Energy

From Soil to Climate Solutions: Berhe Leads Sierra Nevada Research Institute into its Next Chapter

September 11, 2025

When Professor Asmeret Asefaw Berhe arrived at UC Merced in 2009, she and her husband, Professor Teamrat Ghezzehei, were leaving major research institutions to join a brand-new campus in California’s Central Valley. It was a leap of faith — one made easier by the Sierra Nevada Research...

Innovative Solar Research Highlighted During Symposium

From improving the performance and efficiency of solar cells to using solar technology to speed up fruit drying, a wide array of topics were covered by distinguished scientists at the UC Solar...

Researchers Unveil Innovative Solar Cooling Project

Using solar thermal energy to power an air conditioning unit can be difficult and expensive. But a team of researchers at the University of California, Merced, have added a game-changing advance to...

Impact: Engineers Building Sustainable Solutions

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thl53DGexFk UC Merced graduate student Brandi McKuin recently returned from a trip to India, where she spent time studying the energy needs of rural villages that have...

Cap-and-Trade Trumps Carbon Taxes for Clean Tech Adoption

A cap-and-trade system is more likely than a carbon tax system to trigger the adoption of clean energy technologies, according to a study by Professor Yihsu Chen at the University of California, ...

Global Sustainable Engineering Network to Move to UC Merced

The University of California, Merced, will become the new headquarters of Engineers for a Sustainable World effective July 1, the university announced today. Engineers for a Sustainable World (ESW)...

Southern California Edison Gives $250K for Energy, Water Research

Dozens of students at the University of California, Merced, will be able to research new ways of increasing energy efficiency and protecting our environmental resources thanks to a $250,000 gift to...

Earth Week Celebration Grows in Second Year

Now in its second year, UC Merced’s student-run Earth Week celebration is growing and evolving. Organized by junior Diana Franklin — the Associated Students of UC Merced’s Commissioner of...

Stimulus-Funded Program to Improve Campus' Energy Efficiency

The University of California, Merced, will receive $600,000 in technical assistance from the U.S. Department of Energy as part of the Commercial Building Partnerships program, which is designed to...

Professor Using Wireless Sensor to Improve HVAC Efficiency

There is no factor in a building that uses up more energy at a greater cost than heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC). Yet HVAC systems do not take advantage of technology that could make...