InnovationSENIOR EDITOR/BUSINESS JAMESMEIER (760) 778-4623 or business@thedesertsun.comSECTIOND

ENERGY, TECHNOLOGY & FINANCIAL NEWS

THE DESERT SUN l SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

Q. I’m trying to share somephotos privately with a friend,but I can only send one peremail. Is there an easier way?

A. There are plenty of file-transfer services out there.You can share hundreds ofmegabytes or even gigabytesof files at once.

You only need to send yourfriend a link.

Take a look at Wikisend forsecure sharing up to 100 MB.For larger files, give We-Transfer a look.

KeeppornoutQ.How can I keep porn off

our homeWi-Fi network?

A. There’s actually a freeservice made just for this kindof thing. It’s called OpenDNS.With a few quick tweaks toyour router, you can block anytype of content you don’t wantin your home, but choosing thesettings you want can be in-timidating. So, OpenDNS has apreconfigured option calledFamily Shield that’s set toblock what most people findobjectionable.

Abetter hard driveQ. I’m buying a PC, and it

offers an SSD as an option.Why would I want one?

A. An SSD, or solid-statedrive, is a much faster andmore reliable replacement forthe standard computer harddrive. With an SSD, your com-puter will start up and openprograms much faster. Ofcourse, SSDs do cost more andyou get less hard drive space.Many people use an SSD fortheir operating system andprograms, and have a largerconventional hard drive forphotos and videos.

What are hashtags?Q. I keep hearing people

talk about hashtags. What arethey?

A. A hashtag is a way toorganize posts on Twitter orFacebook. It’s a hash sign, “#,”followed by a word or phrase.If you click a hashtag on Face-book or Twitter, you can seeevery post anyone has madecontaining that hashtag. So, ifyou write a post about yourbreakfast, you could put

TECH Q&A

Sharing large files without email is a cinch

Kim KomandoKOMANDO’S Q&A

Please see KOMANDO, D3

I was in Barnes & Noble atWestfield Palm Desert a weekago, supposedly getting abirthday card for my niecewhen this little black book,with its title “Ten Billion” inhuge orange letters, jumpedoff the shelf and practicallyjammed itself into my hands.

The author, Stephen Em-mott, is head of computationalscience at a Microsoft re-search lab in Cambridge, Eng-land, where a multidisciplin-ary team of scientists is look-ing for new approaches tofundamental scientific prob-lems, including climatechange.

“Ten Billion” is his brief,graphically powerful presen-tation of what he sees as thekey driver behind climatechange and the potential fu-ture of a largely unlivableEarth: the planet’s ever-in-creasing population. Since1800, Earth’s population hasmushroomed from1 billion tomore than 7 billion today, with10 billion looming on the hori-zon, he writes. Finding theresources to feed, house andprovide a sustainable qualityof life, by Western standards,for that many people is theunderlying cause of the rise ofgreenhouse gas emissions andclimate change.

“Our cleverness, our in-ventiveness, and our activitieshave modified almost everypart of our planet. In fact,we’re having a profound im-pact on it,” Emmott writes inthe book’s opening pages. “In-deed our cleverness, our in-ventiveness, and our activitiesare now the drivers of everyglobal problem we face.

“And every one of theseproblems is accelerating as wecontinue to grow toward apopulation of ten billion.”

The book has raised a fairamount of criticism on boththe left for being too pessimis-tic and on the right for beingtoo alarmist. It’s also beencriticized for its high-impact,if wasteful visual presentation— 216 quickly read pages onhigh-quality paper with largetype and short sentences,sometimes only one or two perpage.

Another flashpoint is whereEmmott got some of his fig-

K KaufmannGREEN DESERT

Can Earthsustain theinevitable10 billion?

Please see GREEN, D3

Genevieve Liang will be the first todescribe the executive roster of the in-novative solar firm she joined earlierthis year as “alarmingly male” and“alarmingly white.”

As vice president for business de-velopment for the Western U.S. at theClean Energy Collective, a Coloradocompany promoting an innovativemodel of community-owned solar, Li-ang is the company’s sole female exec-utive.While acutely aware of the smallnumber of women in clean technologyin general, she doesn’t see her genderas an obstacle.

“The way to overcome your owntrepidation and not appear to be a hes-itant participant is to actually get toknow individuals, who they are andhowyoucanrelate to them,rather thanbecome overwhelmed by the fact youare the only female,” saidLiang, one ofa small but impressive roster of wom-en in clean technology speaking at theSouthern California Energy Summitset forFriday at thePalmSpringsCon-vention Center.

That women constitute 20 percentof the speakers at the fifth annual con-ference, aimed at promoting the re-

gion as an epicenter for renewable en-ergy and clean tech, is the result of aspecial effort by conference pro-ducers Burke Rix Communications, aPalm Springs public relations andevent management firm.

