Dr. Sonia Yeh
Researcher, ITS-Davis
(530) 754-9000
slyeh@ucdavis.edu
Ph.D., August 2001, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
Dr. Yeh's research interest is to advance the understanding of future energy systems and their environmental and social impacts, and to seek policy solutions to improve the sustainability of future energy systems. More specifically, Dr. Yeh's research focuses on providing better understanding of how technologies, economic and social changes affect future energy demands and environmental outcomes such as greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, air and water pollution, resource depletions, and land use change. Her work is used to develop government policies, especially incentive-based policies, to induce innovation and the penetration of low-carbon technologies.
Dr. Yeh applies her research to actual policy design and implementation, particularly climate policies in California, including the California Global Warming Solutions Act (AB32), the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) and the Sustainability Plan for the Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program (AB118). She has served on many governmental advisory panels and chaired expert workgroups for governments and NGOs. She also serves on the Energy Committee of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies.
Fuels and Fuel Regulations
Sustainability of the Energy System
Energy System Modeling
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.
| Publication Title | Year |
|---|---|
| A Framework for Assessing the Lifecycle Greenhouse Gas Benefits of Forest Bioenergy and Biofuel in an Era of Forest Carbon Management | 2012 |
| The Future of Low-Carbon Transportation Fuels, in Physics of Sustainable Energy II: Using Energy Efficiently and Producing It Renewably | 2012 |
| Deep Greenhouse Gas Reduction Scenarios for California - Strategic Implications from the CA-TIMES Energy-Economic Systems Model | 2011 |
| Comparing Land, Water, and Materials Impacts, chapter 7 in Sustainable Transportation Energy Pathways: A Research Summary for Decision Makers | 2011 |
| Evaluation of Water Use for Bioenergy at Different Scales | 2011 |
| Life Cycle Water Consumption and Withdrawal Requirements of Ethanol from Corn Grain and Residues | 2011 |
| A Report to the California Air Resources Board: Carbon Emission Factors Subworkgroup, Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) Indirect Land Use Change Expert Workgroup | 2010 |
| Indirect Land-Use Change from Biofuels: Recent Developments in Modeling and Policy Landscapes | 2010 |
| Land Use Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Conventional Oil Production and Oil Sands | 2010 |
| Analysis of Lifecycle Water Requirements of Energy and Transportation Fuels: Electricity from Geothermal Resources - Model Description | 2010 |
| Analysis of Lifecycle Water Requirements of Transportation Fuels: Corn-based Ethanol - Model Description | 2010 |
| Role of Low Carbon Fuel Standard in Reducing U.S. Transportation Emissions, chapter 5 in Climate and Transportation Solutions: Findings from the 2009 Asilomar Conference on Transportation and Energy Policy | 2010 |
| Implementing Performance-Based Sustainability Requirements for the Low Carbon Fuel Standard – Key Design Elements and Policy Considerations | 2009 |
| Transforming the Oil Industry into the Energy Industry | 2009 |
| Assessment of Technologies for Compliance with the Low Carbon Fuel Standard | 2009 |
| Low Carbon Fuel Standards | 2009 |
| Optimizing U.S. Mitigation Strategies for the Light-Duty Transportation Sector: What We Learn from a Bottom-Up Model | 2008 |
| Experience curves for power plant emission control technologies | 2007 |
| Learning curves for environmental technology and their importance for climate policy analysis | 2007 |
| Technology Innovations and Experience Curves for Nitrogen Oxides Control Technologies | 2007 |
| A centurial history of technological change and learning curves or pulverized coal-fired utility boilers | 2007 |
| An empirical analysis on the adoption of alternative fuel vehicles:The case of natural gas vehicles | 2007 |
| An Integrated Assessment of the Impacts of Hydrogen Economy on Transportation, Energy Use, and Air Emissions | 2007 |
| Use of experience curves to estimate the future cost of power plants with CO2 capture | 2007 |
- Co-Director,US Low Carbon Fuel Standards Study (2010-2011) Appointed Expert Workgroup:
- California Air Resources Board Low Carbon Fuel Standard Expert Workgroup on Indirect Land Use Change (March 2010-present)
- California Air Resources Board Low Carbon Fuel Standard Expert Workgroup on Sustainability (March 2010-present) Advisory Committee Member:
- Assembly Bill 118 (Núñez Statutes of 2007, Chapter 750) Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program Sustainability Subworking Group (2008- present)
- Northeast LCFS Advisory Committee (2007-2009)
- National Academies’ Transportation Research Board
- Transportation Energy Committee ADC70 (2008 – 20011)
- Transportation Energy and Alternative Fuels (2007 – 2008)
- Lead technical advisor, California Air Resources Board on the implementation of the Low Carbon Fuel Standard regulation (2007-2010)
- Research Scientist, Energy and Environment Directorate, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (2007 – 2008)
- Research Director, Carolina Transportation Program, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2005-2007)
- Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education Fellow, National Risk Management Research Laboratory, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2004-2007)
- Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University (2001-2003)
Dr. Yeh's Curriculum Vitae
May be found here.
STEPS Program Website
http://steps.ucdavis.edu/People/slyeh