Phone: (530) 754-9000
Fax: (530) 752-9812
Email: 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 current research efforts involve with identifying opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector. Using a wide range of tools, including bottom-up integrated energy system models, economic assessment and social studies,  her goal is to identify sets of policies that reduce transportation sector greenhouse gas emissions in cost-effective manners and are robust to future uncertainties in cost, technology, social changes and environmental impacts.

Her recent projects include Low Carbon Fuel Standard Implementation Studies, California Energy System Modeling, Lifecycle Analysis of Climate Change Reduction Strategies, and the Water Impacts of Transportation Fuels.

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

Journal Articles

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. link

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. link

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. link

Yeh, Sonia, Edward S. Rubin, David A. Hounshell, and Margaret R. Taylor. 2007. Uncertainties in Technology Experience Curves for Integrated Assessment Models. International Journal of Energy Technology and Policy, forthcoming. link

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. link

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. link

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. link

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. link

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. link

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. link

Book Chapter

Yeh, S. and M. J. Small (2005). Statistical Models for Distributions of Ambient Fine Particulate Matter. Environmental Security and Environmental Management: The Role of Risk Assessment. I. Linkov, Springer: 127-139.

Peer-reviewed Conference Proceeding Rubin E, Yeh S, Antes M, Berkenpas M and Davison J. Estimating future costs of CO2 capture systems using historical experience curves. In: Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies, Proceedings of the eighth international conference on greenhouse gas control technologies, 19–22 June 2006, Trondheim, Norway. Oxford, UK: Elsevier Ltd., in press.

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.

Projects, Grants and Contracts

STEPS Program lead - Thread 6 – Case Studies and Scenarios

California Energy Modeling for Policy Analysis

"Low Carbon Fuel Standard Implementation Studies," California Air Resources Board and the Energy Foundation. November 2007 – December 2009. Principal investigator.

"Future Water Challenges in a Hydrogen Economy," US DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). UCRL-PRES-235091. October 2007 – September 2008. Co-principal investigator.

"Lifecycle Analysis of the California Air Resources Board’s Climate Change Reduction Strategies," California Air Resources Board. July 2007 – June 2009. Co-principal investigator.

"Technological Learning in the Coal Utility Environmental Cost (CUECost) Model: Estimating the Future Cost Trends of SO2, NOx, and Mercury Control Technologies," U.S. EPA. July 2006 – November 2006. Principle Investigator.

"Robertson Seminar Series: Energy and Transportation," a collaborative project between the Carolina Transportation Program, Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences and the Nicholas Institute of Environmental Policy Solutions of the Duke University. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Fall 2006. Principle Investigator.

Highlight: David Greene "Transportation and America's "Oil Addiction": Is there a fix?"  see and hear the presentation here  (95 MB Flash).

"The Southeastern Transportation Center (STC)," a consortium of 10 universities from five states in DOT region IV. U.S. DOT. August 2006 – July 2009. Co-applicant and co-investigator.

"Estimating Future Trends in the Cost of CO2 Capture Technologies," International Energy Agency Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme, UK. September 2004 – August 2005. Co-applicant and co-investigator.

"The Effect of Government Actions on Environmental Technology Innovation: Applications to the Integrated Assessment of Carbon Sequestration Technologies." U.S. DOE. July 2000 – June 2003. Co-investigator.

Service

Member of National Academies’ Transportation Research Board Committee: Transportation Energy AD70 (2008 – 2011)

Member of National Academies’ Transportation Research Board Committee: Transportation Energy and Alternative Fuels (2007 – 2008)

News and Media

Naomi Lubick "Environmental costs of shipping." Environmental Science and Technology Online News –Policy News, September 19, 2007

Other

Job resources in energy, environment, and public policy (UC Davis students only)