Environment/Energy

Michael Prather

NOAA names Michael Prather to climate assessment panel

Michael Prather, UCI professor of Earth system science, has been appointed to the Advisory Committee for the Sustained National Climate Assessment by the National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration. The panel provides input on climate assessment activities to NOAA, which relays the information to the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy. Prather’s term lasts one year.

Chemists find new way to recycle plastic waste into fuel

Approach tackles most commonly used synthetic plastic

UCI chemists help find way to recycle plastic waste into fuel

Millions of tons of plastic bottles, bags and other trash littering the oceans and clogging landfills could be turned into reusable fuel, thanks to research by the University of California, Irvine and the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry. UCI chemist Zhibin Guan is among those who have figured out how to dissolve the strong bonds of polyethylene […]

UCI and Kia Motors study electric vehicles, power grids

Kia Motors of America is providing six electric cars to University of California, Irvine’s Advanced Power and Energy Program as part of an initiative to study the role of auto batteries in advanced electrical grids. “The rapidly evolving coupling of vehicles and the electric grid requires planning based on informed decisions supported by the market-based, systems analyses […]

UCI’s Soroosh Sorooshian to tackle global water issues as Rosenberg Forum chair

Professor will organize high-level conferences to reduce conflict in managing resources

UCI sleuths search the seas for soot

Oceangoing study characterizes dark, sunlight-absorbing compound

Food for thought

Five takeaways from the campus summit on sustainable solutions

UCI and JPL find melting of Greenland’s glaciers worse than previously thought

New seafloor mapping techniques help scientists identify high-risk areas

UCI receives $700,000 EPA grant to study climate change, air quality

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded UCI $701,304 to study the impact of climate change on air quality. “This grant offers an exciting opportunity to learn about air pollution in the future from both state-of-the-art experiments and computer modeling techniques,” said Donald Dabdub, UCI professor of mechanical & aerospace engineering. “We know that both ammonia […]

Even plant-supporting soil fungi affected by global warming, UCI study finds

Ecologically rich mountain cloud forests impacted by drying climate