5 ms·

Solve our biggest problems? I'm neutral here, but are you sure that's what is happening in the Bay Area and no where else in the world?

by gangst 13y ago

DaniFong 13y ago
I'd be happy to be proven wrong, but I think natural resource constraints and tribalism / nationalism are the greatest chronic threats we face. Energy tech and communications tech try to solve these, respectively; most funding, research and commercialization appears to happen here (although most deployment happens globally). I've been studying where things are happening from my admittedly skewed vantage point for quite a long time. It does still seem that the vast majority (>60%) of activity is happening in the bay area.
- justincormack 13y ago
  Thats a very SV response of course. I don't think SV is at the forefront of energy tech, don't have any figures to hand, but I would put Germany way ahead of SV. Communications tech, yeah maybe, but it is very well dispersed now. Social change created by this? Less so, the US is trying to reinforce the existing consumer society through better advertising. Much of the rest of the world is experimenting with using new technology to help change society, from the Arab Spring to M5S and the Pirate Party and so on.
  - three14 13y ago
    This is one of those occasions where it's worth checking the poster's profile. Danielle Fong is "cofounder, chief scientist, lightsailenergy.com" and probably does know a lot of people in SV working on energy tech.
  - DaniFong 13y ago
    Silicon Valley certainly outperforms Germany in new energy tech. It's not even comparable. Germany just spends more on deployment.
    - Retric 13y ago
      There is little need for better energy tech at this point, it's all a question of deployment. Edit: That is to say wind and solar can both be cheaper than coal right now depending on location and how you calculate the cost of money etc. Which means we are over the tipping point and it's just a question of how much and how quickly to invest not the need for some great breakthrough.
      - DaniFong 13y ago
        It's not possible to economically power the world with non-fossil fuel based sources based on current prices. We are between a factor of 2 off, optimistically, and more likely a factor of 5 off (floored by extraction and processing costs.) I don't know where you got your data or how you're doing your analysis, but you're incorrect on this one.
        Retric 13y ago
        If by power you mean electricity then your simply wrong. According to a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) between El Paso Electric Company and First Solar, electricity will be sold from First Solar’s thin-film solar panels to El Paso Electric Company for 5.8 cents per kWh http://cleantechnica.com/2013/02/03/thin-film-solar-power-to-be-sold-for-less-than-coal/ http://cleantechnica.com/2013/02/03/thin-film-solar-power-to... Let's compare that with http://www.heco.com/portal/site/heco/menuitem.508576f78baa14340b4c0610c510b1ca/?vgnextoid=692e5e658e0fc010VgnVCM1000008119fea9RCRD&#38 http://www.heco.com/portal/site/heco/menuitem.508576f78baa14...; and say there is no way to run an economy on renewable energy. That said, scaling things up quickly is a hard problem but slow things down and many problems go away. Realistically, rather than transporting electricity to industry a lot of industry is going to move to where there is cheap power. Also, transportation is a separate issue boats and airplanes are not going to be 'green' any time soon.
        DaniFong 13y ago
        Let me try again. Maybe it will enlighten some other readers. You're cherry picking some of the outermost outliers of both of their ranges, ignoring the cost of storage and transmission and distribution infrastructure, and ignoring the fact that the price of fossil fuel could just decline to the cost of extraction processing and transport as we produce replacements. The cost of coal + extraction nears 2 cents per kwh.
TechNewb 13y ago
What makes America unique and strong is that few other places attract the amount of international talent that SF, and the US in general have. To my knowledge there is no other city in the world that attracts the amount of international talent that SF or NYC can. That with some of the best universities in the world, with many of them in California, put California, and SF, in a good position for many years to come. Having said that, the world is changing. And we will see other inovation hotspots emerge, but I truly believe without diversity in people, it is harder to have diversity in thought , which can inspire innovation.
- noloqy 13y ago
  Given the level of attraction of SV, the number of talented people from outside the US would be much greater if it wasn't for the way the US government treats foreigners. If the government doesn't become more receptive to foreigners it is quite clear that SV will never grow to its full potential.
  - 0m 13y ago
    When I post my CV to job-posts, many companies respond to my experience and skill BUT back off when HR says they dont want to deal with the draconian H1B laws. Instead of giving the H1B to the company, the US should follow the European and Australian model and give the H1B to the employee. This will reduce the exploitation by companies when the employee can jump jobs and will also reduce the enslavement at low wages which companies can currently easily get away with (because the H1B is with them).
- justincormack 13y ago
  London has been a global city for its entire history, and would be in that group. As would Tel Aviv and Singapore.

