Recent collaboration between students and faculty at Clemson University and a researcher at a National Lab has revealed the impact of electric and hybrid vehicles on the environment. “Vehicles that run solely on batteries are often regarded as the gold standard in clean-energy transportation, but the answer to the Shakspearean question is far from simple, according to a research group that included Hao Chen and was led by Dr. Mik Carbajales-Dale, an Associate Professor of Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences at Clemson University.”
“The research was unique not only for its multifaceted look at the environmental impact of light-duty vehicles but also its origins. The two-year project started as an assignment in a senior-level course taught by Carbajales-Dale and expanded to include not only undergraduates but also graduate students, a Post Doctoral Researcher and an Earth Scientist at a National Lab.”
Ther group’s research was published in Nature, a leading scientific research journal, in a paper titled “Electric light-duty vehicles have decarbonization potential but may not reduce other environmental problems.”
Co-authors were Chen, Serife Elif Can Sener, Miles Jones, Muzan Williams Ijeoma and Carbajales-Dale, all of the Department of Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences; Cole Van Emburg of the Department of Mechanical Engineering; Taylor Bogucki of the Department of Industrial Engineering; Nicolas Bonilla of the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management; and Heng Wan of Earth Systems Predictability & Resiliency Group, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Carbajales-Dale is also principal investigator of the Clemson Energy-Economy-Environment (E3) Systems Analysis Group. Read more about this story in the Clemson News.
