Home
Partnership for the Environment: Academia, Industry, Government
AB 811 Loans Promoted to Achieve Energy Independence One Property Owner at a Time
The Bourns College of Engineering will host a symposium on Tuesday, Feb. 9 to promote low cost energy upgrades and renewable energy improvements in the Inland Empire.
The Inland Empire Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council will present the program at the University of California's Highlander Union Building, featuring representatives of surrounding cities to explain property owners' opportunity to increase energy efficiency under California Assembly Bill 811.
AB 811 permits property owners to obtain low interest loans to add sustainable energy technologies or energy efficient retrofits to their properties.
Also presenting will be Alfredo A. Martinez-Morales, Managing Director of SC-RISE, UCR's Initiative to promote the adoption of affordable solar technologies.
The symposium will run from 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m. For more information and registration, click here.
SC-RISE Managing Director Brings Nanotechnology Background to Solar Effort
Jan. 19
Alfredo A. Martinez-Morales has been named managing director of the Southern California Research Initiative for Solar Energy by Faculty Director Matt Barth. He will be responsible for the day-to-day operation of the initiative and moving forward its multiple goals.
SC-RISE, based at the College of Engineering-Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT), is leading this new initiative to advance solar energy technologies, train professionals for the industry, nurture new businesses, and assist commercial and residential energy users in identifying appropriate applications for solar energy.
Martinez-Morales (left) received his Ph.D., MS and BS degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of California, Riverside. There he served as laboratory manager for Professor Mihrimah Ozkan in her Biomedical Science and Nanotechnology Laboratory. Major interests of Ozkan's lab include silicon photovoltaics and low cost, hybrid polymer-carbon nanotube solar collectors that can be deposited on flexible or hard surfaces.
Martinez-Morales has produced nearly a dozen research articles on nanotubes, nanowire arrays, quantum dots and other nanotechnology findings. He has received several research honors and fellowships including the UC Dissertation Year Fellowship.
“To fulfill its mission of being a catalyst for the adoption of affordable solar energy, SC-RISE must be about education, applied technology, research and especially connections with those in Southern California who are concerned with sustainable energy,” said Barth, who also directs CE-CERT. “Alfredo brings us the expertise to move that diverse agenda forward.”
A meeting of higher education institutions is being organized for February to examine the existing educational resources planned for solar technologies and to study possible avenues for collaboration.
CE-CERT to Evaluate 'Zero-Emission' Technology for Port of Los Angeles
Jan. 15
New heavy-duty zero-emissions trucks being put in service at the Port of Los Angeles are proposed to be tested over the next 18 months by researchers and engineers of the College of Engineering-Center for Environmental Research and Technology.
CE-CERT has been conducting groundbreaking work since 2003, sampling the emissions of ocean-going vessels and many of the myriad of port vehicles at the request of port authorities.
As part of its Clean Truck Program, the port has purchased eight zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell hybrid-electric trucks. The City’s GreenLA initiative and a 2008 California law capping greenhouse gas emissions starting in 2012, has led the port to begin planning for a transition to zero emission vehicles over the next decade.
Photo: The development of CE-CERT's Portable Mobile Emissions Laboratory has enabled engineers and researchers to expand the range of their work to ships and port facilities in Asia, Hawaii and at the Port of Los Angeles.
CE-CERT's proposed partnership with the Port of Los Angeles on this project is expected to help demonstrate the utility of zero emission vehicles in a variety of medium and heavy-duty vehicle applications that extend beyond the port setting. When the project is finalized, CE-CERT will begin evaluating Vision industries’ hydrogen fuel cell hybrid-electric heavy-duty big rig trucks. They are also expected to measure the performance characteristics of fully electric heavy vehicles built by Balqon Corporation.
“This will give us independent, academic data instead of just manufacturer’s claims,” said Chris Cannon, manager of the port’s Clean Trucks Program. “Our hope is that we are able to figure out what the trucks are capable of and, as a result, inspire the people who run the terminals and do business at the port to follow suit.”
The Port of Los Angeles will be submitting a proposal for funding from the California Energy Commission to help support this project. The California Energy Commission has established an Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program to develop and deploy advanced transportation technologies to help attain the state's climate change policies.
