SF Bay Climate Tech: August Events
Green development at Stanford, synthetic biology in Sausalito, environmental justice in San Francisco, and sixteen other climate tech events this month
Welcome to the first edition of SF Bay Climate Tech!
After nine months of writing weekly events emails over at New York Climate Tech, we’re finally expanding! Expect easy-to-scan emails keeping you posted on the latest happenings and events in Bay Area climate tech.
There’s a lot going on this month, starting this week on the peninsula with a ReFi happy hour in Mountain View on Friday and a conference on Green Development at Stanford on Saturday.
Next week’s events are mostly in San Francisco. Start off Monday with a fireside chat with Aurora Solar hosted by PearVC, then spend Tuesday learning about building a design career that makes a difference. End the week Friday with a Women in Green yoga meetup at Salesforce Park. Over the weekend, head to San Mateo for a Youth for Climate Action gathering, or to Sausalito for an amazing-sounding exhibition on synthetic biology by artist and designer Mary Lempres.
The third week of August is more focused on environmental justice, with a talk by Professor Jesse Anttila-Hughes in SF on health and climate change on Wednesday the 17th, an introduction to Community Land Trusts in Oakland on Thursday, and the 6th Annual Environmental Justice Summit in the Presidio on Saturday the 20th. The week also features a couple professional get-togethers in SF, with a talk on energy storage hosted by Young Professionals in Energy (YPE), and a Rising Leaders mixer from US Green Building Council (USGBC).
Finally, close out the month with a workshop on building electrification for local contractors in Oakland, a session on sustainability and the beverage industry with conglomerate AB Inbev in San Francisco, an eco-art show in Point Reyes, and a mobility dialogue at the Exploratorium hosted by the German American Chamber of Commerce.
This Month’s Theme: Climate Policy
We’re trying something new: a monthly theme to focus on different elements of climate in our newsletter and events.
This month we’re addressing one of the most important, stressful, and difficult parts of climate change: climate policy. We’ll be hosting a talk in New York on the state’s climate legislation and we’d love to host similar events in the Bay Area. We look forward to hearing ideas from you, our readers!
Hot Take: The One We’ve Been Waiting For
In a late July surprise, the Senate Democrats had their cake and ate it too. Immediately following the passage of the CHIPs Act by Republicans, the Democrats delivered a 1-2 punch aptly marketed as “The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.” Following months of negotiations among Senate Democrats, mainly between New York Senator Chuck Schumer and West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin (often found to be a hero among the fossil fuel industry), we finally have a climate deal!
If passed, this will be our country’s biggest investment in renewable energy - four times larger than our last investment in clean energy back in 2009. There are lots of pages - 752 to be exact - outlining everything from tax incentives for private industry to produce renewable energy to rebates for individuals to purchase heat pumps and electric vehicles. Our friends at ClimateTech VC have a fantastic line-by-line breakdown of the bill. Here are the highlights:
The Inflation Reduction Act billions of dollars to help industry and consumers wean ourselves off of fossil fuels and incentivize the development and use of clean energy infrastructure. Chart by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, reproduced by Adrian Blanco of The Washington Post.
☀️ $260B in clean energy tax credits: Utilities will get tax subsidies for the production of renewable energy such as solar, wind, and hydropower. There are also incentives for manufacturing parts like wind turbines or solar panels. The goal is to make renewable energy production cheaper than fossil fuels.
🚗 $80B in rebates for green consumers: If you’re buying a new electric vehicle, you can get up to $7,500 for the purchase. Are you in line for an ever dwindling supply of used EVs? The government will give you a $4,000 credit. There are over $9 billion available for home energy rebates for those retrofitting their homes with heat pumps and solar panels. All this together could save consumers almost $2,000 a year on their energy bills according to Rewiring America.
🔋 $27B for a green bank: A Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator would leverage public and private funds to invest in cleantech and infrastructure, which can jumpstart early stage technologies and deployment in underserved areas.
🌾 $20B for climate-focused farming: These funds would help farmers reduce emissions, incentivizing the use of regenerative agriculture practices, reducing water and fertilizer, and jumpstarting carbon sequestration and storage practices.
🏘 $3B for environmental justice initiatives: Block grants will support community projects that address the public health consequences stemming from climate disasters.
The United States is the largest emitter of greenhouse gasses in history. It’s up to us to address our wrongs, especially given the deeply destructive impact climate change is having on lower income countries across the globe, which emit a tiny fraction of the GHG emissions of their wealthier counterparts. This bill keeps us fighting the good fight, reducing emissions ~40% by 2030 - short of the Biden administration’s previously stated goals of reducing emissions 50% by 2030, but fairly close.
