EBGC Partners
City of Berkeley:
Berkeley is famous for its world-class university, environment for innovative businesses and its many cultural venues. Our economic vitality is firmly rooted in more than 200 environmentally focused businesses. Berkeley's downtown is just a short walk from the UC Berkeley campus and we are home to a number of high-tech commercial spin-offs from the university. Employee recruiters here find abundant local brainpower with our population boasting the highest number of Ph.D. per capita in the country.
City of Emeryville:
The City of Emeryville is centrally located at the eastern landing of the Bay Bridge, in the heart of the Bay Area. It a proven, high quality business location and is home to several major corporations. Given its easy access to freeways and transit, Emeryville has emerged as an important commercial center in the East Bay. Several businesses and organizations focusing on green technology have located in Emeryville, particularly those exploring alternative fuels technology such as the Joint Bio-Energy Institute (JBEI). Emeryville's entrepreneurial approach to business development supports and encourages the growth of green and sustainable technologies.
City of Oakland:
Consistently ranked among the top 10 major U.S. cities for overall sustainability, Oakland is the largest city in the Green Corridor and the entire East Bay region. Strengths that Oakland brings to the Partnership include a vibrant, Smart Growth oriented downtown; a dynamic business sector populated by over 200 green and sustainable businesses with a highly educated workforce; diversified industrial facilities which collectively comprise both a California Enterprise Zone and a Recycling Market Development Zone; a convenient, bustling seaport and airport; and easy access to federal, state, and county government agencies.
City of Richmond:
Richmond’s location is its biggest economic asset. Richmond is easily accessible by highway, rail, sea and air. Two interstate freeways— I-80 and I-580— the Richmond Parkway, Amtrak, BART, AC Transit, the BNSF and Union Pacific railroads, and a deep-water port all work to connect the City to regional, national and international markets. Richmond is minutes away from Marin (over the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge), the Oakland and San Francisco airports, and the University of California at Berkeley. Prominent green businesses, including EcoTimber, Excellent Packaging & Supply, Heliodyne, SunPower and Vetrazzo, come to Richmond seeking prime commercial/ industrial space, a skilled workforce and Enterprise Zone (EZ) tax credits.
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
In 2005, Berkeley Lab director and Nobel laureate Steve Chu launched an ambitious effort to develop solar-based energy technologies, which he called the "Helios Project." This effort now encompasses research aimed at the development of a new generation of biofuels based on agricultural waste products, grasses, algae and other plants not used for food, the direct conversion of water and carbon dioxide into transportation fuels, and the application of artificial nanostructures to solar energy technologies. Berkeley Lab is the lead partner in the Joint BioEnergy Institute, a participant in the Energy Biosciences Institute, and a leader of the effort to develop artificial photosynthesis. Berkeley Lab is also one of the nation's premier institutes for advancing energy conservation and efficiency technologies.
UC Berkeley
UC Berkeley in partnership with the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory has received a five-year, $125-million contract by the Department of Energy to fund the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI). JBEI is headquartered Emeryville and its goal is to achieve significant scientific progress in the area of sustainable bio fuels within the next five years. UC Berkeley has also won a $500-million, 10-year contract by BP to fund the Energy Biosciences Institute, the world’s first research institution solely dedicated to the new field of energy bioscience.