California Gets Ready for Hydrogen Fueled Cars
California is building a network of hydrogen refueling stations with funding by the California Energy Commission to support the growing number of zero-emission hydrogen fuel-cell cars hitting the marketplace. The cars have a similar driving range as cars that run on petroleum, but don’t pollute.
The Energy Commission has provided funding for 49 hydrogen refueling stations and hopes to open 46 stations by the end of 2015. The first station opened in September 2014 in West Sacramento and the second station opened in March this year in Diamond Bar.
The Energy Commission supports hydrogen-fuel cell vehicles as one of several alternative and renewable fueled vehicles, including plug in electric cars, which will help California cut its petroleum use in half by 2030 and help achieve the state’s clean air and climate goals. Hear more in this video shot at the opening of the Diamond Bar station.
The Energy Commission has provided funding for 49 hydrogen refueling stations and hopes to open 46 stations by the end of 2015. The first station opened in September 2014 in West Sacramento and the second station opened in March this year in Diamond Bar.
The Energy Commission supports hydrogen-fuel cell vehicles as one of several alternative and renewable fueled vehicles, including plug in electric cars, which will help California cut its petroleum use in half by 2030 and help achieve the state’s clean air and climate goals. Hear more in this video shot at the opening of the Diamond Bar station.
Water Saving Projects Get a Boost from California Energy Commission
With California in the midst of an extended drought, finding resourceful ways to conserve water is a priority. One of the best ways to save water is to reuse it, and the California Energy Commission recently invested in innovative technologies that treat industrial wastewater for reuse.
In May, grants were awarded to:
This is the second waterless CO2Nexus project the Energy Commission has invested in. The company received $400,000 in 2010 to demonstrate the first ever commercial use of liquid carbon dioxide to clean garments used in high-tech cleanrooms at an Aramark Uniform Services clean laundry facility in Los Angeles.
The grants lay a foundation for the Water Energy Technology (WET) program — one of the four Energy Commission responsibilities in Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr.’s April 1 drought-related Executive Order. The WET program will launch this summer and provide funds for cutting-edge technologies that:
To learn about all the actions the state has taken to manage our water system and cope with the impacts of the drought, visit Drought.CA.Gov. To learn more about how you can conserve water, visit SaveOurWater.com.
In May, grants were awarded to:
- Porifera Inc., of Hayward – $3.2 million to demonstrate its proprietary filtration process that purifies industrial wastewater so it can be reused onsite and $2.4 million to demonstrate its proprietary filtration process used in the food and beverage industry to make juice concentrates and purify wastewater for reuse onsite.
- Kennedy/Jenks Consultants of Rancho Cordova – $3.4 million to demonstrate a filtration technology that significantly increases organic material removal at wastewater treatment plants, thereby reducing the amount of energy required for secondary treatments.
- UC Riverside – $3 million to demonstrate an energy management system that reduces the cost to treat wastewater. Another way to save water is to not use any at all. CO2Nexus received a $900,000 grant to demonstrate its system that uses liquid carbon dioxide instead of water to clean military uniforms and field gear such as Kevlar-ballistic vests, flame resistant garments, sleeping bags and tents. The three-year demonstration will be held at Naval Base Ventura County, Port Hueneme.
This is the second waterless CO2Nexus project the Energy Commission has invested in. The company received $400,000 in 2010 to demonstrate the first ever commercial use of liquid carbon dioxide to clean garments used in high-tech cleanrooms at an Aramark Uniform Services clean laundry facility in Los Angeles.
The grants lay a foundation for the Water Energy Technology (WET) program — one of the four Energy Commission responsibilities in Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr.’s April 1 drought-related Executive Order. The WET program will launch this summer and provide funds for cutting-edge technologies that:
- Display significant water savings, energy savings and greenhouse gas emission reductions.
- Demonstrate actual operation beyond the research and development stage.
- Document readiness for rapid, large-scale deployment in California.
To learn about all the actions the state has taken to manage our water system and cope with the impacts of the drought, visit Drought.CA.Gov. To learn more about how you can conserve water, visit SaveOurWater.com.
Mexico and California: A Shared Border and Clean Energy Future
By Robert B. Weisenmiller (First published at the World Economic Forum)
California is known for many things: its natural beauty, Hollywood, Route 66 and the most famous bridge in the world. It is also known for making history.
When Jerry Brown was sworn in as governor last January, he made history. It was not only his fourth term, he made history by proposing three ambitious climate and clean energy goals to be accomplished by 2030:
- Increase from one-third to 50 percent electricity derived from renewable sources;
- Reduce today's petroleum use in cars and trucks by up to 50 percent; and
- Double the efficiency of existing buildings and make heating fuels cleaner.
California is hitting near-term goals and reaping economic benefits from doing so. Yet because the world’s eighth largest economy is only responsible for one percent of total global emissions, it is looking beyond its borders to fight global warming.
Governor Brown said it best while addressing the United Nations Climate Summit last September: "I believe that from the bottom up, we can make real impact and we need to join together. We’re signing MOUs with Quebec and British Columbia, with Mexico, with states in China and wherever we can find partners, because we know we have to do it all."
Consider: Quebec and Ontario Canada now participate in California’s historic cap-and-trade market. British Columbia belongs to the Pacific Coast Action Plan on Climate and Energy. Continuing efforts to spur further reductions, economic growth and development with Mexico, Governor Brown led a delegation of state officials (I participated as his energy expert), private-sector businesses and nongovernmental organizations last July.
During that trade and economic development mission, California and Mexico signed four MOUs. Three support leveraging shared resources (electricity grid, generation infrastructure and industry relationships) and advancing environmental protections and economic growth that will add to an existing trade in bilateral goods totaling more than $60 billion in 2013.
The climate and energy agreements are significant. When the climate MOU was signed, Mexico's Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Undersecretary Rodolfo Lacy noted that, "Mexico and California have a long and rich history of environmental cooperation, and recognize each other as strategic partners in coping with climate change challenges and protecting and preserving our natural resources. The agreement signed today will take our joint work to a whole new level of cooperation, which will reflect in tangible and concrete results that will inure to our mutual benefit.”
That agreement calls for enhanced cooperation through aligning greenhouse gas reduction programs and strategies, collaborating on fire emergency response along the border, improving air quality by reducing pollution and expanding markets for clean energy technologies. The energy MOU enables the joint promotion of energy efficiency and renewable energy and collaboration on low-carbon energy, clean technologies, biofuels and energy efficiency as a way to enhance reliability and affordability of energy supplies.
These subnational actions precede this December’s United Nations conference in Paris where more than 190 countries will be working to strike a new international climate agreement that aims to keep global warming below 2°C. In fact, Mexico and the United States are two countries that are joining forces on climate and clean energy issues and were among the first countries to submit their Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) plans to the United Nations in advance of the Paris talks. Mexico plans to cap emissions by 2026 and reduce them by 22 percent by 2030.The U.S. committed to cut emissions up to 28 percent below 2005 levels in 2025.
Addressing one of the greatest threats facing humanity is critical to limiting the environmental, economic and societal costs of a changing climate evidenced through record-breaking temperatures, more frequent extreme weather events, and historic droughts such as the one now plaguing California.
California has long been a test bed for smart environmental policies and, while the state has been an environmental leader for years, the work needed to accomplish our shared goals is just getting started. By joining with Mexico and other countries committing to ambitious reduction targets and finding ways to collaborate that benefit our economies, societies and protect an environment shared by all will help us win this fight. (Word count: 768)
Robert B. Weisenmiller is Chair of the California Energy Commission.