Collaborative Energy: New partnerships make UC Berkeley a hotspot for renewables research

Leave no trace. This principle, familiar to outdoors enthusiasts, exhorts us to minimize our impact on the natural environment. In the near future, technology may enable us to extend this concept to the process of meeting global energy needs. Rising fuel costs, increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, air quality issues, and even national security concerns over dependence on foreign oil have generated both political will and scientific advances in this area. Thanks to a number of recently formed collaborative groups, UC Berkeley researchers are poised to make unique, high-impact contributions to that challenging but achievable goal.