, Miller held a joint appointment with ITS-Davis and the Union of Concerned Scientists, where he studied technology and policy implications of fuel cell vehicles and hydrogen fuel infrastructure. Contact: Marshall Miller, ITS-Davis, (530) 752-8758, mmiller@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' 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.

Carbon-supported metals for fuel cells

Bruce Gates, a UC Davis professor of chemical engineering and materials science, is an expert in catalysis by metals. He is collaborating with researchers at Ford Motor Company on supported-metal catalysts and with researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory in the evaluation of carbon-supported metals for fuel cells. Gates previously was a research engineer at Chevron Research and H. Rodney Sharp Professor of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry at the University of Delaware. Contact: Bruce Gates, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, (530) 752-3953, bcgates@ucdavis.edu.

Fuel-cell materials

Alexandra Navrotsky, an interdisciplinary professor of chemical engineering, materials science, and chemistry at UC Davis, manages a large research team that conducts research in several areas that are relevant to fuel-cell technology. One such area is thermodynamic studies of ceramic materials that could be superior to those presently used in fuel-cell construction. Two examples are zirconia-based solid electrolytes and doped lanthanum compounds. Navrotsky leads a universitywide initiative in nanomaterials as they relate to society and environment. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Contact: Alexandra Navrotsky, UC Davis, (530) 752-3292, anavrotsky@ucdavis.edu.

Media contact

• Sylvia Wright, News Service, (530) 752-7704, swright@ucdavis.edu

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