Specialized in Energy Economics, Dr. Yang has a broad background of engineering, economy, and environmental science. She focuses on energy economics, management and policy study based on systems accounting for environmental and ecological impacts from renewable energies and carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technologies. She have been involved in the life cycle assessment of nonrenewable energy consumption, pollutant emissions, greenhouse gas emissions, economical cost from renewable energy derived processes and CCS technologies in global, national, city, plant scales, by using and modifying of a range of systems methods- energy analysis, exergy analysis, eMergy analysis, life cycle assessment and ecological footprint.

She have also devoted to experimental study of the mechanism of biomass advanced thermal conversion technologies-biomass torrefaction and pyrolysis, combined with reflections and feedbacks from systems accounting. She is developing new generations of catalysts, reactors and computational models that are essential for understanding, controlling and optimizing the chemical transformation of biomass to fuels and chemicals. A number of these technologies are moving rapidly towards commercialization. Her group’s novel poly-generation biomass pyrolysis demonstration plant has gained international attention and a “Blue Sky Award” by United Nations Industrial Development Organization.

With more than 50 papers been published in peer-review based journals, including 3 highly-cited papers and 1 hot paper by ESI, and 1 paper ranking Top25 hottest papers by Elsevier, her total citation is 1400 by google scholar for all the papers, with a H index of 22. And she also serves as peer reviewer for more than 10 prestigious international journals, while have reviewed more than 100 papers from them and provided useful comments.

She also holds the membership of Internatinal Association of Energy Economics (IAEE) and System Dynamics Association (SDA), and serves as deputy secretary general for the National Association of New Energy Sciences and Engineering speciality.