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Institute of Transportation Studies

Dr. Sonia Yeh

Research Engineer, ITS-Davis

(530) 754-9000
slyeh@ucdavis.edu
Ph.D., August 2001, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA

Dr. Sonia Yeh's research interests focus on energy and environmental research, especially the role of technological change, economic, and social changes on future energy demand, air emissions, and environmental outcomes. Much of her work has involved with applying tools such as risk analysis, decision analysis, and uncertainty analysis to policy issues that intersect with energy, transportation, environment, and public health. She currently holds joint appointments with ITS Davis and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Before moving to CA, she was the Research Director for the Carolina Transportation Program at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill. Her responsibility was to identify and promote interdisciplinary collaborations on transportation research within UNC and with other universities. She was the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education Fellow with the National Risk Management Research Laboratory, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and was involved with developing a national energy-economic modeling framework to assess future technologies, patterns of technology adoption, and the effects of technological and social changes on air emissions. Using integrated system analysis approach, her work analyzed potentials pathways of hydrogen economy in the U.S., and the impacts on energy, technologies, and air emissions. Her research also includes the modeling of learning-by-doing and technological change for large-scale, long-term integrated assessment models. Dr. Yeh holds an adjunct assistant professor appointment in the Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University. Her research in the university focuses on the history of technical change for energy technologies, and the uncertainties of modeling technological learning in long-term integrated assessment models.

Education

Ph.D. in Engineering and Public Policy (August 2001), Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
M.S. in Environmental Health (May 1997), Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA
B.S. in Environmental Science (May 1995), Tunghai University, Taichung, Taiwan.

Peer-Reviewed Publication

  • Yeh, Sonia. 2007. An empirical analysis on the adoption of alternative fuel vehicles: The case of natural gas vehicles. Energy Policy, 35(11): 5865-5875.
  • Yeh, Sonia, and Edward S. Rubin. 2007. A centurial history of technological change and learning curves for pulverized coal-fired utility boilers. Energy, 32(10): 1996-2005.
  • Rubin, Edward S., Sonia Yeh, Matt Antes, John Davison. 2007. Use of Experience Curves to Estimate the Future Cost of Power Plants with CO2 Capture. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 1(2): 188-197.
  • Yeh, Sonia, Edward S. Rubin, David A. Hounshell, and Margaret R. Taylor. 2007. On the use of technology experience curves in integrated assessment models. International Journal of Energy Technology and Policy, forthcoming.
  • Yeh, Sonia, Daniel Loughlin, Carol Shay, and Cynthia Gage. 2006. Impacts of hydrogen economy on transportation, energy use, and air emissions: an integrated assessment," Proceedings of the IEEE, 94(10): 1838-1851.
  • Yeh, Sonia, Edward S. Rubin, Margaret R. Taylor, and David A. Hounshell. 2005. Technology innovations and the experience curve for NOx control technology. Journal of the Air and Waste Management Association, 55(12):1827-1838.
  • Rubin, Edward S., Margaret R. Taylor, Sonia Yeh and David A. Hounshell. 2004. Learning curves for environmental technology and their importance for climate policy analysis. Energy 29(9-10): 1551-1559.
  • Rubin, Edward S., Sonia Yeh, Margaret R. Taylor and David A. Hounshell. 2004. Experience curves for power plant emission control technologies. International Journal of Energy Technology and Policy 2(1/2):52-69.
  • Yeh, Sonia and Mitchell J. Small. 2002. Incorporating exposure models in probabilistic assessment of the risks of premature mortality from particulate matter. Journal of Exposure Analysis and Environmental Epidemiology, 12:389 - 403.
  • Morel, Benoit, Sonia Yeh and Luis Cifuentes. 1999. Statistical distributions for air pollution applied to the study of the particulate problem in Santiago. Atmospheric Environment, 33:2575-2585.
  • Wei, Yu-Ling, Sonia Yeh, Chi-Jong Wu and Chung-Ju Yeh. 1996. Effect of resource recovery upon leachate properties and construction cost of sanitary landfill. Proceedings of the International Conference on Solid Waste Technology and Management, pp. 7.

Reports

  • Yeh, Sonia. 2007. Incorporating Technological Learning in the Coal Utility Environmental Cost (CUECost) Model: Estimating the Future Cost Trends of SO2, NOx, and Mercury Control Technologies. Prepared for the Office of Research and Development, National Risk Management Research Laboratory, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.
  • Rubin, E.S., Antes, M.K., Yeh, S., Berkenpas, M.B., 2006. Estimating Future Trends in the Cost of CO2 Capture Technologies, Report No. 2006/6. IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme (IEA GHG), Cheltenham, UK.
  • Rubin, Edward S.; Hounshell, David A.; Yeh, Sonia; Riahi, K.; and Schrattenholzer, L. 2003. The Effect of Government Actions on Environmental Technology Innovation: Applications to the Integrated Assessment of Carbon Sequestration Technologies. A final report submitted to Office of Biological and Environmental Research, U.S. Department of Energy, Germantown, MD. 

Experience

Assistant Research Scientist, Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Davis (May 2007 – present)
Research Scientist, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (June 2007 – present)
Research Director, Carolina Transportation Program, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC (October 2005 – March 2007)

  • Promote interdisciplinary transportation research and identify collaborations within the UNC and other universities and partnership with local/state government and non-profit organizations.
  • Conduct research on energy and environmental aspect of the transportation research, especially the role of technological change, economic, and social changes on future energy demand, air emissions, and environmental outcomes.

Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA (2004 – 2007)

  • The experience curves for energy technologies and lessons for future climate change mitigations technologies.

Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education Fellow, National Risk Management Research Laboratory, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, RTP, NC (January 2004 – January 2007)
The effects of future technological, economic, and social changes on future air pollutant emissions

  • The potential role of hydrogen economy in the U.S and the impacts on energy security, system-wide fuel use changes, and regional air quality.
  • Issues of uncertainty associated with technological learning and innovation, and the use of endogenous technological learning in the long-term energy system models.
  • Support regulatory and policy decisions and provide technical support and information transfer for implementation of environmental regulations and strategies at the national, international, and regional levels.

Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, Depts. of Engineering and Public Policy and Social and Decision Sciences Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA (August 2001 – December 2003)
The effect of government actions on environmental technology innovation and implications for carbon management.

  • Experience curves (or learning curves) for major environmental control technologies, including those for sulfur dioxides and nitrogen oxides removal, and carbon management.
  • Patent analysis that analyzed the impacts of government regulations on the innovation of environmental control technologies across different countries. 

STEPS Program Website

http://steps.ucdavis.edu/People/slyeh