Gov. Schwarzenegger Applauds $122 Million Award to California Team for Energy Innovation Hub

Statement

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today issued the following statement after the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced an award of up to $122 million over five years to the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP), an Energy Innovation Hub with a team of leading researchers tasked with developing revolutionary methods to generate fuels directly from sunlight:

"California has always been the birthplace for the nation and the world's newest wave of research and innovation, so it couldn't be more fitting the Department of Energy chose our state for this groundbreaking work. This energy hub will bring together some of the best minds to work on solutions that will reduce our dependence on oil and increase our energy security, all while creating jobs in our state. We have always led the way in California, and this impressive team will help further advance our global leadership in clean energy technologies."

The Governor sent a letter to Energy Secretary Steven Chu in March urging the DOE to pick California for the proposed national Fuels from Sunlight Innovation Hub.

The JCAP will be led by the California Institute of Technology in partnership with the U.S. DOE's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and other participating institutions including SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford, California; the University of California, Berkeley; the University of California, Santa Barbara; the University of California, Irvine; and the University of California, San Diego. The goal of the Hub is to develop an integrated solar energy-to-chemical fuel conversion system and move this system from the bench-top discovery phase to a scale where it can be commercialized. The Hub will be funded at up to $22 million this fiscal year and is one of only three that will receive funding this year. For more information visit: http://www.energy.gov/news/9243.htm.

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