The final section of the 2040 Vision points to the environment, a prominent feature in the quality of life that so many Tri-Valley residents appreciate today. Future sustainability was a term brought up often during the vision process, as it can refer to environmental sustainability and the region’s own ability to sustain itself as an economic hub. Those two concepts are combined here as the green economy, with recommendations that would make the Tri-Valley a model for environmental stewardship and create new employment opportunities.
The Tri-Valley is already a leader in environmental sustainability efforts, with many Tri-Valley cities and employers having longterm climate action plans. The recommendations that follow will allow the Tri-Valley to continue to lead on innovations that will move the state and nation further down the path toward a greener economy.
In addition to a pandemic and wildfires, 2020 also brought California more rolling blackouts—first as a result of high heat and next as a safety precaution due to high winds. The state’s reliance on renewable energy likely creates scenarios where energy disruptions become the norm rather than one-off events, absent additional investments in storage. The Tri-Valley is already taking additional steps toward producing and storing renewable energy through the Aramis Renewable Energy Project, an approved large-scale solar energy and battery storage facility in North Livermore that will provide power to over 25,000 Bay Area households annually.
Tri-Valley leaders spoke at length about energy independence during the vision process. While moving entirely off the grid will require households to generate and store their own energy, the region’s business parks and major employers should explore the use of microgrids and battery storage to take responsibility for their own energy provision.(+)
The two national laboratories give the Tri-Valley unmatched institutional research capability, and the labs have recognized that they can provide the seed for startup formation within the region. i-GATE has helped to build the startup ecosystem in the region to the point where researchers can feel more comfortable leaving the laboratory to branch out on their own to commercialize a new technology, and the labs allow researchers to return if new endeavors do not succeed commercially. There are strong examples of lab technologies being commercialized in the region. Yet, ideally there should be more. Long research processes and a researcher mindset that is traditionally different from an entrepreneur mindset are a few of the reasons that the flow of lab-connected startups is more of a drip than a constant flow.
More funding for the labs to mature technologies so that they become ready for spin-out can be a good first step to producing more startups in the region. Tri-Valley leaders should ensure their voice is heard—both in Sacramento and in D.C.—to bring more funding to the Department of Energy’s Technology Commercialization Fund. Additionally, creating new pathways for startups to access the knowledge capital of researchers can provide new ways for lab (+)
Many of the pieces of the housing and transportation strategies outlined here will serve to lower greenhouse gas emissions, but future population and employment growth is likely to add to environmental pressures if not planned for in a strategic way. For example, more investments in water storage and conveyance in California will be a benefit for the Tri-Valley’s future growth, but smarter water use overall can put the Tri-Valley on a sustainable path long beyond 2040. The region’s water providers have advanced recycled water technology and succeeded in conservation efforts, and more work should be done to make certain aspects of the Tri-Valley’s water system fully recycled
While the region’s focus on tech is justified, there are models that would allow for non-tech companies to grow in the region, such as La Cocina’s nonprofit kitchen incubator. Alternatively, the vision process yielded a focus on small business service providers in software, hardware, and talent solutions to enable the Tri-Valley to build a more robust startup environment. The Tri-Valley’s tech ecosystem utilizes these types of companies to do business, so it makes sense to build an environment where they can launch and grow in the region. (+)
