August 2004

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A new report by the University of California, Berkeley’s Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory (RAEL) says California is on the verge of becoming a global leader in clean energy with a sustainable hydrogen economy but only if there is strategic investment in renewable energy research and development. “The focus on hydrogen makes more sense if it is put in the broader context of California clean energy,” the university release cites lead author Timothy Lipman, an assistant research engineer with the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Berkeley and UC Davis. “We support increased efforts to explore the use of hydrogen, but key technical and economic challenges remain, and its benefits will take some time to be realized. We should also expand the use of renewable energy and pursue energy efficiency measures as other key ingredients of a more sustainable future.” The other co-authors are RAEL director Daniel Kammen and Joan Ogden and Daniel Sperling at the UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies. Other contributors include Peter Lehman of Humboldt State University, as well as researchers from UC Davis, UC Berkeley and California Environmental Associates. Contact/Source: www.berkeley.edu.