PR97745

LANCASTER, Calif., Sept. 9, 2022 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

- Mayor R. Rex Parris shared the lessons learned from the City's effort to

achieve net-zero in 2019 and to become the first hydrogen city in the U.S.

City of Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris addressed global business and government

leaders in Tokyo, Japan for World Smart Energy Week. Parris' keynote address

focused on the City's early effort to reach net-zero energy, which was achieved

in 2019, and its recent efforts to become the first hydrogen city in the U.S.

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"Since my first term as mayor in 2008, I have prioritized improving the

environmental and economic conditions for the citizens of Lancaster. We started

by searching for solutions that could help leverage locally available resources

and seeking out partners that could help us make the most of those solutions in

our City," Parris said during his keynote speech.

Over the course of Parris' five terms as mayor, he has transformed Lancaster

into a renewable energy leader by attracting more than $2 billion of investment

in green companies and technologies. The City of Lancaster's business investors

include BYD, which manufactures electric buses; Heliogen, which generates

hydrogen from concentrated solar energy; SGH2, which gasifies wastepaper into

hydrogen; and Hitachi Zosen Inova (HZI), which converts organic waste into

renewable natural gas and hydrogen. The City also started its own utility

company, Lancaster Energy, allowing residents access to local renewable energy

at lower prices.

"Lancaster's hydrogen journey is just beginning. Our partnerships, especially

with Namie and the Japanese business community, demonstrate how a small city in

the California desert can take control of its trajectory and turn that desert

into a green energy asset," said Parris. "We remain steadfast in our commitment

to hydrogen and look forward to a day when hydrogen is a common solution across

the state of California, the United States, and the broader Pacific."

SOURCE  City of Lancaster, California

CONTACT: Peter Thompson, peter.thompson@fticonsulting.com