CleanTech San Diego has been ranked in the top 10 of global clean tech clusters. Pretty amazing considering that the organization was only founded in 2007 through an initiative of the mayor’s office and several local businesses. The organization that created the ranking, Sustainable World Capital, has created a global clean tech organization of which CleanTech San Diego is a part. In November, the European component of the cluster will be launching in Finland, followed by the North American cluster in mid-to late November.
I asked Jason Anderson, Vice President of CleanTech San Diego during my San Diego Algae Tour, why the city felt that developing not only a clean tech cluster, but an algae cluster was so important. I should mention that San Diego has the largest algae cluster in the world – nearly 30 companies strong. Anderson responded that the city saw a clean tech cluster as a new opportunity for San Diego in terms of job creation and job growth for the region. Anderson noted that the cluster continues to grow and it has already had a positive impact on the region’s economy.
There have been folks in the region doing algal research for more than 20 years, said Anderson in response to my question, why an algae cluster? He said with the country’s interest in the price of fuel and energy security playing a big role, having a focus on algal fuels made sense.
So how did CleanTech San Diego come to be so successful in so short a time? Anderson said there were three reasons.
- 1) The strength of the research institutions in their region including University of California, San Diego, San Diego State and Univeristy of San Diego.
- 2) The people in San Diego are very collaborative and work together well.
- 3) The leadership of Mayor Jerry Sanders and his region wanting to develop this and working hard with the business community and others to grow the industry.
You can view photos from my trip in my San Diego Algae Tour Photo Album.
You can listen to my interview with Jason Anderson and learn in more detail why CleanTech San Diego continues to be so successful.CleanTech San Diego A Global Top 10 Clean Tech Cluster