News Release| Hydrogen Research & Fueling Facility; Cal State L.A.

August 1, 2012

Cal State L.A. to receive $400,000 from U.S. Department of Energy to provide data from its new hydrogen fueling station 

DOE to use data to help lower costs, improve operations and help reduce imported energy 

Los Angeles, CA – To help provide American businesses more options to cut energy costs and reduce reliance on imported oil, Cal State L.A. (CSULA) will receive $400,000 from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to collect and analyze performance data from its new hydrogen fueling station. 

CSULA’s station is one of five projects to receive funds from the DOE’s two-year, $2.4 million initiative. The DOE will use “hydrogen refueling architecture” data from CSULA’s facility to further advanced hydrogen research and help industry bring hydrogen and fuel cell technologies into the marketplace at lower cost. 

“Receiving this grant is continued validation of our efforts to position Cal State L.A. as one of the top local research and educational centers for hydrogen technology,” said David Blekhman, an associate professor in CSULA’s College of Engineering, Computer Science, and Technology. “The training opportunities the hydrogen fueling facility provides alone for our professors, staff and students are numerous. And it is a good feeling to know our work will serve a bigger purpose.”  

The DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy accelerates development and facilitates deployment of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies and market-based solutions that strengthen U.S. energy security, environmental quality, and economic vitality. 

The data provided by the fueling stations will also help hydrogen fueling equipment manufacturers improve designs to achieve higher efficiencies and test new system components.

“As part of an all-of-the-above strategy to deploy every available source of American energy, the Energy Department is committed to advancing fuel cell technologies and supporting innovative technologies that diversify our nation’s transportation sector and reduce our dependence on imported oil,” said Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy David Danielson in a statement. “The investments made today will support American manufacturing competitiveness in the next generation of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies, driving more efficient designs and new component development.”

# # #

Working for California since 1947: The 175-acre hilltop campus of California State University, Los Angeles is at the heart of a major metropolitan city, just five miles from Los Angeles’ civic and cultural center. More than 20,000 students and 225,000 alumni—with a wide variety of interests, ages and backgrounds—reflect the city’s dynamic mix of populations. Six Colleges offer nationally recognized science, arts, business, criminal justice, engineering, nursing, education and humanities programs, among others, led by an award-winning faculty. Cal State L.A. is home to the critically-acclaimed Luckman Jazz Orchestra and to the Honors College for high-achieving students. Programs that provide exciting enrichment opportunities to students and community include an NEH-supported humanities center; a NASA-funded center for space research; and a growing forensic science program, housed in the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center. www.calstatela.edu