There is no place in the world where more people are working to advance the science and commercialization of algae biofuel than in San Diego.  Three announcements this week underscore the region’s standing in the quest to develop practical alternatives to fossil fuels. 

On Tuesday the California Department of Labor awarded the San Diego region a $4 million grant to implement new workforce training programs for jobs in the emerging biofuels industry.  The San Diego Biofuels Initiative, a collaborative effort including CleanTECH San Diego, BIOCOM, San Diego Regional EDC, San Diego Center for Algae Biotechnology (SD-CAB) and the San Diego Workforce Partnership, captured the grant.  The San Diego Biofuels Initiative’s proposal, titled the Educating and Developing Workers for the Green Economy (EDGE Initiative), will provide education, training and placement services to unemployed and dislocated workers within San Diego and the Imperial Valley.

Also on Tuesday the Governor’s Office of Economic Development designated the San Diego region as a California Innovation Hub.  The designation clears the way for the San Diego iHub Consortium to apply for stimulus funds from the Federal government.  The consortium has identified biofuels, wireless health and solar power/energy storage as the three areas of greatest job growth potential.

On Monday the San Diego Center for Algae Biotechnology (SD-CAB) announced that the region will receive funding of $9 million from the Department of Energy for algae R&D.  A team of seven companies including locals Sempra Energy, General Atomics and Sapphire Energy are adding another $3 million to support the R&D effort.

CleanTECH San Diego’s website lists 37 Biomass Energy & Biofuel local companies in their company database. 

On July 20^th CONNECT presents Algae Biotechnology: Working to Transform Fuel, Food and Medicine with Stephen Mayfield, Director, San Diego Center for Algae Biotechnology and John Dove Isaacs Chair of Natural Philosophy Department of Biological Sciences, UC San Diego.  Click here for details.

Two new algae resources

National Algal Biofuels Technology Roadmap, a 140 page report just released by U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Office of the Biomass Program.  (This PDF file is 7 MB).

Also new is a report from the Milken Institute, Scaling Enterprise Finance, The Future of Biofuels, which addresses the question, “How can we facilitate the flow of private capital into the production of biofuels?”  Please e-mail me at glenn@glennmosier.com for a PDF copy of this 40 page report.

By now all clean tech companies have learned that Washington DC is the home of the FFF (Federal Fountain of Funding).  Less obvious is how to drink at the well.  The attorneys at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati have created a treasure trove of resources for clean tech companies who want to get their unfair share.  Their Clean Tech Resource Center covers thirteen sectors from biofuels/biomass to wind power with links to all the federal programs, services and agencies.  It is all there including links to the many state programs.  The power of knowledge is the ultimate alternative energy.

Technology hubs like the San Diego’s clean tech cluster exist symbiotically with their legal communities.  An example of that interdependency was the full-day event last Wednesday sponsored by Foley & Lardner LLP.  The strong attendance at Foley’s Emerging Technologies Conference: Navigating a New World is evidence of the appetite for informed insights.  The panels on Alternative Energy and Accessing Government Funding were of greatest interest to me.  The Funding presentation was enhanced by the specific guidance of Tyler Orion and June Chocheles.  The Federal Technology Funding Guide was one recommendation.  Also recommended were the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) website and the Department of Defense SBIR website.  All government agencies offer periodic notification (more…)