Central Texas Leading The Way In Clean Energy
Dec 4 2008

Remember when I wrote about the Clean Energy Venture Summit that’s going on in Austin, Texas right now?  Well a big announcement happened yesterday at the conference (see article below).  Texas is poised to be a market leader in clean energy and where I work during the day, the Austin Technology Incubator, will most likely be ‘deep in the heart of it.’ [For those who don’t get that reference, there is a famous Texas song called “Deep in the heart of Texas…” 

My boss has been intimately involved in the planning meetings to make the Pecan Street project happen and we just (finally!) hired a new clean energy director to continue to lead the efforts in building our clean energy portfolio.  I’m particularly excited because the new director (not yet officially announced) will be taking off a bunch of stuff from my plate. I, my boss (aka ‘the man’), a couple of interns, and one of our Advisors (who gave freely of his time) have been holding the clean energy incubator pieces together since the previous director left back in April.  It has been a true experiment in juggling!

Nine companies join clean energy partnership – Participants include Dell, Freescale, Microsoft

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

By Claudia Grisales

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Austin’s clean energy future just got a major shot in the arm.

More than a dozen business and community leaders announced Wednesday that nine major companies – from Dell Inc. to Freescale Semiconductor Inc. to Microsoft Corp. – will join in a partnership to help bring clean energy to Central Texas. The companies will help contribute employees to the Pecan Street Project, a public-private plan in the works to bring innovative energy ideas and jobs to the region. 

“There is not another city in the country that has the ability to bring together all these companies on a common vision,” Austin City Council member and mayoral candidate hopeful Brewster McCracken said.

The announcement, which was made at the Clean Energy Venture Summit at the University of Texas, signals that the Pecan Street Project has drawn the muscle necessary to move forward with its aggressive plans.

Read more…

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