UC's impact — public investment at work 
Advancing green technologies
UC researchers are on the cutting edge of green technologies, from cleaner cars to cleaner fuels, from wireless sensors that can help operate buildings more efficiently to solar power breakthroughs.
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Greening buildings and operations
From cool roofs to more efficient lighting, UC researchers are advancing technologies to save energy and money. See video of how students at the University of California, San Diego, are using a network of weather-monitoring stations to help make smarter decisions about how to design and operate buildings, manage water use for irrigation, and monitor air pollution exposure.
“The world looks to California as the testing ground for next-generation automobile technologies. The shift to a hydrogen economy is not an incremental change, but rather a dramatic and fundamental shift in the way that individuals will operate their vehicles in the future.”
-- Scott Samuelsen, director, UC Irvine National Fuel Cell Research Center
Moving toward sustainable transportation
From hydrogen fuel cell vehicles to plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, UC researchers are studying ways to improve next-generation automobiles and reduce our dependence on oil.
Shining a light on solar power
As interest grows in using energy from the sun, UC researchers are studying ways to produce solar power more cheaply and efficiently, including a nanostructured thin film at UC Santa Cruz.
Campus links:
Find out more about what UC is doing in green technology research.
- UC Santa Barbara launches Institute for Energy Efficiency
- UC Davis launches Energy Efficiency Center
- Berkeley Lab helps green the Capitol
- UC Davis will study users of new plug-in hybrid cars
- UC Irvine to test new plug-in hybrid electric vehicle
- UCLA solution to chemical mystery could yield more efficient hydrogen cars
- PG&E donates $1 million, 2 natural gas cars to support UC Merced engineering students
- UCLA researchers break new ground in plastic solar cell fabrication
- UC Davis solar technology licensed
- UC Berkeley study finds cloudy outlook for solar panels
- Higher efficiency organic solar cell created by UC Santa Barbara Nobel Laureate and research team
Latest budget news
- UC Regents approve plans to trim enrollment, freeze senior management pay as part of response to state budget challenge
- Summary of governor's 2009-10 budget proposal for UC (pdf)
- UC President Mark G. Yudof statement on governor's 2009-10 state budget proposal
- UC President Mark G. Yudof: Our future: human capital
- Making the case for UC
- UC Office of the President cuts budget more than $60 million
- Governor's mid-year cuts include new reduction for UC
- UC Regents approve final budget for 2008-09
Did you know?
- Today, UC is helping California take a leading global role in critical new industries – from nanotechnology to digital media to “green” technology – and is working on innovations to drive the next wave of California’s economic growth.
- For the past 12 years, UC has developed more patents than any other university in the nation – and its researchers produce on average three new inventions a day.
- A UC engineer invented the ground-fault interrupter, found today in virtually every electrical outlet in every home and office. UC also developed the compact fluorescent light bulb.
Resources
- UC's impact: key points (pdf)
- 2009-10 budget process for UC (pdf)
- Discussion of 2009-10 budget issues (pdf)
- Funding higher education: An investment in California's economy (pdf)
- Campaign for College Opportunity issues report on impact of higher education cuts to California
- UC, CSU, CCC leaders: Invest in public higher education (pdf)
- UC Academic Senate’s report on impact of proposed budget cuts (pdf)
- Student fee fact sheet (pdf)
- 2009-10 governor's proposed state budget
- Archived budget information
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