Lancaster, California, reached out to Japan to enlist partner municipalities in the development and use of hydrogen as a new generation clean fuel.

LANCASTER, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES, November 10, 2020 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Lancaster, California, the nation’s first city to embrace hydrogen power, reached out to Japan to enlist partner municipalities in the development and use of hydrogen as a new generation clean fuel.

R. Rex Parris, Mayor of Lancaster, hosted Japanese government officials on November 6 to discuss pairing Lancaster, a city just north of Los Angeles, with a “smart” city in Japan which is equally devoted to integrating hydrogen into its power grid, fuel distribution, storage, and use.

Mayor Parris has committed to a hydrogen transition at previous City Council meetings and has challenged other cities around the world to choose hydrogen as well. Lancaster has a proven record of being the first in renewable energy solutions.

Mayor Parris developed a vision for hydrogen as a new way to further decarbonize the city – a mission he embarked on over a decade ago. He attracted companies that have already built innovative hydrogen projects and are being developed with major companies like Hitachi Zosen Inova. The Mayor then developed a comprehensive plan for the City to achieve their hydrogen goals, announcing it publicly at City Council meetings to involve local residents and educate the public on the benefits of hydrogen to Lancaster. Recently, more companies and other cities have seen Lancaster’s success and want to join the movement.

Hydrogen has wide-reaching benefits including improving the air quality, providing a secure and reliable energy source, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and creating highly skilled jobs. Hydrogen is abundant in our environment. Hydrogen can be produced from diverse domestic resources with the potential of near-zero greenhouse gas emissions. Hydrogen as an alternative fuel stems from its ability to power fuel cells with domestic production, fast fueling times, and high efficiency.

“Hydrogen is the future, it is the decarbonization strategy of the future, and we will lead the effort with other cities following in Lancaster’s footsteps,” Mayor Parris told the delegation from Japan, which included Mr. Imai, Consul of the Consulate General of Japan and Mr. Saeki, Executive Director of the Japan External Trade Organization. "Lancaster is America's first hydrogen city.”

Lancaster is beginning sister-city type relationships with other cities seeking to emulate Lancaster's strategy, sharing a roadmap. Mayor Parris envisions other Tier-2 cities as excellent candidates.

"The transition to hydrogen does not have to be limited to the world's most famous large cities. In fact, cities our size can do some things they can't,” Mayor Parris said.

After the development of a huge solar generation capacity, Lancaster City Council realized that the City had the power to dramatically impact the energy status quo. Lancaster formed its own utility company, Lancaster Choice Energy, and offered residents locally-generated green energy at lower prices and generating revenue for the City. Lancaster continued on to become the first city to go net-zero, generating more clean energy than consumed. Lancaster was also the first city to require all new homes to have solar and with community partners were able to build the first large scale all-electric bus fleet.

Currently, SGH2 is bringing a green hydrogen production facility to Lancaster. The plant will gasify recycled mixed paper waste to produce green hydrogen that reduces carbon emissions by two to three times more than green hydrogen produced using electrolysis and renewable energy, and is five to seven times cheaper. Developed by NASA scientist Dr. Salvador Camacho and SGH2 CEO Dr. Robert T. Do, the City of Lancaster will host and co-own the green hydrogen production facility, “The world needs some good news right now, and we have it. Affordable, mass-produced, reliable green hydrogen is the missing link needed to decarbonize the world,” said Dr. Do.

Vision and high-level commitment by Mayor Parris along with the development of a plan to transition to hydrogen has led to approval and buy-in from City Council and the public leading to success in attracting hydrogen investment. The focus now is on broadening outreach to include education, research and development, and targeted international cooperation with like-minded cities.

“We invite all cities, small and large, to accept our challenge to become a hydrogen-powered city and to join us on the path to a clean energy future,” Mayor Parris said. “We will be pleased to assist you.”

Jennifer Seguin
City of Lancaster
+1 661-723-6051
jseguin@cityoflancasterca.org

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.