Models by Energy Innovation show that the policies in the Inflation Reduction Act would cut US greenhouse gas emissions 37-41% by 2030. Chart by Energy Innovation.
Thousands of people across the country - who’ve spent decades advocating for clean energy reforms at the local, state, and federal levels - have gotten us to this point. We owe our thanks to all of them! While not perfect, this bill is a big step in the right direction for a clean energy future.
By Sonam Velani
Events This Month
🌱 ReFi Silicon Valley, Fri, August 5
📚 6th International Conference on Economic Management and Green Development, Sat, Aug 6
☀️ Pear VC: Fireside Chat with Aurora Solar: Mon, Aug 8
👩💻 Navigating a Career in Design and Impact: Tue, August 9
👩🔬 Women in Green: Fri, August 12
🪧 Youth for Climate Action: Sat, August 13
🧪 Dirt: The Bio-Design Work of Mary Lempres: Sat, August 13
🏥 Surviving Climate Change: What's the Future of our Health?: Wed, August 17
🔋 Batteries Included: How Energy Storage is Changing the Game: Wed, Aug 17
🏞 What's Up With Community Land Trusts?: Thu, August 18
🏗 USGBC Rising Leaders Summer Mixer: Thu, August 18
⚖️ 6th Annual Environmental Justice Summit: Sat, August 20
🔌 Building Electrification for Local Contractors, Wed, August 24 - Fri, Aug 26
🍺 Sustainability Trends with AB InBev, Pelliconi and others.: Thu, August 25
🎨 Ecolibrium - Eco Art Exhibit, Sat, August 27 (opening)
🇩🇪 5th German-American Mobility Dialogue: Tue, August 30
🌱 ReFi Silicon Valley
When: Fri, August 5 at 4:00 PM – 7:00 PM PDT
Where: 340 E Middlefield Rd, 340 East Middlefield Road, Mountain View, CA 94043
Sweetgum Labs is hosting ReFi Silicon Valley, the exciting regenerative finance event of ReFi Spring in August 5th, 2022.
An exciting ReFi gathering! Come for the panels, keynotes, networking opportunities, and wonderful pizza/drinks! Stay for the happy hour and beautiful views of Mountain View, California.
📚 6th International Conference on Economic Management and Green Development
When: Sat, Aug 6 at 9:30 AM to
Where: Stanford University, 450 Serra Mall, Stanford, CA 94305
The discussion and submission topics include economic management, public administration, and green development.
The aim of ICEMGD is to provide a platform for educators, scholars, managers and graduate students from different cultural backgrounds to present and discuss research, developments and innovations in their academic fields. It provides opportunities for the attendees to exchange new ideas and application experience, to establish business or research relations, and to look for global partners for future collaborations.
☀️ Pear VC: Fireside Chat with Aurora Solar
When: Mon, Aug 8 at 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM PDT
Where: 158 S Park St, San Francisco, CA 94107, USA
Calling all climate-tech founders (and aspiring founders!),
Join us for a fireside chat with Samuel Adeyemo, Co-Founder and CRO of Aurora Solar, the world's #1 solar design software company valued at over $4B.
We will be talking about his journey to climate entrepreneurship, finding product-market fit, and scaling Aurora Solar to the multi-billion dollar company it is today.
👩💻 Navigating a Career in Design and Impact
When: Tue, August 9 at 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM PDT
Where: 611 Mission St, 611 Mission Street, Floor 5, San Francisco, CA 94105
Hear from design leaders in mission-driven technology companies about their experiences navigating careers in design across technology.
Join us on August 9, 2022 at 4pm for a discussion with Jing Jin, Head of User Experience at Outschool; Kate Lydon, former Head of Design at Nextdoor; and Siyuan Tu, Product Design Lead at CoProcure. These design leaders from mission-driven technology companies will share about their own experiences navigating careers in design across technology startups and impact.
👩🔬 Women in Green
When: Fri, August 12 at 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM PDT
Where: Salesforce Park, 425 Mission St, San Francisco, CA, CA 94105
Hosted by USGBC Northern California
We welcome USGBC Women in Green to experience a restorative moment, with a Fitness SF-led yoga session within the refreshing atmosphere of Salesforce Park. If you haven’t been yet, you will be amazed by this 5.4-acre park, showcasing over 50 species of trees and 230 species of understory plants right in the heart of SOMA. A true biophilic environment, the Park contributes to public health and sustainability in the downtown area.
