News Coverage: Pre-2006

Governor appoints energy professor emeritus Robert Sawyer to chair Air Resources Board 12.23.2005 UC Berkeley
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday (Dec. 22) announced the appointment of Robert Sawyer, engineering professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, as chair of the state Air Resources Board (ARB).

Transportation researchers get DaimlerChrysler hydrogen car for the holidays 12.20.2005 UC Berkeley
DaimlerChrysler officially handed the keys to the F-Cell, the company's limited production hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, to UC Berkeley transportation researchers on Tuesday, Dec. 20, as part of a two-year field test. The project is connected to the U.S. Department of Energy's effort to assess the viability of hydrogen vehicle and infrastructure technology in real world settings.

Driving hydrogen car research 11.5.2005 Science Matters@Berkeley
While eco-friendly hybrid automobiles gain popularity, researchers are already developing cars with no emissions at all. Powered by hydrogen fuel cells, future automobiles may travel long distances with only water dribbling out of the exhaust pipe. The path to the hydrogen economy isn't smoothly paved though. One big question is whether a safe and practical hydrogen storage system can be built to carry enough fuel for long journeys. To that end, UC Berkeley chemist Jeff Long is developing novel nanomaterials for tomorrow's hydrogen fuel tanks.

Sunny Future for Nanocrystal Solar Cells 10.20.2005 LBNL
Researchers with Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley have developed the first ultra-thin solar cells comprised entirely of inorganic nanocrystals and spin-cast from solution. These dual nanocrystal solar cells are as cheap and easy to make as solar cells made from organic polymers, and could pave the way to a future where the rooftops of residential homes and commercial buildings can be laminated with semiconductors that will efficiently convert sunlight into electrical power and provide virtually all of our electricity needs.

Growing energy: Berkeley Lab's Steve Chu on what termite guts have to do with global warming 10.3.2005 UC Berkeley
Steven Chu, director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory since 2004, is on a mission: challenging scientists to find environmentally friendly energy alternatives to fossil fuels. Here, Chu discusses the future of the world's fuel supply, what termite guts and manure piles can teach us, and why we shouldn't be writing off nuclear energy.

Investment in energy R&D declines despite supply problems 9.26.2005 UC Berkeley
With hurricanes interrupting the nation's energy supply, war amid the oil fields of the Middle East, and calls to drill in the nation's protected areas, it is ironic that investiments in energy research and development have steadily dropped in the last two decades, writes UC Berkeley's Dan Kammen. This decline is reflected in the federal budget and, to a greater extent, in investments by U.S. companies.

Researchers develop technique to use dirty silicon, could pave way for cheaper solar energy 8.15.2005 UC Berkeley
A research team led by engineers at UC Berkeley has developed a new technique to handle metal defects in cheap, low-grade silicon, an advance that could dramatically reduce the cost of solar cells. Instead of removing the impurities — a difficult and costly solution — the researchers are leaving them in but manipulating them to reduce their detrimental impact on the solar cell efficiency.

Hunting for Black Gold 4.2005 UC Berkeley College of Engineering
In the classic Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy film Boom Town, the characters determine where to drill for oil by looking at the lay of the land. In reality, a lot of black gold was found that way. Wild catters looked for telltale topographical signs that indicated underground reservoirs. These days though, the tried-and-true technique doesn't work so well. The oil and gas reserves in this country are depleting rapidly, requiring a high-resolution view of the subsurface long before the big drills are brought in. To create these images, UC Berkeley professor James Rector applies technology more commonly seen in the doctor's office.

Study of energy and health in Africa focuses spotlight on charcoal and forest management 3.31.2005 UC Berkeley
As Britain and other countries promise to focus more attention on Africa, UC Berkeley and Harvard researchers have identified one area where investment could yield big health and environmental savings. By helping Africa establish a more efficient way to produce charcoal, the developing world can help promote a cleaner burning fuel, save tropical forests and lower greenhouse gas production.

UCB center wins funding to develop wireless lighting controls 9.24.2004 UC Berkeley
Building science researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have received a grant from the California Energy Commission to develop a flexible, low-cost lighting control system that could provide commercial building owners with significant energy savings and more satisfied tenants. The research team, based at the campus's Center for the Built Environment (CBE), will construct the system using miniature, low-power radio technology being developed at UC Berkeley.

UC Berkeley researchers identify chlorophyll-regulating gene 9.23.2004 UC Berkeley
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have identified a critical gene for plants that start their lives as seeds buried in soil. They say the burial of seeds was an adaptation that likely helped plants spread from humid, wet climates to drier, hostile environments. In a study published in the Sept. 24 issue of the journal Science, the researchers found that a gene called phytochrome-interacting factor 1, or PIF1, affects the production of protochlorophyll, a precursor of the chlorophyll used by plants to convert the sun's energy into food during photosynthesis.

Time is right for hydrogen fuel in California, concludes new policy report 7.26.2004 UC Berkeley
California is poised to become a global leader in clean energy with a sustainable "hydrogen economy," but only if there is strategic investment in renewable energy research and development, says a new report published by UC Berkeley's Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory.

UC Berkeley researcher wins award for work on human thermal comfort model 7.7.2004 UC Berkeley
Researcher Zhang Hui has helped develop a sophisticated mathematical model to predict human thermal comfort that can be used to design energy-efficient temperature systems that make people more comfortable in vehicles, buildings and outdoor spaces.

A Catalyst for Nano-Energy Innovation 7.2004 UC Berkeley College of Engineering
A new UC Berkeley research center will enable faculty and students to further focus their energy on nanotechnology, and vice versa. In June, Taiwan's largest research organization, the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), and the University launched the Berkeley-ITRI Research Center to spur development of powerful energy technologies based on Berkeley's nanoscale innovations--from flexible solar cells fabricated onto plastic to a "bio battery" powered by the glucose in your body.

Investment in renewable energy better for jobs as well as environment 4.13.2004 UC Berkeley
A new assessment of the economic effects of building up this country's renewable energy sector reinforces the results of previous studies: that investing in renewable energy sources creates more jobs than an equivalent investment in the fossil fuel sector that dominate the energy industry today.

Technology opens door to cheap, plastic solar cells 3.28.2002 UC Berkeley
Chemists have found a way to make cheap plastic solar cells flexible enough to paint onto any surface. Initial efforts are promising and future work will focus on improving their efficiency.