Former Agoura High School student works on a zero-emissions car
Agoura grad races to finish
By Stephanie Bertholdo bertholdo@theacorn.com

STEPHANIE BERTHOLDO/Acorn Newspapers FUELING THEIR IMAGINATION- Students Jorge Pena Lopez and Jeff Jonokuchi speak with former Assemblymember Fran Pavley about their work in the international Formula Zero competition that aims to create a zero-emissions car. Pavley, who championed several "green" bills while in office, gave the students tips on who to contact to gain support for their project.

Jeff Jonokuchi is a college student working for a world with less pollution.

Jonokuchi, an aerospace engineering student at UCLA, is part of a team of students racing to build a zero-emissions car and win the international Formula Zero competition. Teams from universities around the world are creating zero-emissions go-karts and competing in races to generate interest in fuelcell technologies. The next leg of the competition is scheduled for Aug. 14 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and the final race will take place in early 2009.

Jonokuchi, a 21-year-old graduate of Agoura High School, became interested in the Formula Zero competition after his friend Matt Wong saw a television series called "FutureCar."

The race to join the race unfolded quickly. UCLA professor Dr. Vasilios Manousiouthakis, a leader in hydrogen economy and green manufacturing who is known for his work on the hydrogen fuel cell for DaimlerMercedes-Benz, jumped on board as chair, as did mechanical engineering professor Robert Shahram Schaefer, who is helping with the kart design and construction.

The 2008 Formula Zero Championship is designed as a race similar to the Formula One series, with the difference that the karts are powered by hydrogen fuel cells.

"All (our kart) needs is hydrogen, and it outputs electricity and pure water," Jonokuchi said about the technology. "The output water is so pure that it isn't safe to drink because there are no electrolytes or minerals."

Such technology doesn't come cheap. Of the 12 international university teams that competed in February to make the final cut, only six teams were awarded the $80,000 hydrogen fuel cell to power their karts for the final summer race.

"I became an engineer for one underlying reason- I want to save the world," Jonokuchi said. "I feel clean energy solutions have a very large effect on the future of civilization, and by laying the groundwork now, it makes it much easier to implement these new technologies in the future."

Jonokuchi started out as the lead of the chassis group, but was recently appointed project lead. Jorge Pena Lopez, 26, leads the group on safety, a critical job since hydrogen is explosive.

"It is explosive, but there are ways of handling problems," Lopez said. Rubber fuel tanks to prevent punctures have been developed as one safety measure, and several other design innovations have either been developed or are under development, he said. "I am one of the few people who think hydrogen is the way to go for fuels," Lopez said.

Other students oversee various aspects of the team, including powertrain, hydrogen system, controls/software and public relations. In all, there are 20 students working on the project, Jonokuchi said.

Funding for the project has been a challenge, he said. "Because of the economic climate, we have been having a very hard time looking for people interested in this project," he said. "Many of our parts are cutting edge and not mass-produced. For example, this kart uses supercapacitors- essentially batteries, but they can allow for quick bursts of speed- that cost about $3,000 each. We need two."

The team has attracted some high-profile sponsors, including UCLA, Solidworks, TurboTools, TW Metals and Tesoro, an oil refinery company in Southern California. But the team needs many more sponsors to develop their zero-emissions car. Jonokuchi said the kart will cost at least $30,000.

The students recently met with former Assembly member Fran Pavley to discuss support for the project since Pavley passed two key pieces of legislation while in office- Assembly Bill 32, the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, and Assembly Bill 1493, the Clean Car Regulations law. Both laws require reductions in greenhouse gases to combat global warming.

Pavley gave the team members some fundraising advice and suggested contacting specific venture capitalists working on clean technology, as well as Terry Tamminen, secretary of California's Environmental Protection Agency who is known for his strong stance in support of hydrogen use.

"We're in the middle of a revolution," Pavley said about the swelling support for green technology, including hydrogen, solar power, green building design and other nonpolluting, renewable energy sources. California is leading the way to being the home of "green collar jobs," she said. "It is the issue that will define your generation."

Terilyn Finders, a member of the Las Virgenes Unified School District board of education, said, "With all the attention on greenhouse gases and the need to focus innovative energy toward our environment, the UCLA team is an example of young minds working to make a critical contribution toward eco-friendly designs."

Jonokuchi is looking forward to the competition and the possibility of winning "bragging rights" for being the team that won the first Formula Zero competition.

Lopez looks toward a cleaner, greener world. "It has to happen," he said of the need for alternative, clean fuels. "It has to happen now."