After approaching actress and bio-diesel fuel proponent DarylHannah tobe a keynote speaker, “it became ap-parent to us there were a number ofotherwomen in the field of clean ener-gy that were doing great things,” saidJosh Zipperman, senior associate atBurke Rix. “It was an effort of ours todiversify the summit.”

Spreading thewordBorn in England, but raised in Aus-

tralia, SarahBackhousestartedherca-reer in traditional media but experi-enced a sea-change in her life in 2006,propelling her into clean-tech report-ing. That year, she had her son Milo,now 7 years old, and saw “An Inconve-nient Truth,” formerVice President AlGore’sAcademyAward-winningdocu-mentary on climate change.

“I was crazy to do something moremeaningful and make more of an im-pact on the world,” she said. “I com-bined my passion and my skill-set andfocused my attention on environmen-tal media.”

She started Future360.tv in 2011 toprovide an online showcase for solu-tions to climate change, she said.Videos on the site, all under five min-utes long, range from a clip on an elec-tric vehicle that is half-motorcycle,half-car to a whirlwind tour ofMasdarCity, a$20-billion, low-carboncitybuiltfrom the ground up in Abu Dhabi.

In addition to producing videos forits own website, the company is ex-panding to provide media services toother green and clean-tech businesses

Solar panelsover thestudent

parking lotcreate shaded

parking atCathedral CityHigh School.

CRYSTALCHATHAM/

THE DESERT SUN

Greg, Tabakof EnterpriseHoldings,whichoperatesfour rentalcar companies,shows howto plug in aNissan Leafusing a homecharging unit.CRYSTALCHATHAM/THE DESERT SUN

By K KaufmannThe Desert Sun

NEW FEATURESAmazon’s new Kindle FireHDX, is significantly fasterand lighter than the previousgeneration and comes with“Mayday,”which allows usersto summon a live customerservice representative in atiny video window. D5

Renewableenergyopportunitiesat the SaltonSea will bediscussed atthe SouthernCaliforniaEnergySummit.JAYCALDERON/THE DESERT SUN

Please see ENERGY, D2

FORMORE INFORMATION» The Southern California Energy Summit:www.socalenergysummit.orgEnergy bus tour, 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Thursday;cost, $50.Conference, 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Friday,Palm Springs Convention Center, 277 N.Avenida Caballeros, Palm Springs. Cost: $75.Information: Call Josh Zipperman at (760)327-9708, Ext. 24» Future360: www.future360.tv» CleanTECH San Diego:www.cleantechsandiego.org» Clean Energy Collective:www.easycleanenergy.com» Oberon Fuels: www.oberonfuels.com

let’s get started.

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ENERGY WOMEN

D2 | THE DESERT SUN | SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013 INNOVATION

DS-0000335512

The Kidney - A Magic MachineFREE Community Lecture Presented by;Rodolfo Batarsé, MDBOARD CERTIFIED INTERNAL MEDICINEAND NEPHROLOGY

Thursday, October 3, 20131:00 - 2:00pm

Mizell Senior Center480 S. Sunrise Ave.Palm Springs, CA 92270

RSVP: 800-491-4990

Through generous donations by these businesses, ourMedia in Education Program has been able to provide thousandsof Coachella Valley students with a powerful and life learning tool

to succeed in the next generation – the e-newspaper.

Thank You!

The business community and its support is the life-line of our Media in Education Program. If you wouldlike to know how your business can be involved ineducation by becoming a classroom sponsor, pleasecall Lisa McGlashan 760.778.4562.

DIAMOND

SILVER

GOLD

BRONZE

THE COETA AND DONALDBARKER FOUNDATION

Bradshaw Construction

Brandman University

BSW Literary Agency, Inc.

Comfort Air

Daniel Tire Service/Jack Sauter’s Tire Fa

DeLuca Jewelers

Desert Lexus

Desert Water Agency

Eisenhower Medical Center

Family YMCA of the Desert

Jon Harmon Insurance Services, LLC

Maple Leaf Plumbing, Heating & A/C, Inc.

Outdoor Living Concepts

Palm Springs Plumbing Co. Inc.

Pet Rescue Center

PLUMBEREX

Potente, Professional Law Corporation

Silica Studios

State Farm Insurance, Cindy Pieper, Agent

The First Tee of the Coachella Valley

The Palm-Golf Club

WalMart Supercenter-Palm Desert

Yellow Cab Company of the Desert

DS-0000319230

and organizations, saidBackhouse, who will in-terview Hannah on stageat the summit.

Now based in Los An-geles, Backhouse sees in-novation in Southern Cali-fornia pushing out fromunder the long shadow ofSiliconValley in thenorth.With the Silicon Beachstartup corridor in LosAngeles and a clean-techenclave in Irvine, a robustbusiness ecosystem isemerging in the region,she said.

