SUSTAINABILITY

SoCal Climate Champions Grant

SoCalGas awarded $200,000 to five nonprofit organizations through the SoCal Climate Champions Grant initiative. The program was designed to encourage and foster clean, safe, and innovative solutions towards a clean energy future. Awards were given for climate solution projects that aimed to reduce, mitigate, and sequester greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, improve air quality, or provide organic waste diversion solutions in the communities SoCalGas serves. Over 20M people reached, 1,350 trees and shrubs planted, and over 1.8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent were omitted from the atmosphere as a result of the programs that received funding.

California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA)

A grant was provided to support CSULA’s capstone senior design project: “A Solar System Design for a Renewable Production of Hydrogen (H2) at the Hydrogen Fueling Station at Cal State L.A.” The Hydrogen (H2) fueling station at CSULA, with an onsite storage capacity of 60 kilograms H2 (kg), is the largest university-located hydrogen fueling facility in the U.S. The station uses grid-sourced electricity to run an electrolyzer to produce hydrogen via electrolysis throughout the day, including during peak demand periods when the cost of electricity—and, therefore, hydrogen—is high. To promote the utilization of renewable energy, sustainable production of hydrogen, and reduce the cost of H2 production, this project aims to investigate efficient ways of utilizing solar energy onsite to produce all or a portion of the electrolyzer’s energy (kwh) demand. The solar system would be a stand-alone off-grid system that can also be utilized as an emergency backup and alternative power system for the electrolyzer to ensure a smarter production schedule and a lower usage of electricity from the grid.