The Port's Clean Truck Program, which began in October 2008, has removed thousands of polluting trucks from the Port and delivered at least an 80 percent reduction in air emissions while maintaining an efficient drayage fleet. There are about 9,700 heavy-duty trucks operating at the port, mostly owned by the port’s terminal operators and other partners. More News
CARB Supports Jung's Research on Diesel PM Emissions
Dec. 15
After decades of research, regulation and engineering, emissions from new vehicles have decreased dramatically. So dramatically that scientists are wondering how accurate are currently accepted measurement methods.
CE-CERT researchers are comparing the latest U.S. EPA protocols for measuring particulate matter (PM) emissions with the new European standards, with support from the California Air Resources Board (CARB).
Heejung Jung, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, (center left working with students at CE-CERT) is Principal Investigator and Tom Durbin, Associate Research Engineer at CE-CERT, is Co-Principal Investigator for the study examining diesel emissions.
As regulations continue to get more stringent, current methods used for the legal determination of emissions will have difficulty accurately quantifying Particulate Matter (PM) mass emissions. Although the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued an improved protocol for the current gravimetric (measurement of mass) method, its accuracy will continue to be an issue at a very low level emission from new vehicles.
The European PMP (Particle Management Program) is a particle measurement protocol which aims to measure solid particle number emissions. It specifies the measurement of particles larger than 23 nanometers (nm), assuming the contribution of less than 23 nanometer solid particles are insignificant. It is a promising method to possibly complement regulatory mass measurements. The PMP protocol is included in Euro 5 and Euro 6, proposed new tighter emission regulations for vehicles sold in the European Union market.
During CARB's previous studies on PMP important issues were discovered: there are significant numbers of solid sub-23 nm particles that can make it past the PMP volatile particle remover. It is very important to find out whether these operationally determined solid particles are real solid particles (such as partially burned soot or ash) less than 23 nm or low-volatile compounds, and to compare particle emissions during cycles and real-world on-road driving, as either case will suggest modification of the PMP method.
The objective of this project is the investigation of particle penetration/formation under PMP protocol to assess its impact on the PMP measurement protocol. The nature of sub-23 nm particles which make it past the PMP system will be thoroughly investigated. The possible outcome of this study will be suggestions for modification of the current PMP method, which may result in suggestions on future implementation of the PMP method for in-use screening and rule making. More News
ITS Expertise Lends Leadership to Sustainable Transportation Research
Dec. 2, 2009
CE-CERT is part of a new major research program in Transportation Sustainability funded by the UC Office of the President as part of their Multi-Campus Research Program Initiative.
Called “Sustainable Transport: Technology, Mobility, Infrastructure” this five-year, $6.5 million research program is organized to address transportation issues in California in three major areas: vehicles and fuels, infrastructure investments and system management and land use and mobility planning. The Transportation Sustainability Program includes researchers from more than 30 disciplines on six UC campuses – Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Riverside, and Santa Barbara. Its administrative center is at UC Irvine.
Above Photo: CE-CERT's latest transportation sustainability research, the ECO-ITS (Intelligent Transportation Systems) Testbed Vehicle was demonstrated at the 2009 International ASHTO Conference last month..
Transportation Sustainability was one of 37 Multi-campus Research Programs and Initiatives (MRPI) selected for funding in the humanities, sciences, and engineering. This transportation sustainability program received the largest amount of funding. Together the research programs are intended to gather together the UC System’s formidable roster of experts to address many of the state’s pressing problems from the economy to demographics, to energy.
“Transportation accounts for a major part of the urban air pollution generated in California,” said Barth, who is also a Professor of Electrical Engineering at UCR’s Bourns College of Engineering. “The movement of people and goods also accounts for the largest portion of greenhouse gasses,” he added.
The state has mandated significant rollbacks in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 as well as improvements in land-use and transportation practices. “The transportation technologies, policies, and strategies to meet those goals still need to be created,” Barth said. “This is a great opportunity to push that agenda forward.” More News
Nigerian Officials Study California Experience of Environmental Regulation
Dec.1, 2009
Representatives of Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Environment visited CE-CERT 
laboratories Tuesday as part of a week-long study tour of California environmental and regulatory organizations.
