Sustainable Transportation 

CE-CERT is a collaborative research center focused on air quality, transportation, and energy

CE-CERT is addressing this issue by accelerating the transition to renewable energy through technologies that create energy from waste, capitalize on the sustainable energy sources that exist in nature, and explore methods to store, allocate, and integrate renewable energy with existing infrastructure.

Over the past 5 years, UC Riverside has played a central role in the validation of portable emissions measurement systems (PEMS) for use in EPA’s in-use testing program of heavy-duty vehicles through the Measurement Allowance Program. UCR participated in the in-use testing and validation portion of this program utilizing UC Riverside’s Mobile Emissions Laboratory (MEL). 

The MEL is a full dilution system equipped in a 53’ trailer that is 1065 compliant and was cross correlated twice with Southwest Research Institute as part of the Measurement Allowance program. The in-use evaluations and validation played a critical role in developing the Measurement Allowance values for both gas-phase and Particulate Matter (PM) PEMS. 

UC Riverside has also been a leading research institute in the characterization of in-use emissions using PEMS and the MEL. This has included measurements of light-duty vehicles, heavy-duty vehicles, construction equipment, ships, port support equipment, trains, and even jet aircraft.

As part of these studies, UC Riverside has constructed some of the most comprehensive PEMs systems. This includes a PEMS system based around the AVL’s microsoot sensor (MSS) with either an AVL or Sensor Inc. gas-phase PEMS. The AVL MSS was the best performing instrument for in-use PM measurements in EPAs Measurement Allowance program.

Established in 1992, CE-CERT brings together multiple disciplines to address society's most pressing environmental challenges in air quality, climate change, energy and transportation.