25 Feb

Jump on the Austin Hydrogen Fuel Cell Bus

In spite of the tizzy this week surrounding Bloom Energy’s $700,000 stand alone box of fuels cells which as AP reporter Jordan Robertson explained “will allow homes and businesses to generate their own electricity,” the lure of hydrogen fuel cells had fizzled over the past few years in the U.S. Not so for a couple dozen Austinites who  jumped on the hydrogen bus this past Wednesday, February 24 at the UT J.J. Pickle Research Campus. This field trip on a bright and brisk morning, found them riding around to the back of the UT Center of Electromechanics building as the bus pulled up alongside a dark gray metal structure.

 

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18 Nov

The Mystique Of Wind - Part 1

It’s fair to say that science and fiction have long intertwined. This fertile coupling in our minds has fathered one after another trope, meme, theme, leit motif. As with dragons, aliens, Atlantis and UFOs, it has never been easy to dissuade devotees of their allure. Such is the spin of wind power in high producing states like Texas. Whether the allure is inspired by economic gain or by the perception of inherent goodness, is hard to tell. What is evident at least compared to Europe and Scandinavia, is that in the U.S. government incentives have not kept pace with foreign momentum nor with Americans’ wishful thinking.

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01 Sep

Introduction To Cleantech Map Blog

The premise of this blog (or what, had it arrived online less than a decade ago would have been called a web log) is to explore concepts and deepen our understanding of the knowledge that surrounds design of clean technologies, here often called  'cleantech'. On one level, the metaphor 'picture the worlds' expresses the notion that design thinking can give us a steady hand on the rudder as we navigate through environmental upheaval—softened now to climate control—something we humans haven't seemed to be good at. But we're getting smarter. This is remarkable.

This is what Cleantech Map blog talks about: the map we are charting on the way to clean energy. Many acknowledge that we're adrift and now it's time, the first time really, people are agreeing that we have the ability but also that collectively we can build the will to invent the means to steer a new course. Whether or not we do this is the impetus of this blog.

Frequently, postings will be accompanied by infographics or what we call 'cleantech maps'. These are not geographic maps like Google Earth; there are plenty of people already doing this. These cleantech maps are maps, or more accurately, graphics expressing ideas by which to steer the way to more environmentally nourishing design: Design of cleantech, design of policy and design of business.

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About

Picture the Worlds is a positioning catalyst for new technology & cleantech projects that helps companies elucidate and refine their strategic initiatives and product development.

 

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