California to get $50 million for hydrogen fuel cell research
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
(04-27) 20:39 PDT LOS ANGELES (AP) --
The U.S.
Department of Energy will provide up to $50 million in grants for
hydrogen fuel research to California institutions and companies, Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger announced Tuesday.
The money
is part of $350 million in nationwide grants, which the department
hopes will help get hydrogen-powered cars on the nation's roads by
2015.
"These
grants demonstrate the federal government's confidence in California's
ability to pave the way towards an environmentally sound future and
will help us to realize our vision of a hydrogen highway system,"
Schwarzenegger said.
The grants
will go to three University of California campuses -- Berkeley, Davis
and Santa Barbara -- as well as Sandia National Laboratory in Livermore
and PolyFuel, Inc. in Mountain View.
Funding for these institutions will total between $35 million and $50 million over five years, Schwarzenegger said.
Last week,
Schwarzenegger announced ambitious plans to have a system of 200
hydrogen-fueling stations built throughout the state over the next six
years.
Many
automakers have experimented with cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells,
which have engines that run on electricity created by the chemical
reaction between hydrogen and oxygen.
