While these are presumably just the first of many tax breaks to be granted, the San Jose / South Bay area certainly did well, as did solar. Eight out of the twelve companies are located in that area. Seven of them are building photovoltaic manufacturing facilities while the other manufactures fuel cell systems. The solar companies are Calisolar, First Solar, Nanosolar, NuvoSun, Solaria, Solyndra, and Stion Corp, with Bloom Energy being the fuel cell company. Most of California certainly has ample sunshine, and perhaps one day, in addition to vast solar arrays in deserts powering our cities, we will also have solar installed on a mass scale in buildings in cities too, cutting transmission costs and waste, and generating power locally.
The other four projects are for bio- and landfill-gas capture and production. The companies are ABEC Bidart Stockdale (two projects), Bowerman Power, and Gallo Cattle, with the gas coming from landfills and cow manure. This is an especially promising area, using what was once looked at as trash and refuse, which costs money to bury or burn, and instead turning it into an energy source. This is a double win, as companies, instead of paying to dump waste in a landfill, get a revenue stream and energy from it. This is recycling on an industrial scale. More, please.
Most are for solar, with some for bio- and landfill-gas capture. More tax breaks are coming but really, $71 million is a tiny amount for California to invest in helping businesses that could provide hugge numbers of jobs.