🪧 Youth for Climate Action
When: Sat, August 13 at 2:00 PM – 4:30 PM PDT
Where: San Mateo Central Park, 50 East 5th Avenue, San Mateo, CA 94401
A Rally to Raise Awareness for Climate Solutions and show candidates that climate gets votes.
This is a nonpartisan event to build support and awareness for a Carbon Fee and Dividend, the most promising solution to our climate crisis. The rally will include chanting and demonstrating with signs along El Camino. Then we'll meet in Central Park and hear from youth activists, scientists, and candidates for office. This rally is organized by the youth chapter of Citizens Climate Lobby of San Mateo County. Advance registration requested.
🧪 Dirt: The Bio-Design Work of Mary Lempres
When: Sat, August 13 at 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM PDT
Where: Marinship Studios, 265 Gate 5 Road, Sausalito, CA 94965
Calling All Bacteria Enthusiasts & Novices Alike!
Please join us for an exhibition of the work of Designer-In-Residence Mary Lempres on Saturday August 13 from 1-4 pm in the Petrichor Gallery at Marinship Studios in Sausalito.
By growing bacteria that already exists in natural clays and sands, Mary's work asks: How can synthetic biology be leveraged in traditional crafts to bring us closer to natural processes?
Inspired by the rich, biologically active crusts of the desert southwest as well as the vibrant hues of the salt flats of the South Bay, Mary's work investigates the symbiotic relationship between living and nonliving material and how materiality can connect us to place, people, and the living earth we stand on. By treating earth as a circular medium for biomanufacturing, she celebrates active bacteria and minerals that heal our soils: filtering out pesticides, improving water retention, and using CO2 as a growth medium.
🏥 Surviving Climate Change: What's the Future of our Health?
When: Wed, August 17 at 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM PDT
Where: Manny's, 3092 16th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
Climate change will effect more than just our planet. How has our health been impacted by the climate crisis?
As daily life continues to grow more effected by climate change with things like dangerous air quality or new diseases resurfacing, our health is at a greater risk. Join us for a special lecture by Professor Jesse Anttila-Hughes about the future of the world's health in the face of climate change.
Are you a current student? Email the word "caffeine" and the title of this event to angelina@welcometomannys.com for a complementary ticket
🔋 Batteries Included: How Energy Storage is Changing the Game
When: Wed, August 17 at 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM PDT
Where: Pattern Energy Group LP, 1088 Sansome Street, San Francisco, CA 94111
Want to learn what's happening in the energy storage space? Come enjoy a drink with YPE SF Bay Area and learn from the experts!
For the second installation of our battery storage series, YPE SF Bay Area invites you to join us in North Beach for a happy hour and panel to learn about the many applications of energy storage! This time we’ll be in-person at Pattern Energy Group’s beautiful penthouse. Our accomplished experts will discuss multiple topics including energy storage markets, storage regulation and policies, and batteries for mobility.
🏞 What's Up With Community Land Trusts?
When: Thu, August 18 at 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM PDT
Where: Better Neighborhoods, Same Neighbors Resource Center, 9400 International Boulevard, Suite C, Oakland, CA 94603
Learn all about Community Land Trusts and how they can (AND DO) help secure permanent, affordable housing in our neighborhoods!
Ever heard of a Community Land Trust (CLT)? Wondering about ways to disrupt displacement and gentrification in your community? Looking to join a movement that is transforming housing in the Bay Area (and across the country)? If you answered "yes" to any of the previous questions, this workshop is for you!
The East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative (EB PREC) is excited to team up again with one of our favorite organizations, the Northern California Land Trust (NCLT), for our first HYBRID in-person and virtual workshop all about CLTs! As part of the Better Neighborhoods, Same Neighbors program, we're connecting the Deep East Oakland community to resources, policies and programs designed to ensure that current residents, homeowners and business owners can stay deeply rooted amid rapid change and community-led investments that are transforming our neighborhoods.
🏗 Rising Leaders Summer Mixer
When: Thu, August 18 at 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM PDT
Where: 235 Montgomery St, 235 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, CA 94104
Hosted by USGBC Northern California's Rising Leaders Committee.
Please join the Rising Leaders Committee on 8/18 for a Summer Mixer! The past few years have been challenging for us all to connect so this is an opportunity for us to get together over drinks and snacks to talk, network, and meet like-minded folks in sustainability. Looking forward to seeing you there!
