NewsWatch: 2006: Energy Center

[Narrator:] From the University of California at Davis, this is NewsWatch.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] In recognition of its strengths in technology, UC Davis was recently awarded a $1 million grant for the creation of the nation's first center for energy efficiency.

[Arnold Schwarzenegger:] Most of all I want to say thank you to everyone at UC Davis, here, for their commitment to the environment and for California's future.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] The nonprofit California Clean Energy Fund awarded UC Davis the challenge grant over Stanford University and UC Berkeley.

[Michael Peevey:] Energy efficiency is number one in the energy action plan of the State of California. It's the top priority, before renewables, before solar, before transmission, before anything else.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] The Energy Center will bring together leaders in academia, industry and the investment community to advance innovation.

[Andy Hargadon:] If you look at the history of energy use in the U.S., efficiencies always bring more money to the bottom line. And so our trick is going to be developing the science and putting it in a business model that makes it clear for the businesses, for the consumers, that they are going to make money by saving money.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] The focus of the center will be three fold: reducing fuel used in our cars, saving water and energy in agriculture, and reducing electricity used in homes and office buildings.

[Dan Adler:] The lighting technologies that are in place in today's buildings are woefully inadequate. We have had for decades the technology in the lab and even in the stores that could radically improve lighting efficiencies. It's just a matter of having an organized approach to getting them out and installed.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] If commerce is the engine for change, then this center is going to change the way energy efficiency is researched and implemented. Reporting from UC Davis, I'm Paul Pfotenhauer.

[Narrator:] For more information, please log on to broadcast.ucdavis.edu.