AirUCI faculty Steve Davis is quoted in an NPR article on their Science page that deals with unpredictability in energy supplies. Fracking changed the game by increasing supplies and the 2008 recession hit world economies hard. Since then it's been more difficult to accurately predict the supply and demand of oil and gas supplies, and renewable energy sources are not as predictable as we would like.
When predictions of energy availability are unreliable, it leads businesses to be more conservative. "You're less inclined to take on big, irreversible investments on things like a gigantic power plant, and instead you may sort of hedge by holding tight with what you have," Davis explains. If "what you have" is an old, polluting power plant, that could be bad for the environment.
Read the article
News
Here's the latest news from AirUCI — our events, our people, our science.
2018
In an article in MIT Technology Review, AirUCI faculty Steven Davis is quoted on challenges in overhauling the global energy system, including aviation, long-distance hauling, and the cement and steel industries. "To clean up these huge sectors of the economy, we’re going to need better carbon capture and storage tools, as well as cheaper biofuels or energy storage," he says. Read the article
In an online article for PBS NewsHour's Science files, AirUCI faculty Jack Brouwer provided several suggestions for increasing energy efficiency in anyone's home. He has easy and practical ideas for most every room in the house, ranging from the best time to run a dishwasher to using smart monitors for power usage.
Read the article
In an article in Pacific Standard, AirUCI faculty Steve Davis is extensively quoted regarding a new study from the Carnegie Institution for Science on renewable energy and current obstacles to implementation. Recent federal policy shifts and tariffs imposed on solar panels, among other things, are setbacks to renewable industries and have slowed investments to build the energy infrastructure for renewable sources. Read the article
In an article on Motherboard published by Vice, AirUCI faculty Steve Davis was quoted on the prospects for transitioning the U.S. to renewable energy sources. Variability in sun and wind during different seasons, as well as storage and transmission challenges, would need to be overcome but it is possible to make the transition, although at great cost. Read the article
AirUCI faculty Jack Brouwer and Steve Davis are among the authors of an article in Nature that was published online February 27, 2018 which describes how the University of California is proceeding with Paris Accord emissions guidelines. UC's approach has been to take the lead, apart from state and federal efforts, in reducing deep carbonization. This work offers lessons in efficiency, alternative fuels, and electrification and has become a concrete model for other institutions to help fulfill the potential of the Paris agreement.
Read the article
AirUCI faculty Donald Dabdub has won the 2018 Tom Angell Faculty Mentoring Award. The review committee was very impressed with his mentoring record and wrote to him saying that they found his history of mentorship of both undergraduate and graduate students to be exceptional. They were particularly impressed with both Donald's doctoral student’s account of how he teaches graduate students a variety of professional skills that will serve them well in their future careers, and also with his dedication to mentoring first-generation college students and international students.
In recognition of Donald's contributions, the UCI Graduate Division is awarding him a $500 Tom Angell Fellowship, to be paid to the graduate student of his choice. The Tom Angell Fellowship was created in remembrance of UCI's first Graduate Counselor, Tom Angell, who was dedicated to the wellness and mentoring of graduate students. Way to go, Donald!
AirUCI faculty Steve Davis is quoted in a Washington Post article about coal pollution and global warming. “There is a real risk that the inertia of fossil fuel infrastructure will drag us past where we want to be,” he says. “However, the retirement of power plants is ultimately an economic decision, and one that gets easier as non-fossil energy sources get cheaper.”
Read the article
Professor Donghyun Rim of Pennsylvania State University and his student, Youngbo Won, will be visiting AirUCI for several days beginning January 31st. They are hosted by AirUCI faculty Manabu Shiraiwa and they will be meeting with other AirUCI faculty to discuss ongoing projects and to explore potential new collaborations.
Dr. Nanna Myllys from the University of Helsinki will be visiting us on January 24th and will speak about her research in a talk entitled "Oxidized organic compounds in atmospheric cluster formation". The talk will take place at 3:00 pm in Rowland Hall 390.
