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CleanTECH San Diego Hosts Biorenewables Collaborative Session

As part of the RICO grant, CleanTECH San Diego, Imperial Valley EDC, and San Diego Regional EDC hosted a Biorenewables Collaborative Session on Dec. 18 to discuss the the region’s biorenewables sector, the EDGE initiative, and challenges and opportunities for biorenewables companies to commercialize in Imperial Valley. Leading the discussion were Congressman Scott Peters, CleanTECH San Diego’s Jason Anderson, Skip Pomeroy with UC San Diego, and Tim Kelley with the Imperial Valley EDC. Participating companies included Synthetic Genomics, Cellana, Sapphire Energy, Canergy, Bethel Energy, Combined Power and Global Algae Innovations.  Special thanks to CleanTECH San Diego member Knobbe Martens for hosting this event.

Awarded in June 2013, the Regional Industry Clusters of Opportunity II (RICO) grant will allow grant partners to work closely with the biorenewables industry to better understand its growth projections and, more importantly, to understand the permitting process in the Imperial Valley. With technical assistance from RICO, grant partners will collect updated and relevant industry information and analyze the permitting process that companies must follow in order to build a demonstration/commercialization project in the Imperial Valley.  The partners will work with industry stakeholders to help formulate policy recommendations, should they be necessary, that streamline the permitting process and thereby encourage companies and their workforce to grow in the San Diego/Imperial Valley region.  The grant is administered by the California Workforce Investment Board and funded by the California Energy Commission.