Population growth, urbanization and industrial and commercial growth in Nigeria has been accompanied by environmental problems including hazardous waste handling and disposal. In response the Ministry of Environment organized a team of regulatory, industry, business and other Nigerian officials to take advantage of California’s experience with development and implementation of regulatory policies.
Deputy Director Dennis Fitz explained the special role CE-CERT has played as a university organization that can be an “honest broker” in developing the scientific basis for regulations. Regular involvement by industry and government stake-holders in the research process has increased the credibility and usefulness of results, he said.
Photo: Part of the study group to research effective development and implementation of environmental regulations were (seated left to right): Christian Ihenacho, President of OJI Environmental Services; Momodu-Segiru Momodu, Deputy Director for Enforcement of Nigeria’s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control; Alhassan Nuhu, Deputy Director for Research and Forcasting of the National Emergency Management Agency; Tairy Tunde Tajudeen, Director of Environmental Sanitation and Sewerage of the Oyo State Ministry of Environmental and Water Resources (OSMEWR); B. Kunle Aderogba, Civil and Environmental Engineer for OSMEWR; and Julianuh A. Afolabi, Asst. General Manager for the Power Holding Company of Nigeria Plc.
Ihenacho later said the delegation was impressed with the range of programs and activities being conducted by the Center, and how the Center is still able to coordinate with various state and federal regulatory agencies. The important lesson from CE-CERT for policy formation, he added, was transparency, and early formalization of agency coordination to ensure timely, responsive and effective results.
In addition to CE-CERT, the study tour is also scheduled to include the U.S. and California Environmental Protection Agencies, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and the South Coast Air Quality Management District. More News
‘CE-CERT Process’ for Clean Sustainable Diesel Comes Closer to Market with Demonstration Plant
Nov. 9, 2009
The California Energy Commission has awarded a grant to CE-CERT to build a process demonstration unit (PDU) to convert biosolids from Riverside’s Wastewater treatment facility comingled with the City of Riverside’s green waste to clean synthetic diesel fuel. The intent is to help California meet its goals for clean alternative transportation fuels.
The California Energy Commission (CEC) is investing $1 million for a $2 million project to build a process demonstration unit at UCR’s College of Engineering-Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT) facility. The PDU scale unit will provide critical engineering data prior to a larger pilot plant targeted to be located at the City of Riverside’s waste water treatment facility. This would be the final step prior to full commercial-scale plant.
The CEC selected to fund the project which uses steam hydrogasification reaction invented at CE-CERT after an earlier project showed potential for converting wet waste streams to synthetic fuels at high conversion efficiencies. This project will focus on producing synthetic clean diesel fuel.
Photo: Junior Castillo, Senior Development Engineer, (left) and Eddie O’Neil display the urban waste feedstock and the resulting clean synthetic diesel fuel produced in the lab-scale reactor behind them.
The ‘CE-CERT Process’ of steam hydrogasification was recently evaluated by the National Energy Technology Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy. Compared to all other mainstream gasification technologies, the CE-CERT Process was found to be 12 percent more efficient, with 18 percent lower capital costs.
Other partners in the project include UCR, the City of Riverside, and Viresco Energy LLC of Riverside. It is another example of collaboration between the university and the city to implement sustainable technologies locally. The city invested startup funding in CE-CERT’s So Cal Research Initiative for Solar Energy announced last Thursday.
Among the advantages of the ‘CE-CERT Process’ is that it can use mixed fuel stocks, including yard wastes, agricultural by products, waste wood, municipal wastes and sewage sludge, most of which currently end up in landfills. The theoretical optimal plant size can be smaller because of the lower capital investment needed. This means smaller fuel plants can be located near the sources of the feedstocks, reducing the cost and carbon emissions released by transportation of fuel stocks.
The state of California has committed to reduce petroleum use by the equivalent of 2.4 billion gallons per year by 2017. California already uses approximately 1 billion gallons of ethanol and 4 million gallons of biodiesel but more than 95 percent in imported from out of state.
The UCR project will help work out the engineering and economic questions of how biofuel technology can transform waste materials into renewable transportation fuels.
