SXSW Eco Goes Cosmic

Environmentalism has, to too many people, become equivalent to neo-Ludditism, a blanket opposition to technology as the thief of all resources. But with two big speakers added today, SXSW Eco is attempting to recalculate that equation.

The conference is always intended to celebrate the convergence of tech, design, society, and ecology. That's re-enforced with the addition of Dirk Ahlborn, CEO of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies. He's the point man for tech entrepreneur Elon Musk's radical re-invention of public transport, a solution to rapid ground transit that's as much Futurama vacuum tube as it is traditional train.

Ahlborn is added to the keynoting list alongside Chris Lewicki, president and chief engineer of asteroid mining company Planetary Resources. Formerly Arkyd Astronautics, the company's business remit may seem like science fiction, but last month the firm launched its first space craft from the International Space Station. Lewicki is ambitious, aiming for commercial mining of valuable metals, and harvesting of asteroid water for hydrogen-based fuels, within the next 10 years.

That focus on energy will give him common ground with several of the other speakers announced today: Cheryl Martin of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority; clean power expert David Danielson of the Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy; and Ellen Williams of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy division.

Plus, if Lewicki wants some words of wisdom on being in space he could talk to Christopher Ferguson. Having flown two Space Shuttles, and commanding the Endeavour on the program's last ever mission, he knows a thing or two about our little green and blue sphere.

Also on today's extended invite list are two experts on environmental opportunities in India. Anjali Jaiswal is a San Francisco-based attorney working with the Natural Resource Defense Council's India Initiative, concentrating on cross-Pacific climate change cooperation. She joins communicable disease specialist Dr. Gulrez Azhar of the Public Health Foundation of India, an expert on the spread and treatment of tuberculosis in the region.

SXSW Eco has already announced a swath of speakers, with a heavy emphasis on how venture capitalists are getting greener. Expect sustainable practice expert and Time Magazine Millennium Hero for the Planet Hunter Lovins to extend that conversation, while Daniel Lee of the Levi Strauss Foundation and Helen Davis Johnson of the Kresge Foundation will add philanthropy to the mix.

SXSW Eco runs Oct. 5-7 at the Austin Convention Center. More details and info at www.sxsweco.com.