Green energy will transform Scotland in the way that technology firms in Silicon Valley transformed California, the First Minister will tell an American audience.
Speaking in San Francisco on Wednesday, Alex Salmond will say that Scotland's developing marine energy sector will turn the country into a centre of excellence in this field, bringing with it potentially huge economic and environmental rewards.
The First Minister is in the west coast of America on a four-day long trade mission, with his trip having already included the world premiere of the new Pixar movie Brave, an animated film set in a mythical Scotland.
Later on Wednesday he will be addressing the Commonwealth Club of California in San Francisco - the oldest public affairs forum in the United States.
Previous speakers have included civil rights campaigner Martin Luther King and former US presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton.
In his speech Mr Salmond will highlight Scotland's renewable energy potential, saying the country is at the "heart of the marine engineering revolution" and could be the "Silicon Valley of marine energy".
Scotland has 10% of Europe's wave power resources and a quarter of its offshore wind and tidal resources.
Mr Salmond will state: "Scotland is a nation which has made a big contribution to the world in the past and has a huge amount to offer the world in the future. We are ambitious for the future, both for ourselves and what we can contribute to the rest of the world.
"I believe that developing the concentration of expertise, commitment and investment in marine energy that Scotland already possesses will make us the Silicon Valley of marine energy.
"That patch of Northern California that became known as Silicon Valley began by creating a community of technical scholars. Big business followed the skills and big rewards soon followed - and the same is happening in Scotland in our marine energy sector."
Mr Salmond will go on to explain that all 12 of Scotland's major universities have joined together to form the Energy Technology Partnership, which earlier this year agreed a "unique collaboration" with Abu Dhabi's Masdar Energy Institute.
And he will say: "Glasgow is the premier centre in Europe for offshore wind research, with Strathclyde University's £90mTechnology and Innovation Centre a hub for researchers and industry to work together on pioneering technology.
"There are more different types of wave and tidal devices in the waters around Scotland than in the rest of the world combined and the Pentland Firth and Orkney waters leasing area is the world's largest commercial scale marine energy site."
The First Minister will continue: "Scotland is becoming the Silicon Valley of marine energy worldwide. Having been at the heart of the marine engineering revolution of the 19th century, we are now placing ourselves at the heart of the marine engineering revolution of the 21st century.
"As hi-tech industries concentrated in Silicon Valley and transformed the economic landscape of Northern California, so marine energy will do for Scotland."
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