SILICON VALLEY GROWING NEW ENERGY

Cleantech: Silicon Valley's next great wave of innovation
Scott Duke Harris, February 2, 2010 (San Jose Mercury News)

"Silicon Valley…[was] the cradle of the computer age…[and] a launching pad for the Internet age. Now…[it is part of] the global competition to develop renewable energy and other clean, green technologies…[its] third great wave of innovation…perhaps the biggest thing ever…

"How big? Consider that the sum of America's yearly utility bills, one component of the nation's overall energy costs, exceeds $1 trillion — or nearly triple the annual global revenues of the semiconductor industry. The solar and wind energy markets, which totaled about $80 billion in 2008, are projected to nearly triple in size in 10 years, employing 2.6 million people worldwide…"

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"…Silicon Valley may someday be called Solar Valley…But solar represents just one aspect of the cleantech revolution…[S]ome former e-commerce and software mavens are now busy trying to electrify the automobile industry while other techies are developing energy-efficient glass, drywall and cement…Still others are introducing cutting-edge information technology to the 20th-century electricity grid, working on biofuels and fuel cells, and pioneering new methods to recycle waste, protect air and water quality and enhance agriculture and aquaculture.

"The payoff: progress toward a "low-carbon economy," tens of thousands of new jobs in the valley — and perhaps a new set of corporate titans…Will Tesla Motors become the Apple of automakers? Will Serious Materials become the Intel of green building materials? Will Silver Springs Networks be the Cisco of the smart grid electricity management technologies — or will that be Cisco itself?"

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"…Globally, venture capital investments in the sector grew from $908 million in 164 deals in 2002 to $8.5 billion in 567 deals in 2008…California corralled nearly 40 percent of the $5.6 billion in cleantech venture investments worldwide in recession-ravaged 2009. Over the past six years, cleantech's portion of venture investments has grown from merely 3 percent to more than 25 percent…While venture funding overall dipped in 2009, many governments around the world stepped in to fund cleantech projects…The Obama administration has bolstered the cleantech sector with more than $70 billion in economic recovery funds…But the valley…is hardly alone in its cleantech quest. Texas, for example, is a hub of wind power… Germany is a leader in solar and Japan in energy efficiency…China…has embarked on a massive cleantech initiative…

"…[S]olar cells are a simple form of semiconductor, and smart grid innovators are essentially integrating 21st-century software efficiencies into a wasteful 20th-century electrical infrastructure. The valley's expertise in biotechnology is vital to biofuels and its work in nanotechnology is critical to new materials…The valley's greatest advantage is its culture of innovation…The catalyst for all this investment and innovation is clear…Much of Silicon Valley has embraced the environmental and economic arguments voiced by former Vice President Al Gore…But even skeptics acknowledge that national security and the nation's global economic competitiveness would be enhanced by technologies that wean the United States from foreign oil…The challenge is huge. Valley technologists are accustomed to developing disruptive technologies…But re-engineering an economy that has run on fossil fuels since the dawn of the Industrial Age is a daunting task…Yet few cleantech business leaders express discouragement…"