“There’s a whole spiritof entrepreneurialism,”shesaid. “I amhoping thatby supporting entrepre-neursandbringingpeopletogether and helping in-vestors connect with en-trepreneurs and helpingbusiness to flourish, thatis the first step in turningus around.”

Pushinggreen techHolly Smithson came

to SanDiego six years agolooking for a new direc-tion after 10 years inWashington, D.C., work-ing as a lobbyist for awaste management tradeassociation and later as acongressional liaison forthe U.S. EnvironmentalProtectionAgencyduringthe administration ofPresident George W.Bush.

She landed in the city,she recalled, “without aRolodex,” but immediate-ly started networking,serendipitously, just asformer Mayor JerrySanders was launchingCleanTECHSanDiego, aninnovation hub. Smithsonis now the president andchief operating officer oftheclean-techcluster thathas attracted large corpo-rations such as Honey-well Technologies andIberdola Renewables, aSpanish energy company,as well as a growing num-ber of startups.

The organization hasalso forged strong tieswith UC San Diego, a re-search center for micro-grid and energy storagetechnology, and the U.S.Navy and Marine Corps,both ofwhichhave invest-ed millions of dollars inclean-tech research anddeploying green technol-ogy on the battle field.

Sheseesagrowingrolefor clean-tech companiesin policy-making, point-ing to the 2010 electionbattleoverProposition23,an effort to roll back As-sembly Bill 32, Califor-nia’s aggressive plan forreducing greenhouse gasemissions.

“It was a great oppor-tunity for CleanTECHSan Diego to help informand educate the largercommunityonwhatAB32had meant for our localeconomy,” she said.“While proponents ofProp. 23 were claimingAB 32 would kill jobs, wehadadatabase of over 800clean-tech companies,creating technology, cre-ating jobs.”

Expandingsmall-scale solar

Liang likes being onthe cutting edge, whetherwith renewable energytechnology or developingbusiness models for star-tup companies.

Bothherpreviousposi-tion at Sharp Corp.’s SolarEnergy Solutions Group,and her new job at theClean Energy Collectivecombine both interests.CEC builds community-scale solar projects — 1megawatt and under —

that area residents canbuy into, owning one ormore solar panels and thepower they generate.

The company workswith local utilities so thatsolar owners get a crediton their monthly bills forthe solar power they buyat lower-than-utilityrates.

“It’s not just that youcan own solar without be-ing tied to property, youcan start owning solarwith bite-size or any sizeyou’re comfortable with,without having to buy awhole system,” said Li-ang, who will speak on apanel on sustainable com-munities at the EnergySummit.

Most of the three-year-old company’s projectshave been in Colorado, soLiang’s challenge is help-ing it expand across thewestern states, includingAlaska and Hawaii. InCalifornia, that will meanwinning over the state’sthree large private utili-ties, which have decided-ly mixed feelings aboutrooftop solar and its in-creasingly negative im-pact on their bottom lines.

“Utilities have to de-cide if theyaregoing togoon thinking about renew-able procurement in thesame way they thinkabout traditional procure-ment, or they can actuallyengage their customers alot more in the beginningand give themmuchmoreagency in the develop-ment of resources,” shesaid. “This is a smarterway to go. You are in ac-tive conversation withcustomers insteadof itbe-ing a one-way conversa-tion.”

Cleaningup fuelsRebecca Boudreaux

startedher first company,a biotech firm called Inte-zyne Technologies, about

10yearsagowhenshewasa 25-year-old graduatestudent, to find ways tomake chemotherapymore effective for cancerpatients.

“I’m trained as a chem-ist and love solving prob-lems,” said Boudreaux,who made the jump to al-ternative fuels and hercurrent position with LaJolla-based Oberon Fuelsabout four years ago, af-ter first working for thecompany as a consultant.

Oberon has developedsmall, modular manufac-turingunits forproducingdimethyl ether, or DME, acleaner-burning dieselsubstitute that can bemade from any form ofmethane, from naturalgas to biomass.

“When it combusts inan engine, there’s no soot,no black smoke, no partic-ulatematter,” she said, re-ferring to the tiny parti-cles that are a cause ofrespiratory disease.

While DME does pro-duce carbon dioxide, thesmall manufacturingunits also mean the fuelcan be made available inrural or other isolatedareas, she said. One ofOberon’s first projectshas been a location inBrawley, in ImperialCounty.

“You’re seeing the ideaof distributed generationwith solar panels, and Ithink you’re going to seethat in fuel production,”she said. “We build re-gional markets. We needfuel stock that is regional-ly located; we create localjobs; the area benefitsfrom cleaner burningfuel.”

Energy reporter KKaufmann can be reached

at (760) 778-4622,k.kaufmann@thedesertsun

.com or on Twitter@kkaufmann.

