2020 Stanford Energy Internships in California and the West: California Air Resources Board
State- and city-level efforts are essential in our fight against climate change, especially in the field of energy. Stanford Energy Internships in California and the West (SEICW)—an energy-related summer internship program—places some of Stanford University’s best students in key and influential positions in the local energy and climate-related ecosystem. This position is funded. You will be one of two Stanford students placed at the California Air Resources Board (CARB); their office is located in Sacramento, California.
The program runs from Monday, June 22, 2020 to Friday, August 28, 2020.
Organization/Agency mission or role in state government
The California Air Resources Board, established in 1967 by action of the California Legislature and the late Governor Ronald Reagan, is the state agency charged with promoting and protecting public health, welfare and ecological resources through the effective and efficient reduction of air and climate pollutants, while recognizing and considering the effects on the state’s economy. Since its formation, CARB has worked with the public, the business sector, and local governments to find solutions to California’s air pollution problems. More recently, CARB is also focusing on climate change and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions. The resulting state air quality and climate actions led by CARB continue to outpace the rest of the nation and lead the world in promoting clean and low-carbon policies.
Potential Areas for Internship Projects
The intern, depending on qualifications and interests, will have the opportunity to help CARB program staff (most of them scientists and engineers) research, develop, design, analyze, interpret, and report various policies aimed at supporting the transition of the transportation sector in California to clean, low-carbon technologies and fuels—including the electrification of vehicles and promotion renewable electricity and hydrogen. In all cases, the interns will have a chance to emphasize either the technical or policy aspects of the work based on priorities, interests, and direction from the CARB mentor. The interns will also contribute to the preparation of official documents for public release, and will be expected to prepare an internship report as a final work product and to offer an exit seminar open to all CARB staff.
Potential Projects
- Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEVs) and Emergency Preparedness/Response: Climate change impacts and recent wildfire activity in California has highlighted the need for resilient and redundant energy infrastructure resources. ZEV technologies—including battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs)—have been developed with significant capabilities for interaction with the current and future electric grid, presenting an opportunity for ZEVs to provide emergency power when needed. Building on recent vehicle grid integration activities in California, this project would assess the opportunity for FCEVs and BEVs to provide back-up power capability from both a technical and economic standpoint. The project will also assess the near-term opportunity and local planning needs for hydrogen and electric vehicle fueling stations to be developed with backup power sources to ensure refueling when electric grid power is not available.
- Consumer ZEV Awareness: A major barrier to increasing ZEV market growth is the lack of consumer awareness of ZEVs and their related refueling infrastructure, despite various efforts on ZEV marketing, education, and awareness campaigns over many years. This lack of awareness includes the most fundamental ZEV facts, starting with the lack of awareness of the present opportunities to drive and buy ZEVs. Given the need to increase ZEV awareness, this project will include a comprehensive review of the various ZEV marketing, education, and outreach efforts across California to identify opportunities for collaboration. This project will also survey consumer ZEV awareness, with a focus on exploring common barriers to zero-emission-vehicle adoption (e.g., ZEV refueling, pricing, reliability, ZEV access, and convenience).
- CA Green Building Standards and Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Infrastructure Conversion Rates: The California’s Green Building Standards (CALGreen) Code requires new residential and nonresidential buildings to install EV-capable infrastructure in a certain percentage of parking spaces. EV-capable infrastructure includes raceway and panel capacity for future equipment installation. In addition to new construction requirements, a 2013 settlement agreement between the California Public Utilities Commission and NRG Energy included at least 10,000 make-ready stubs at existing facilities for future equipment installation. While these planning efforts prepare the state for future installations, little is known about how many EV-capable or make-ready spaces have chargers installed on them. This project would evaluate the effectiveness of current policy by investigating the conversion rate of EV-capable spaces to EV-ready spaces by installing electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE). The intern will utilize research methods such as survey design and data exploration, and will collaborate with other state agencies.
- Electricity Pricing for ZEV Refueling: Electricity pricing and rate design for electric vehicle charging and hydrogen fueling has been highlighted as a critical need in expanding the ZEV market by ensuring affordability. Understanding rates that are used for residential plug-in electric vehicle charging and for both FCEV and plug-in commercial applications (e.g., for H2 electrolysis or DC fast chargers) across the state is an important first step in evaluating future rate designs. This project will create a database of electricity prices for residential and commercial ZEV infrastructure applications and will evaluate the impact of these rates on ZEV infrastructure business models.
Potential Mentors
- Elise Keddie, Manager, Zero Emission Vehicle Implementation
- Gerhard Achtelik, Manager, Zero Emission Vehicle Infrastructure
- Marissa Williams, Air Pollution Specialist, ZEV Infrastructure Section
- Leslie Baroody, Air Pollution Specialist, ZEV Implementation Section
- Basic understanding of California’s efforts for clean air and climate change protection and the role of public policy
- General knowledge of environmental management and of CARB and its function in the context of regulatory policy and setting emission standards for vehicles, engines, and equipment
- Strong communication skills (both written and oral)
- A demonstrated desire to work in a team environment and to learn from seasoned, expert practitioners and creators of internationally-recognized environmental policies for mobile sources
- A major in engineering, the physical sciences, and/or public policy is applicable background for this internship.
- All SEICW students must be enrolled in the spring quarter before their SEICW internship. Absolutely no exceptions are made to this rule.
- All SEICW students must take a one-unit workshop spring course, 'Energy Policy in California and the West' taught by Bruce Cain and Sally Benson that will provide an in-depth analysis of the role of California state agencies, the Western Interstate Energy Board, and the Western Electricity Coordinating Council in driving energy policy development, technology innovation, and market structures. Course number is CEE 263G / POLISCI 73 / PUBLPOL 73. This course must be taken in person.
Please note that this opportunity is for graduate students. Interested undergraduates can apply via SIG.