Major International Automakers, Oil Companies and Utilities and Research Institutions in Sacramento Collaborate on Developing Hydrogen Fuel Cell-Powered Cars

*This articule resulted from a SACTO hosted clean energy press trip to the Region 7/12-13. This is the translation of an article that appeared in the Chinese newspaper The Epoch Times on 7/19/06.

The Central News Agency
 
Region around Sacramento in Northern California Actively Promotes Its High Technology Industry
 
Epoch Times, July 19 -- (Lin Lin, The Central News Agency, July 18, New York) Sacramento and its surrounding areas in Northern California have emerged as a magnet for industries producing pollution-free technologies and renewable energy sources. New residents in the region have numbered 265,000 since 2000 as these emerging industries have flourished. 
 
Sacramento, the state capital of California, and its surrounding areas boast significant potential for growth if population movements and job opportunities are used as indicators of regional well-being. In the past, 25% of the people employed in this region were civil servants at various entities within the California state government called the area home. Although governmental institutions underwent considerable downsizing in recent years, the employment market here appears very healthy thanks to the settlement of technology companies, evidenced by a 30% tech industry growth in 2005.
 
Approximately 2.2 million people live in Sacramento and the adjacent five counties, namely, El Dorado, Placer, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba. Between 2000 and 2004, after the bursting of the new economy bubble, about 200,000 people moved away from the Bay Area and San Jose in Northern California while 150,000 exited from Los Angeles. Many techies moved into the Sacramento area where the cost of living was relatively low.
 
According to Tracey Hernandez, Director of Strategic Marketing for the Sacramento Area Commerce and Trade Organization (SACTO), one of the most important resources in the Sacramento area is its excellent education environment. Among adult residents here, 34% are college educated. The area boasts seven community colleges in addition to such well-known research universities in agriculture, biotechnology and environmental technology as the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) and California State University, Sacramento.
 
The growth of the tech industry in the Sacramento area has been focused on the development of pollution-free and renewable sources of energy. In recent years, spurred on by the collective efforts of the state government, energy industries and venture capital firms, industries aiming at environmental protection and renewable energy sources such as hydrogen fuel cells, solar energy devices and bio-gas electricity generation have settled here one after another. Hydrogen fuel cell-powered cars jointly developed by major international automakers and local research institutions can be seen running on the region's highways. The head of the Sacramento Chamber of Commerce feels confident that the region has gradually become one of the most important centers for the pollution-free energy source industry in North America.
 
When thinking about industrial development in Northern California, people usually are more impressed with the electronics industry in the Bay area and San Jose. They may not know that the giant computer chip maker Intel Corporation employs 6,000 people in its factory in the Sacramento area and that the Hewlett-Packard plant here has 4,500 employees. Among the top 10 companies in this area, seven are in high tech. In recent years, biotechnology, environmental protection and alternative sources of energy have become the signature industries of this region. More than a hundred biotechnology and medical device companies are clustered throughout the greater Sacramento area.
 
The California state government actively encourages industries and academic institutions to participate in research and development activities in such green industries as environmental protection, renewable sources of energy and pollution-free transportation. Sacramento, the seat of the state government, has gradually become a hotbed for the alternative energy source industry.
 
 
The Central News Agency