Lots of really smart folks are now turning Silicon Valley
into
”
Solar Valley
”
– the heart of the emerging clean-energy industry. If lots of
really smart folks in the South Valley can tap into that ambitious
goal, it’ll mean lucrative money-making opportunities for our
region.
Lots of really smart folks are now turning Silicon Valley into “Solar Valley” – the heart of the emerging clean-energy industry. If lots of really smart folks in the South Valley can tap into that ambitious goal, it’ll mean lucrative money-making opportunities for our region.
I reached this conclusion while attending Joint Venture Silicon Valley’s recent State of the Valley Conference. The event is a kind of regional “town meeting” held annually at the downtown San Jose McEnery Convention Center. More than 1,600 of Silicon Valley’s movers and shakers – and many South Valley luminaries, too – gathered together on Feb. 2 to discuss what near future opportunities await us.
From the buzz at this year’s event, it seems what awaits our region is the rapid growth of a multi-billion dollar “clean technology” industry. The renewable and environmentally friendly energy that will come out of this exciting new business will help build a better world.
The heart of the discussion was a panel talk titled “Is Clean Technology Silicon Valley’s Next Wave of Innovation?” Among the speakers was John Doerr, a local legend who has been called “the single best venture capitalist in the world.” The billionaire is now championing the hot idea that clean and renewable energy sources to fossil fuels is an excellent place to invest in right now. Doerr described clean technology as the “mother of all markets.”
Remember, this guy is no tree-hugging hippie. He’s a very successful entrepreneur who made his fortune investing in computer and Internet companies, including Netscape, Sun Microsystems, Amazon.com and Google. He’s one of the really smart folks. If Doerr predicts clean technology will hit a home run, you best listen up.
The same day of the State of the Valley Conference, two science-related news items were published giving credence to Doerr’s assertion that building a clean technology industry is the right path for our region. The more earth-shaking news came from Paris where hundreds of the world’s weather scientists met at a major United Nations meeting on global warming.
These climate experts released a report declaring Earth’s average global temperature will probably rise 4 degrees Celsius during the next 100 years. That ain’t good news. Unless we do something soon to change this situation, the people of our planet will face catastrophic floods, massive famine, water shortages and the spread of tropical diseases such as malaria.
The second news item was more local in scope … and more upbeat. The oil company BP is giving $500 million to scientists at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign to research and develop clean sources of energy. This chunk of change will give birth to a proposed Energy Biosciences Institute in Berkeley.
A big oil company investing in clean energy technology? Hmmm. Me thinks the motive is more than simply combating global warming. Me thinks BP, like John Doerr, wants to get into the “mother of all markets.”
OK. If you haven’t figured out that the San Francisco Bay Area is poised to play a huge role in developing clean energy technology for the world, let me bring in the keynote speaker at the State of the Valley Conference. He’s a world famous film maker with his Oscar-nominated documentary “An Inconvenient Truth.” (On a side note, he also has served as our nation’s vice president with Bill Clinton and is a long-time friend of Doerr’s.) I’m speaking, of course, of none other than Al Gore.
The threat of the climate crisis was the focus of Gore’s discussion. He told the audience that Silicon Valley has “a vision to lead the world” in combating global warming. We have the brilliant brainiacs here who’ll dream up clean energy technologies to solve this serious problem, he said. Better yet, we’ll build fortunes while saving the world.
“Technology is the key to giving us enough leverage to change the pattern that is now causing the climate crisis,” Gore dryly told the audience. Then he encouraged: “You can chart the course and save the future of this civilization.”
Like Gore, I encourage the really smart folks of South Valley to join that noble pursuit and help build a clean technology industry here. The “mother of all markets” awaits us, and it’ll fill many a purse and pocket here, too.
But to achieve this goal, we need the political and social will to create a clean-energy infrastructure. The seeds have already been planted here in South Valley. Our very own Garlic Capitol of the World is home to a clean tech development called “Gilroy Independence.” This innovative project is building solar-powered homes here in a gated community designed for nurses, teachers, police officers, military vets, and others who serve the common good.
The seeds are also planted in San Martin and Morgan Hill where a company called Anaerobe Systems is making the means for microbes to break down farm and food-manufacturing waste into hydrogen for fueling electricity-generating power plants.
And the South Valley is influencing national politics. This past November we sent to Congress America’s first representative who has had a successful career in clean and renewable energy. Congressman Jerry McNerney’s professional expertise in the wind energy business gives him the wisdom to guide our nation to a clean technology future.
Indeed, great opportunities await us here. We should be proud we’re part of a highly innovative region that’s working hard to solve the climate crisis by creating a new industry.
As Al Gore told those attending the conference, the Chinese symbol for “crisis” is exactly the same as the symbol for “opportunity.” There’s wisdom in this tidbit of trivia. Hidden within every problem is a solution. Hidden within every solution is an opportunity.
Some morning when you watch the sun rising from the Diablo Range to the east, ponder the fact you’re looking at a future opportunity for the South “Solar” Valley. We stand now at the dawn of a new day. There’s gold streaming from that golden haze.