Current estimates are the California produces 83 million dry tons of biomass wastes per year, including agricultural and forestry wastes and wastewater treatment biomass that must be disposed of. Some 32.1 million dry tons of this biowaste is estimated to be practically available for fuel production. More News
UCR Solar Initiative Established to Spur Sunlight as Energy Source
Nov. 5, 2009
A new solar initiative was officially opened Nov. 5 at the University of California Riverside dedicated to spurring the adoption of solar power in Southern California through research, technology and education.
At the kickoff celebration, at the College of Engineering -Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT), UCR Chancellor Timothy White made a significant gesture to ensuring that the work of the new initiative finds its way into practical use.
“I am going to instruct our staff here at the University of California, Riverside, as we build from this day forward, that we use the appropriate developments from SC-RISE in powering green buildings, including our emerging School of Medicine,” said Chancellor White.
Pictured (left to right) Dean Abbaschian, Mayor Loveridge, Chancellor White, Director Barth.
“That will be very important for us not only to talk the talk, but walk the walk, and take the ideas that are tested and established here at SC-RISE and apply them in the way we fill out this wonderful university campus,” Chancellor White added.
More than 150 people turned out for the kickoff of the So Cal Research Initiative for Solar Energy (SC-RISE) which intends to become a magnet for research and a clearinghouse for information to help operationalize the adoption of affordable solar energy in one of the world’s sunniest regions.
White recognized the vision of Riverside Mayor Ronald Loveridge who two days earlier had won his fourth term. Mayor Loveridge, the City Council and Riverside Public Utilities approved the start up funding for the solar initiative. Riverside, which promotes itself as “the City of Arts and Innovation” was recently named one of the world’s 21 Smartest Cities by the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF). The Department of Conservation also recently recognized Riverside as one of the state’s greenest cities, designating it as California's first “Emerald City.”
“We are committed to be in a green place,” Mayor Loveridge said, “and we see (SC-RISE) as a major place where we can participate.”
“When you look at the future of California I don’t know how you can see a good future without connecting with the work that takes place on this campus,” said Loveridge, who has had dual careers as a politician and a college professor.
“One of the more disappointing things (in my careers) has been the sort of separation of research and application, or diffusion of innovation, and what’s exciting about this center is It’s talking about research and application and training,” Loveridge continued. “It’s connecting something that needs to be connected – the best research at the University of California.
“I look forward to SE-RISE being a distinguishing center for us and UC Riverside–for us and Southern California–as an example of what the University of California does in taking its research and connecting it with best practices,” the Mayor added.
Just before the ceremony more than two dozen engineers, educators and industry representatives spent two hours discussing the direction and potential of SC-RISE. Rajan Kasetty, CEO of Terrafore Inc., which is already collaborating with CE-CERT on solar energy storage technology, emphasized the promise of collaboration by researchers, public and private capital, and real world demonstrations to move technology forward. “The day will come,” he said, “when this will become the “go to” place for getting information and getting things done in solar energy.”
Reza Abbaschian, Dean of UCR’s Bourns College of Engineering, earlier traced the origin of SC-RISE to a four-party agreement made at the 50th anniversary celebration of the Sister City relationship between Riverside and Sendai City in Japan. UC Riverside and Sendai’s Tohoku University joined the two cities in challenging themselves to effective collaboration.
The track record of the CE-CERT as an “honest broker” in promoting science to improve environmental policy will be important to SC-RISE, according to Chancellor White.
CE-CERT “is the perfect home, the perfect crucible for this initiative to be successful. This initiative places us at the front edge of new and exciting technologies and it 
really continues the legacy of CE-CERT which is a national legacy of bringing together the very best minds – minds in academia, minds in industry, minds in government to find solutions to the most important issues that confront our society.
“(Honest broker) is really is the unique role of an American public university,” White said, “to be the place where ideas are tested but scientific data helps direct the outcome -- not politics, not wishful thinking but science. And in our world today we need to make certain that the big decisions that are made in policy, the big decisions that are made in investments by the private sector, the big decisions that are made by the public sector, be it at the local, the state or the national level, are based on the very best science.”
The Chancellor also presented a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Assembly offering best wishes for the success of the solar initiative. More News