Chronicle staff writer Katherine Gregor has been blogging from Copenhagen, where she’s checking out the city’s climate initiatives as it gears up for the United Nations Climate Change Conference in December. See the Newsdesk blog (austinchronicle.com/newsdesk) to catch her reports daily through Oct. 10. Here’s an excerpt from her second day in the (other) windy city:
“As a joint venture between the Danish state and five major business organizations, Climate Consortium Denmark is promoting solutions to the core issue addressed by Austin’s Pecan Street Project: how to invent a power grid that works on a massive scale to collect, store, and distribute wind energy. It’s hosting a weeklong ‘smart grid’ workshop to share international solutions with transmission system operators worldwide next January or February. (The consortium would love participants from Austin.) As though to showcase the wind power of this beautiful city, the wind was so fierce when I arrived yesterday that it prevented opening the front door of the hotel. It made sightseeing a blustery challenge as well; bicycling through Copenhagen today (aka, researching carbon-neutral transport) should be cold but exhilarating. Stay tuned!”
This article appears in October 9 • 2009.