Research Publications

As the world’s population is projected to reach 10 billion or more by 2100, devastating fossil fuel shortages loom in the future unless more renewable alternatives to energy are developed. Bioener...

There are many definitions for sustainability. Mathis Wackernagel, creator of the ecological footprint concept, defined sustainability as “securing people’s quality of life within the means of natu...

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) are one promising technology for addressing concerns around petroleum consumption, energy security and greenhouse gas emissions. However, there is much unce...

Urban water scarcity is an ongoing reality in California, especially, in Southern California with its arid climate and cyclical droughts. Southern California relies on upstate water imports provided b...

The intensification of the shrimp farming industry has generated much concern over its environmental, social and economic sustainability. The objective of this dissertation was to conduct a comprehens...

With the global urban population becoming 7.0 billion by 2050, there will be a huge demand of the provision of basic infrastructure to this population. With the growing concerns over climate change...

This research studies the low carbon transition of the electric power sector in China using a multi-level perspective (MLP) of niches, socio-technical regime, and landscape, as well as literature o...

Economic, energy, and environmental impacts of 11 types of bioethanol feedstock in China were evaluated using a mixed-unit input-output life cycle assessment model. Corn grain and wheat grain had h...

Feed production constitutes a major portion of the energy and water resource inputs in modern livestock production. Schemes to reduce these inputs may include local sourcing of animal feed. However...

With its rapid rise as a metaphor to express coupled natural-human systems in cities, the concept of urban metabolism is evolving into a series of relatively distinct research frameworks amongst vario...

To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, ports around the world are considering using electric cargo handling equipment. To assess the benefits of the strategy, this study provides a comparative life-c...

This study examines the annual CO2 emissions embodied in China's exports from 2002 to 2008 using environmental input–output analysis. Four driving forces, including emission intensity, economic pro...

A water quality modeling study was conducted to determine and compare nitrogen loss from water flow to surface water and ground water from agricultural systems growing switchgrass and cotton in the...

This article describes the development of a consequential life cycle assessment (cLCA) with endogenous market-driven design (MDD). Incorporation of MDD within cLCA (cLCA-MDD) is beneficial because...

United Solar Ovonic (USO) installed a photovoltaic (PV) module testing system in Auburn Hills, Michigan (Latitude 42.6978, Longitude -83.2419) in March of 2010 for the purpose of evaluating the impact...

We conducted surveys of six hatcheries and 18 farms for data inputs to complete a cradle-to-farm-gate life cycle assessment (LCA) to evaluate the environmental performance for intensive (for export ...

There is disagreement on whether the supply of lithium is adequate to support a future global fleet of electric vehicles. We report a comprehensive analysis of the global lithium resources and compare...

We are witnessing an explosion in carbon calculators for estimating the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (i.e., carbon footprint) of households, buildings, cities, and processes. Seeking to capitaliz...

This paper presents a proof of concept model for the electrification process of developing countries. Considering the general needs and characteristics in those countries is important as they share...

The wind power sector in the US is poised to see increased growth as concerns over the consumption of non-renewable energy resources and climate change intensify. While wind power systems produce n...

Preparation for global movement to urban regions requires a holistic study of infrastructure interactions. The impact of water and energy on one another has been studied to show how they are depend...

The high theoretical productivity of microalgae makes it a promising energy crop, but economically viable large-scale production facilities have yet to emerge. Furthermore, life-cycle studies indic...

A life cycle optimization of the replacement of residential central air conditioners (CACs) was conducted in order to identify replacement schedules that minimized three separate objectives: life c...