Solve our biggest problems? I'm neutral here, but are you sure that's what is happening in the Bay Area and no where else in the world?

by gangst 13y ago

Solve our biggest problems? I'm neutral here, but are you sure that's what is happening in the Bay Area and no where else in the world?

DaniFong 13y ago

I'd be happy to be proven wrong, but I think natural resource constraints and tribalism / nationalism are the greatest chronic threats we face. Energy tech and communications tech try to solve these, respectively; most funding, research and commercialization appears to happen here (although most deployment happens globally). I've been studying where things are happening from my admittedly skewed vantage point for quite a long time. It does still seem that the vast majority (>60%) of activity is happening in the bay area.

justincormack 13y ago
Thats a very SV response of course. I don't think SV is at the forefront of energy tech, don't have any figures to hand, but I would put Germany way ahead of SV. Communications tech, yeah maybe, but it is very well dispersed now. Social change created by this? Less so, the US is trying to reinforce the existing consumer society through better advertising. Much of the rest of the world is experimenting with using new technology to help change society, from the Arab Spring to M5S and the Pirate Party and so on.
- three14 13y ago
  This is one of those occasions where it's worth checking the poster's profile. Danielle Fong is "cofounder, chief scientist, lightsailenergy.com" and probably does know a lot of people in SV working on energy tech.
- DaniFong 13y ago
  Silicon Valley certainly outperforms Germany in new energy tech. It's not even comparable. Germany just spends more on deployment.
  - Retric 13y ago
    There is little need for better energy tech at this point, it's all a question of deployment. Edit: That is to say wind and solar can both be cheaper than coal right now depending on location and how you calculate the cost of money etc. Which means we are over the tipping point and it's just a question of how much and how quickly to invest not the need for some great breakthrough.
    - DaniFong 13y ago
      It's not possible to economically power the world with non-fossil fuel based sources based on current prices. We are between a factor of 2 off, optimistically, and more likely a factor of 5 off (floored by extraction and processing costs.) I don't know where you got your data or how you're doing your analysis, but you're incorrect on this one.
      - Retric 13y ago
        If by power you mean electricity then your simply wrong. According to a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) between El Paso Electric Company and First Solar, electricity will be sold from First Solar’s thin-film solar panels to El Paso Electric Company for 5.8 cents per kWh http://cleantechnica.com/2013/02/03/thin-film-solar-power-to-be-sold-for-less-than-coal/ http://cleantechnica.com/2013/02/03/thin-film-solar-power-to... Let's compare that with http://www.heco.com/portal/site/heco/menuitem.508576f78baa14340b4c0610c510b1ca/?vgnextoid=692e5e658e0fc010VgnVCM1000008119fea9RCRD&#38 http://www.heco.com/portal/site/heco/menuitem.508576f78baa14...; and say there is no way to run an economy on renewable energy. That said, scaling things up quickly is a hard problem but slow things down and many problems go away. Realistically, rather than transporting electricity to industry a lot of industry is going to move to where there is cheap power. Also, transportation is a separate issue boats and airplanes are not going to be 'green' any time soon.
        DaniFong 13y ago
        Let me try again. Maybe it will enlighten some other readers. You're cherry picking some of the outermost outliers of both of their ranges, ignoring the cost of storage and transmission and distribution infrastructure, and ignoring the fact that the price of fossil fuel could just decline to the cost of extraction processing and transport as we produce replacements. The cost of coal + extraction nears 2 cents per kwh.

TechNewb 13y ago

What makes America unique and strong is that few other places attract the amount of international talent that SF, and the US in general have. To my knowledge there is no other city in the world that attracts the amount of international talent that SF or NYC can. That with some of the best universities in the world, with many of them in California, put California, and SF, in a good position for many years to come. Having said that, the world is changing. And we will see other inovation hotspots emerge, but I truly believe without diversity in people, it is harder to have diversity in thought , which can inspire innovation.

noloqy 13y ago
Given the level of attraction of SV, the number of talented people from outside the US would be much greater if it wasn't for the way the US government treats foreigners. If the government doesn't become more receptive to foreigners it is quite clear that SV will never grow to its full potential.
- 0m 13y ago
  When I post my CV to job-posts, many companies respond to my experience and skill BUT back off when HR says they dont want to deal with the draconian H1B laws. Instead of giving the H1B to the company, the US should follow the European and Australian model and give the H1B to the employee. This will reduce the exploitation by companies when the employee can jump jobs and will also reduce the enslavement at low wages which companies can currently easily get away with (because the H1B is with them).
justincormack 13y ago
London has been a global city for its entire history, and would be in that group. As would Tel Aviv and Singapore.