Texto Arnold

Governor Schwarzenegger today announced that the University of California Berkeley received a $500 million grant from BP to establish the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI). Universities and research institutions around the world competed for this prestigious grant from BP. University of California Berkeley will partner with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on this groundbreaking project. Announcing the grant, Governor Schwarzenegger was joined by Governor Rod Blagojevich of Illinois, Robert C. Dynes, President, University of California, Robert A. Malone, Chairman and President, BP America, and other state and university officials. “I can’t tell you how excited I am that BP has chosen UC Berkeley and California for its new $500 Million Energy Biosciences Institute,” said Gov. Schwarzenegger. “I’m proud that the private sector has once again recognized the world-class stature of the University of California and our state’s unshakeable commitment to transforming to a clean energy future in an economy-boosting manner. This is a perfect complement to our new low-carbon fuel standard which will more than triple alternative fuel demand in California by 2020, and with research facilities like the Energy Biosciences Institute, California will continue to be the leader in the Cleantech industry.” EBI is the first public-private research lab dedicated to renewable fuels and clean energy. Last month, the Governor included $40 million in lease revenue bonds for the EBI in his 2007-08 budget, demonstrating California’s commitment to keeping the University of California system at the forefront of research and innovation. The Governor’s EBI funding proposal was a major factor in BP’s decision to select the University of California and formed part of the Governor’s Research and Innovation Initiative announced on December 27, 2006 that provides funding for key innovation sectors, including cleantech, biotech and nanotech. Other parts of the Initiative include $30 million in lease revenue bonds for the Helios Project, $19.8 million in annual operating cost funds for the California Institutes for Science and Innovation, and the first $5 million increment in state matching funds to enhance the University of California’s bid to build a $200 million Petascale computer. Also, the Governor and Administration officials met or spoke with BP executives on many occasions over the last several months to discuss the $500 million grant proposal. Last month, Governor Schwarzenegger established the world’s first low carbon standard (LCFS) for transportation fuels that requires fuel providers to reduce the carbon intensity of transportation fuels sold in California. Yesterday the European Union followed with a similar directive. This first-of-its kind standard firmly establishes sustainable demand for lower-carbon fuels but without favoring one fuel or another. Fuel providers can meet the LCFS through a variety of means, including producing and selling cleaner-burning fuels such as those to be researched and developed by EBI. Last September, Gov. Schwarzenegger signed the Global Warming Solutions Action of 2006, California’s landmark bill that established a first-in-the-world comprehensive program of regulatory and market mechanisms to achieve real, quantifiable, cost-effective reductions of greenhouse gases. Like the bill, the LCFS relies on market-based mechanisms to reduce emissions at the lowest cost and in the most consumer-friendly ways.