Presented By: Institute for Energy Solutions
IES Energy Seminar Series - Industrial Ecology Perspectives on the Electric Vehicle Transition – October 23, 2025 — Co-organized with the Center for Sustainable Systems
Alissa Kendall, University of California Davis
Hosted by Greg Keoliean
Abstract:
The field of industrial ecology has long sought to understand the flows of resources and waste through our human-made systems and technologies, often with some intention of anticipating and avoiding unintended consequences. This perspective is particularly relevant to decarbonization strategies, where we have great urgency to change the technologies and operations of our energy and transport systems to meet climate targets, but which require a life cycle perspective to understand their true capacity to reduce emissions and to understand their other environmental, social or governance issues. In this talk I will discuss the use of life cycle assessment and material flow analysis for improving the transition to a decarbonized future with particular focus on electric vehicles and their batteries as a key, but not complete, solution for decarbonization of the transport sector.
Biography:
Prof. Alissa Kendall holds a degree in Environmental Engineering from Duke University (B.S.E. 2000), and a PhD jointly conferred in Environmental Engineering and Natural Resource Policy from University of Michigan Ann Arbor (2007) for work conducted at the Center for Sustainable Systems. Prior to pursuing her graduate education, she worked as an automotive product development engineer focusing on hybrid and electric vehicles. She joined UC Davis as an assistant professor in 2007 and is now the Ray B. Krone Endowed Professor of Environmental Engineering in the UC Davis Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and is the Director of the UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies. During her time at UC Davis, she co-founded and chaired the Energy Graduate Group, an interdisciplinary Energy Systems degree program, and created the graduate certificate in Industrial Ecology.
As an industrial ecology scholar, her research focuses on understanding and reducing the environmental effects of many the key systems our modern world relies on including transport, civil infrastructure, and agriculture. She has authored and co-authored nearly 100 peer-reviewed journal articles, and her research has been honored with several awards including the Laudis Medal from the International Society of Industrial Ecology, UC Davis Chancellor’s Fellow award, and the UC Davis College of Engineering’s Mid-Career Research Award (2023).
Abstract:
The field of industrial ecology has long sought to understand the flows of resources and waste through our human-made systems and technologies, often with some intention of anticipating and avoiding unintended consequences. This perspective is particularly relevant to decarbonization strategies, where we have great urgency to change the technologies and operations of our energy and transport systems to meet climate targets, but which require a life cycle perspective to understand their true capacity to reduce emissions and to understand their other environmental, social or governance issues. In this talk I will discuss the use of life cycle assessment and material flow analysis for improving the transition to a decarbonized future with particular focus on electric vehicles and their batteries as a key, but not complete, solution for decarbonization of the transport sector.
Biography:
Prof. Alissa Kendall holds a degree in Environmental Engineering from Duke University (B.S.E. 2000), and a PhD jointly conferred in Environmental Engineering and Natural Resource Policy from University of Michigan Ann Arbor (2007) for work conducted at the Center for Sustainable Systems. Prior to pursuing her graduate education, she worked as an automotive product development engineer focusing on hybrid and electric vehicles. She joined UC Davis as an assistant professor in 2007 and is now the Ray B. Krone Endowed Professor of Environmental Engineering in the UC Davis Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and is the Director of the UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies. During her time at UC Davis, she co-founded and chaired the Energy Graduate Group, an interdisciplinary Energy Systems degree program, and created the graduate certificate in Industrial Ecology.
As an industrial ecology scholar, her research focuses on understanding and reducing the environmental effects of many the key systems our modern world relies on including transport, civil infrastructure, and agriculture. She has authored and co-authored nearly 100 peer-reviewed journal articles, and her research has been honored with several awards including the Laudis Medal from the International Society of Industrial Ecology, UC Davis Chancellor’s Fellow award, and the UC Davis College of Engineering’s Mid-Career Research Award (2023).
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