Government Technology - March 2008 - (Page 40)

green government S TAT E | L O C A L | F E D E R A L Synopsis: San Jose announces aggressive plans to become the leading green city in America, including powering its entire geography with renewable energy. j j Jurisdiction: San Jose, Calif. Technologies: Renewable energy, servers, desktops, laptops and natural cooling. Contact: Collin O’Mara, clean technology policy strategist, San Jose, Calif., 408/535-8181. Conservation King reen initiatives driven by local governments are popping up all over the United States, but San Jose, Calif., might be taking the movement further than any other city. San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed recently announced a 15-year, “Green Vision” plan to power nearly the entire city with renewable and energyefficient technologies. Conserving energy is just one goal of the initiative. Reed sees it as a way to spur job creation, said Michelle McGurk, public information officer of the San Jose mayor’s office. As demand for green IT expands, a growing number of experts view energy-efficient technologies as a potential source of numerous, high-paying jobs. San Jose’s work force is poised to make the city’s lofty green goal a reality, said Collin O’Mara, clean technology policy strategist for the city. San Jose, Calif., announces plans to run almost all its infrastructure on renewable and energy-efficient technologies. “We have a lot of IT companies looking to get involved in the energy monitoring business. We also have many architectural firms that are now becoming green building experts,” O’Mara said. “We’re seeing it over and over again — companies are really trying to become innovative and drive the products that we’re going to need to become more sustainable.” San Jose’s eventual target is a 100-percent renewable energy benchmark. The city’s hopes for meeting this aggressive goal rest on the market’s ability to deliver new innovations during the next few years. San Jose’s work force is ideally suited to deliver the necessary technology, O’Mara said. “We have one of the most talented work forces in the country. We have access to venture capital dollars. We have a growing consumer base that is more advanced than other parts of the country; demand more green products. Combine that with the hightech research institutions in the area, like the University of California, Berkeley; San Jose State University; and University of California, Santa Cruz,” O’Mara said, adding that promising technologies were already emerging in San Jose. “We’re seeing a real renaissance in onsite solar-power generation. It’s not just the tra- G Power Source To power the entire city with renewable energy, San Jose will attempt to reduce energy consumption by 50 percent. California already has mandated that all of its public utilities must generate 20 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2010 — but that requirement might climb to 33 percent by 2020, according to the California Public Utilities Commission. MAR_08 40 BY A N D Y O P S A H L | F E AT U R E S E D I T O R http://www.govtech.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Government Technology - March 2008

Government Technology - March 2008 Contents Point of View Big Picture The Last Mile On the Scene Four Questions for... Top 25 Doers, Dreamers and Drivers Let's [Not] Get Physical No Data Left Behind Conservation King Community Drug Test Reinventing the System Better Late Than Never Closing the Deal Spectrum Products Personal Computing signal:noise Digital Communities The Expanding Focus of Digital Communities The Digital Imperative Hot Fusion Redefining Municipal Wireless Made in the USA Bridge Detectives The 2008 Agenda

Government Technology - March 2008

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