Gas Prices May Fuel Alternative Thinking

UC Berkeley sophomore Bonnie Zeng sighs when she passes the Shell gas station on Durant Avenue and Fulton Street. As of yesterday, the sign read $4.29 per gallon.

But while rising gas prices are upsetting many local car owners, some members of UC Berkeley's academic community say they want gas prices to remain high. Their argument: High gas prices fuel good behavior.

Legislators are showing more interest in funding alternatives to an increasingly expensive gas economy, according to Boalt Hall School of Law student Henry Stern, who co-chairs the Berkeley Energy & Resource Collaborative.

Since September 2007, the average price for a gallon of gas in the U.S. has risen by more than one dollar, according to a study by the U.S. Department of Energy.

Stern said high gas prices are fostering the right climate for innovative energy research.

"It's tough for a politician to say it, but high gas prices can be a good thing." he said. "When you know gas is going to cost a lot, you are going to call for change, whether that's better transportation, different fuels or less transportation-reliant cities."

Stern added that additional interest in research funding could mean more projects related to alternative energy on campus, but it may have a marginal impact since the campus is already "ahead of the curve" on research relating to alternatives to gas dependency.

Campus researchers are currently studying a range of alternatives to fossil fuels, including biofuels, electric vehicle batteries and public transportation development.

UC Berkeley mechanical engineering professor Van Carey is one of multiple researchers at the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society focusing on a project which looks to find alternatives to a gas-based economy.

Carey said his study aims to design engines that can run effectively on a diverse set of fuels.

"Most conventional engines are designed to optimize efficiency for a particular type of fuel," Carey said. "We are trying to figure out how you can make those adjustments ... when you have an engine that may be asked to (use) a variety of different fuels."

But Carey's research presents a potential Catch-22 to Stern's argument that high gas prices promote a favorable research climate.

According to Carey, developing alternative fuel technology should increase competition and reduce gas prices. However, it is Stern's notion that high gas prices create a favorable political climate for promoting research.

Stern is not convinced that the research could actually lower the price of gas, calling present gas prices "a long-term economic reality."

Alternatively, Stern said the only way to lower costs for consumers would be to continue the currently ongoing research on gas alternatives. Any viable alternative to gas would have to compete on a level playing field and be cheap for consumers.

"Rising gas prices are forcing profit industry and folks who aren't concerned about polar bears to look for something more cost-effective," Stern said. "The market is lining up not because it's morally right, but because it makes sense."

Tags: GAS PRICES, CENTER FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH IN THE INTEREST OF SOCIETY