Silicon Valley: Epicentre of Technology and Innovation

It's only when you travel around California that you can really appreciate quite how geographically diverse this region is. 

In just 10 days, we experienced the hot, barren Mojave Desert, with its imposing geological features; lush palm oases sustained by underground aquifers; snow-capped peaks of Mount San Jacinto; 7.6 million year old cinder cone volcanoes; the flat, smog-covered Central Valley; lush rolling hills of the Carrizo Plain; the cool, damp climes of Monterey Bay; and jagged towering mountains of Pinnacles National Park.

But it's not just these geographical elements that enable solar and wind power to be captured and anthropogenically utilised by this state. This innovation and implementation is the result of an element which was not central to our biogeographical field-trip, but is something we could not help but account for. The human population. 

We started our trip in the low-lying, sprawling city of LA and finished in the foggy urban environment of San Fransisco. But it was my trip to the latter than really made me question the catalyst of California's word-leading stance on sustainable technology. 

Whilst in San Fransisco, we visited the US Geological Survey, located in Palo Alto. Driving through Silicon Valley, home to countless entrepreneurial start-ups and many of the world's largest tech companies, we passed Stanford University. This world-renowned institution, with its high-calibre STEM research, has created an hub of scientific, engineering and technological knowledge, with 70% of residents in Menlo Park (to the east of Palo Alto) holding a degree.

In addition, this region has a high-density of venture capital and private equity firms, which fuel these  innovative ideas, propelling them into successful companies.

Therefore, it is this combination of world-leading research, significant capital investment and high-density of passionate, highly-intelligent individuals that has formed this powerhouse of innovation, including many discoveries in the world of environmental sustainability which has driven California's renewable energy expansion.

Entrance of the US Geological Survey in Palo Alto, California

Tesla is just one of these world-leading corporations, founded and headquartered in Silicon Valley. The company started with a focus on electric cars, but are now world leaders in the research, design and production of renewable home energy storage, with the higher capacity, second generation Tesla Powerwall battery unveiled in late 2016.

However, Silicon Valley has much more to offer in the renewable space than just the well known global companies. In my next post, I will will explore some of these smaller companies, focusing on their innovative research and exciting products on offer.

Two Years On

Nearly two years ago, I started this blog, which coincided with the start of my MSc in Climate Change. At the time, measures implemented by the UK Government were not conducive to supporting and invigorating renewable energy investment and expansion in our country. 

It appears that this was just the tip of the iceberg for those working to mitigate climate change... To say that a lot has happened since then is an absolute understatement. 

2016 was one of the most politically turbulent years ever experienced by many of us. This has had, and will have, severe impacts on the remarkable environmental progress that has been made over the past decade. Recently, we have seen Trump sign an executive order to advance the Keystone & Dakota pipelines, place climate change sceptic Scott Pruitt as head of the EPA, review the Clean Power Plan and threaten to remove the US from the Paris Agreement.

On a personal level, my Climate Change Masters is now complete and my doctorate in Climatology has begun. With the shock result of the EU vote, then the US election, I woke up on November the 9th feeling helpless. Speaking to my Dad, I was told in no uncertain terms "Well, this just means you have a more important job to do".

And he's right. Although the battle to limit global temperature rise to below 2°C is becoming increasingly difficult, the rapid advance in global renewable energy capacity is so vast that I'm now struggling to keep up to date with the all the news stories. 

But there is one location that will always attract my attention. 

I have long-studied California's progressive attitude towards renewables, and in March, I was fortunate enough to fly to the sunshine state on a research trip. Although I was aware of California's advanced environmental measures, I was still left astonished by the seemingly endless expanse of wind turbines in the Mojave Desert, vast solar-farms in the Carrizo Plain and numerous homes that had proactively installed thermophotovoltaic panels. 

Since returning, I have become somewhat obsessed with reading up on the policies and technological advances coming out of this region, particularly in renewable energy and drought mitigation measures. This is a state that realised its need to reduce its fossil fuel dependence during the 1970s oil crisis, and by 1998, the  Renewable Energy Programme had been founded, headed up by the California Energy Commission. Over past two decades, this programme has been responsible for a significant statewide investment in solar and wind power. 

As a result, my next set of blogs will focus directly on this, linking in some of the research and understanding that I gained from my time out there.

Wind Farm in San Bernardino County, California