EnergyContinued from D1

Single units in Vista Dunes, a Leed certified affordablehousing complex.MARILYN CHUNG/THE DESERT SUN

A Border Valley Trading Ltd. Compressed Natural Gasfueling station in Palm Springs.WADE BYARS/THE DESERT SUN

A Hot Purple Energy crew install solar panels. CRYSTALCHATHAM/THE DESERT SUN

The listing below containsinformation obtained from thePalm Springs Bureau of Tourismand the Palm Springs Conven-tion Center. All events will beheld at the Convention Center.

SEPT. 28-OCT. 1California Grocers Associa-

tion Strategic Conference 2013

OCT. 4-5California Academy of

Physician Assistants, 2013annual conference

OCT. 25-27California Science Teachers

Association, California ScienceEducation conference

NOV. 1California Mathematics

Council 2013 conference

NOV. 10-13California Association of

Health Facilities, 63rd annual

convention and expo

NOV. 14-17California School Nutrition

Association, 61st annual confer-ence and trade show

NOV. 22-24Southern Pacific District of

the Assemblies of God YouthConference

DEC. 6-8Stellar Expos, Fall Home

Show

JAN. 4Palm Springs International

Film Festival Gala

JAN. 11Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio

Council, fifth annual B.I.G. Expo

JAN. 13-17Cambridge Healthtech

Institute

JAN. 192014 Fisher Healthcare,

national sales meeting

JAN. 26-29Spray Foam 2014, Spray

Polyurethane Foam Alliance

FEB.1-2Spirit Sports Duel in the

Desert Championship

FEB. 6-9Society of Nuclear Medicine

and Molecular Imaging, 2014mid-winter meeting

FEB. 8Annual Steve Chase Humani-

tarian awards

FEB. 13-24ModernismWeek

FEB. 18-21California Society of Munici-

pal Finance OfficersCompiled by Nina Ronda

WHO’S COMING TO TOWN

WEDNESDAY OCT. 2Cathedral City Chamber

“Power Breakfast,” RSVP. 7a.m., Doral Desert PrincessResort, 67967 Vista Chino,Cathedral City. $25-$40. (760)328-1213 or CathedralCityCC-.com

THURSDAY OCT. 3Free financial consulta-

tions, 9 a.m.-noon, MizellSenior Center, 480 S. SunriseWay, Palm Springs. (760) 323-5689

Palm Desert Area Cham-ber of Commerce Businessto Consumer Expo,with afterparty immediately followingthe expo. 4-7:30 p.m., Fantasy

Springs Resort Casino SpecialEvents Center, 84245 IndioSprings Parkway, Indio. $5.PDACC.org

SATURDAY OCT. 5Save A Pet Animal Hospi-

tal grand opening, 10 a.m.-noon, Save A Pet AnimalHospital, 13700 Palm Drive,Desert Hot Springs. Free. (760)699-8225 or SaveAPetOnline-.org

MONDAY OCT. 7Justice Bus free legal

clinic service, a two-day clinicserving those facing evictionand housing related matters.Inland Counties Legal Services,

82632 Highway 111, Bldg. C,Indio. (951) 774-4416

TUESDAY OCT. 8Free financial consulta-

tions, 9 a.m.-noon, La QuintaSenior Center, 78450 AvenidaLa Fonda, La Quinta. Free. (760)564-0096

IndianWells Chamber ofCommercemixer, 5:30 p.m.,Nest Restaurant, 75188 High-way 111, Indian Wells. $5-$10.(760) 346-7095 or IndianWell-sChamber.com

Submit calendar event in-formation at least two weeksin advance at MyDesert.com

BUSINESS CALENDAR

Job changesKelly Lightner is the new

event sales manager at the IWClub in Indian Wells. Lightner’ssales and advertising careerranged frommedia buyer tonational sales representative inLos Angeles and, most recently,as an account executive atKMIR6/KPSE13 - TV.

Lauren Skiver has beenappointed general manager ofSunLine Transit Agency.Skiver is a 16-year veteran ofthe transit industry. She cur-rently serves as the chief exec-utive officer of the State of

Delaware Transit Corporationheadquartered in Wilmington,Del. She will start at SunLine inearly October.

KevinMcGuire hasbeen appoint-ed executivevice presidentand regionalmarket man-ager for theBank ofSouthernCalifornia. In

December 2010, the bankacquired the La Quinta and

Palm Springs branches fromPalm Desert National Bank,where McGuire was CEO andchairman.

Openings andMovings

The Party Lab showroom inPalm pPrings reopened Sept. 27under the management of newowners Larry Abel and Ray-mondMcCallister. The show-room offers a full array of partysupplies, invitations, balloons,costumes and more. Informa-tion: (760) 832-6951

YOUR BUSINESS YOUR NEWS

McGuire