The California Air Resources Board, whose limits on vehicle emissions influence air-quality policies around the world, will decide Thursday whether to make any changes in the state's current zero-emission vehicle mandates.
The University of California, Davis, has made crucial contributions to the board's evaluation of the central issues.
UC Davis' Institute of Transportation Studies has conducted research on vehicle emissions and fuels since its inception 10 years ago. "We have teams of experts ranging from anthropologists to mechanical engineers who are studying emission-control technology, air-quality policy, cost-effectiveness of strategies and demand for clean vehicles," said institute director Dan Sperling.
"UC Davis has been a valuable resource in California's zero-emission vehicle program," said Alan Lloyd, the chairman of the California Air Resources Board. "The university's technical experts have helped California develop a sound scientific and technical basis for developing programs to meet its air-quality goals."
Since 1990, the air board has put the six major auto makers on notice that by 2003 a fixed percentage of the cars they sell in California will have to be emission-free. (The only technology currently available that meets that standard is the battery electric vehicle, or EV. Fuel-cell vehicles also will meet it but are not expected to be available until about 2005 or later.)
The board, which is appointed by the state governor, originally set the required number of zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) at 10 percent of new autos sold; in 1998, the board reduced the number to 4 percent and said that near-zero-emission vehicles, such as gas-electric hybrids, could fill the remaining 6 percent.
Air-quality regulations initially adopted in California are often adopted by the federal government and throughout the world. Emission-control technology developed for the California market soon finds its way to cars sold in the rest of the world.
Some of the influential studies published by the Institute of Transportation Studies are:
-- Comparisons of auto technology life-cycle costs and energy use: This April 2000 report, produced for and funded by the California Air Resources Board, can be used to compare the initial costs and lifetime costs of various vehicle technologies. It was written by UC Davis researchers Mark Delucchi, Andy Burke, Timothy Lipman and Marshall Miller. For more information, see the ITS-Davis newsletter at http://its.ucdavis.edu/e-news/#3.2.
-- Electric vehicle market studies: ITS-Davis' series of EV market studies through the 1990s remain the most thorough investigations of the potential EV market in California -- as witnessed by frequent references to them at air-board workshops held earlier this year. The studies were written by UC Davis researchers Tom Turrentine, Ken Kurani, David Bunch and Dan Sperling. For more information, see the ITS-Davis newsletter.
-- Secondary benefits of the ZEV mandate: This new report, also produced for and funded by the California Air Resources Board, describes nine categories other than California air quality that have benefited from the air board's ZEV mandate. The categories include vehicle emissions outside California; EV patent activity; funding for EV programs in government and industry; EV-related economic impact in California; development of ultra-clean vehicle technologies; development of low-speed electric transportation, such as bicycles, scooters and neighborhood electric vehicles; and development of advanced battery technologies for electric utilities and for consumer products, such as computers and cellular telephones. This study was written by UC Davis researchers Andy Burke and Ken Kurani with E.J. Kenney of WestStart-CALSTART, an advanced transportation technologies consortium based in Pasadena. For more information, see the report at the air board's Web site at http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/zevprog/2000review/workshops.htm.
Media contacts:
-- Daniel Sperling, director, Institute of Transportation Studies, (530) 752-7434, dsperling@ucdavis.edu
-- Sylvia Wright, News Service, (530) 752-7704, swright@ucdavis.edu