Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Partnership to Receive up to $122 million for Advanced Energy Project to Develop Fuels from Sunlight
Washington, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-09) hailed the Department of Energy’s announcement that a project led by the California Institute of Technology (Cal Tech), in partnership with the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), will receive up to $122 million over 5 years for the establishment a Fuels From Sunlight Energy Innovation Hub. The partnership project, known as the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP), is aimed at developing processes for fuel production utilizing energy derived from sunlight.
“I am pleased the Department of Energy has chosen to leverage the enormous technological capacity and expertise of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and other fine California Institutions to make the generation of fuels from sunlight a reality,” said Congresswoman Barbara Lee. “The development of truly clean and renewable sources of fuel is one of the greatest imperatives of our time, particularly in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill, now the greatest environmental disaster in America’s history.”
“The JCAP project will not only conduct applied research on the science behind the solar fuel systems of tomorrow, but will also take the critical step of bringing these technologies to scale for commercial application. I applaud the Administration’s decision and am confident this research has the potential to revolutionize our economy as well as the daily lives of individuals across the country.”
Research conducted at California JCAP sites will result in the direct creation of more than 100 jobs, not including construction and related procurement. Cal Tech and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory will be joined in this project by 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 Fuels From Sunlight Energy Innovation Hub is one of three planned DOE Energy Innovation Hubs to receive funding in the year 2010 and will receive up to $22 million in Fiscal Year 2010. More information on the Hubs can be found at: http://www.energy.gov/hubs/
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