STEPS, Institute of Transportation Studies, Davis
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STEPS, Institute of Transportation Studies, Davis

2028 Academic Surge
University of California, Davis
One Shields Avenue
Davis, CA 95616

(530) 752-6548 phone

 

STEPS Researchers Participate in Forum on Bioenergy, Sustainability and Lifecycle Analysis

In late May, the California Biomass Collaborative hosted a forum in Sacramento examining the sustainable production of bioenergy. Prof. Bryan Jenkins, who leads the biomass track in STEPS and Dr. Steve Kaffka (both co-directors of the California Biomass Collaborative) were instrumental in organizing and providing intellectual leadership for the conference. Co-sponsors of the forum were the California Energy Commission, the California Institute for Food and Agricultural Research, California Air Resources Board, the Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies, and the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

The forum brought together an international group of researchers, policymakers, and industry representatives to share their work on sustainability criteria and lifecycle analysis methodologies for bioenergy, with emphasis on transportation fuels. A major focus of the conference was assessing the environmental impacts of bioenergy, a critical question as policymakers in California and worldwide consider biofuel policies.

Three UC Davis speakers, Prof. Alissa Kendall, Prof. Johan Six, and Dr. Sonia Yeh, presented some of their STEPS Program research on improving fuel lifecycle analysis through a better accounting of impacts associated with land use, land use change, and the wide range of metrics associated with sustainability. Prof. Bryan Jenkins and Dr. Steve Kaffka discussed sustainability issues in separate talks. The forum contributed substantively to the statewide dialog on the development of sustainability standards and performance criteria.