The USGBC NCC RLC is a voluntary committee made up of young and emerging professionals in the sustainability field. Members are often younger professionals, but also include members who have changed careers and are newer in the industry. The committee provides a chance for members to network, learn new skills, and find new ways to get involved in the community. The USGBC works to build better buildings, consume fewer resources, and promote sustainability in our daily work.
⚖️ 6th Annual Environmental Justice Summit
When: Sat, August 20 at 12:00 PM – 7:00 PM PDT
Where: Main Parade Lawn, Montgomery Street, San Francisco, CA 94129
ADDING COLOR TO THE GREEN MOVEMENT
The Environmental Justice Summit is a bold platform for representation and activism that elevates and amplifies the voices and power of people of color as leaders in the environmental justice movement. Environmentalism is a movement that impacts all classes, colors, and demographics of society, yet there is a lack of diversity in the environmental movement itself.
At our 6th Annual EnvironmentalJustice Summit, leading BIPOC environmental organizers from the Bay Area and beyond will come together to share experiences and discuss steps to diversify the Green Movement and needs of our vulnerable communities. This will be a free all-ages festival style event that will be accessible to all.
🔌 Building Electrification for Local Contractors
When: Wed, August 24 - Fri, August 26
Where: Cypress Mandela Training Center, 977 66th Ave., Oakland, CA 94621
Register now for Project Based Training in Building Electrification! Earn while you learn to electrify residential homes!
As part of the $120M statewide initiative to electrify buildings this is a Project Based Learning training, where Participants will learn building electrification (space heating/cooling and water heating) best practices while participating on actual paid projects.
Session 1: Residential Building Electrification Overview
Session 2: Heat Pump HVAC & Heat Pump Water Heater Fundamentals
Session 3: Heat Pump Installation Best Practices
🍺 Sustainability Trends with AB InBev, Pelliconi and others.
When: Thu, August 25 at 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM PDT
Where: Mind the Bridge Innovation Center, 450 Townsend Street, San Francisco, CA 94107
An innovation industry talk focused on the main innovations that can disrupt the market in the field of sustainability and circular economy.
Now more than ever, sustainability topics are becoming increasingly important. 50% of the emissions come from waste materials and plastic waste is expected to double by 2050 if actions are not taken. Governments and corporations are inevitably moving fast to streamline operations and avoid the worst-case scenario.
Mind the Bridge and Pelliconi are hosting an industry talk focused on sustainability and circular economy in the beverage and closures industries. The talk will focus on how big corps such as AB InBev and innovative startups from Silicon Valley are tackling the problems and offering disrupting solutions for a brighter and more sustainable future.
🎨 Ecolibrium - Eco Art Exhibit
When: August 27, 3-5:00 PM (Reception & Opening)
Where: Gallery Route One, 11101 California 1, Point Reyes Station, CA 94956
This exhibit features Terra Art Collective, a group of eco artists
The title of our show, Ecolibrium, suggests the need for a global, societal revolution to create a new state of harmony with the larger natural world. People with greater resources must consume less, move less, and learn to enjoy lives that help create a balanced relationship with a thriving biosphere. This will also help disadvantaged people in America and around the world to prosper, rather than continue to bear the brunt of our ecological folly.
Terra Art Collective’s art strives to bring new visions, information, and engagement with these urgent issues. We strive to create art to help us envision a new ecological balance--satisfying human needs while fostering a vital, productive biosphere.
🇩🇪 5th German-American Mobility Dialogue
When: Tue, August 30 at 4:00 PM – 8:15 PM PDT
Where: Exploratorium, Green Street, San Francisco, CA 94111
Join us for our 5th German-American Mobility Dialogue: Resilience and Sustainability in Transportation - Conflict or Smart Combination?
Recent multi-crisis events - whether pandemic, climate change, or war - are calling for more robust while agile responses: Supply chains are much talked about at the moment, for products, materials, or resources. And the automotive industry is no exception. Therefore, the question arises if resilience and sustainability can be aligned in transportation and the related supply chain.
Going back to 2017, the German-American Mobility Dialogue event series has become a hallmark for international exchange on mobility and transportation, with a particular emphasis on California and Germany. The keynote, the panel, and the breakout sessions consist of mobility experts covering the academic, industrial, and public sectors, debating recent issues and future trends of mobility. This year will be no exception when 150 experts and guests will discuss in an interactive setting of this in-person event.
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