Presenting technology and grid-scale battery storage expert Josh gerber

---

Today we announce Josh Gerber as yet another Speakers at Green Connections 2019. Mr. Gerber will become part of the 8th Annual Green Connections, which is a premier sustainability conference in San Diego, California. It follows the triple helix concept, inviting necessary parties from all over the globe. Read his interview below.

What awoke your interest to pursue a career in sustainability? 
It was really a fortunate accident. My professional background prior to energy was in Internet technology, and came to work at San Diego Gas & Electric in 2002 for those projects. I began working in the field with distribution automation and networking in 2005, and Smart Grid in 2009. It was then that I made the connection between the technology work we were doing to climate change and sustainability. Leveraging technology to address climate change locally and globally is what captured my interest then, and has kept it since.  

What are the key aspects in creating a more sustainable business sector in the forth coming years? 
Much is obvious like a dramatic decrease in emissions, but from my perspective the key aspects are the technologies that will enable us to achieve those decreases. Moving towards an all- or mostly-electric energy platform for homes, buildings, and transportation will drive demand for and utilization of renewable energy, but a sustainable all-electric business sector must be assured of very high levels of reliability, which can’t be provided by today’s mostly centralized infrastructure.

​What do you hope to gain insights from being a speaker at Green Connections 2019?  
The Nordic countries have been leaders in policies that promote renewables and clean transportation, and I hope to learn more about which have been most successful (or unsuccessful) in achieving the goals they intended to reach.
    ​​

Have you observed any fascinating ”renewable trends” in the recent period?
To enable a sustainable business sector, based on a reliable electric energy infrastructure, I believe we need to move towards a decentralized system architecture that enables dynamic integration of distributed energy resources (DER), enabled by secure, reliable software and communications platforms. Continued development of the forecasting, optimization and control software platforms that integrate with secure networks will be essential to providing reliability in systems based on intermittent generation.

Who has inspired you the most to chose the professional path that you are on?  
Technology innovations to address climate change must be sourced globally! International collaborations like those facilitated by GC are essential for accelerating the shift towards more sustainable electricity and transportation systems.

---