Lew Fulton, Director of the Sustainable Transportation Energy Pathways (STEPS+) program and the Energy Futures Program within the Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis

Title

Reaching carbon neutral transportation in California by 2045: opportunities and challenges

Time

1:40pm - 3:00pm

Location

Remote presentation

Abstract

California has set a very ambitious path to reach carbon neutrality across sectors by 2045. For the transportation sector to achieve this, vehicles will largely need to transition to ZEVs, and all energy systems will need to be near zero carbon by that date. The rate of transition will need to be faster than anything previously seen on a major scale in the transportation system. This talk will cover the findings of our report, conducted across four ITS campuses during 2020 and 2021 and published in April as Driving California’s Transportation Emissions to Zero. I will review the challenges identified, the scenarios developed, and the policies needed to achieve specific targets. The talk will focus primarily on CO2 reduction, technologies, light-duty and heavy-duty vehicles and fuels, but will also cover aspects such as infrastructure, regional aspects within the state, workforce aspects, and environmental justice aspects. Finally, remaining issues and needed additional research will be addressed.

Biographical Sketch

Lewis Fulton has worked internationally in the field of transport/energy/environment analysis and policy development for 30 years. He is Director of the Sustainable Transportation Energy Pathways (STEPS+) program and the Energy Futures Program within the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California, Davis. There he leads a range of research activities around new vehicle technologies and new fuels. He was a lead author on the recent IPCC 5th Assessment Report, Mitigation (“Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change”, transport chapter). Current projects include analyses of electric vehicles, shared mobility, automation, and other drivers of transportation futures. He investigates the costs, energy, GHG, employment and other aspects of changing transportation trends and alternative futures.

From 2007-2012 he was a Senior Transport Specialist with the International Energy Agency, Paris, as well as Division Head for Energy Technology Policy during 2011-2012. He returned to the IEA in 2007 after working there originally from 1999-2005. At the IEA Lew led the development of the Mobility Model and directed transport-related analysis connected with the Energy Technology Perspectives series of publications. During 2006-2007 he worked in Kenya with the UN Environment Program, developing and implementing GEF-funded sustainable transport projects around the world. During the 1990s he also worked at the US Department of Energy for 4 years, and taught at the Independent University of Bangladesh and the University of Maryland.

Lew received his Ph.D. in Energy Management and Environmental Policy from the University of Pennsylvania in the United States in 1994.