Case study 1: MicrobeSky

Case Study 1: Microbe Sky

The state encourages citizens to harvest new forms of energy and take advantage of its geographical location.

Citizen geoengineers, dambuilders and bioscientists collaborate to create a microclimate in Vienna that will provide the perfect conditions for harvesting i.e. rainfall and humidity. As a result the citizens of Vienna are able to accelerate the growth of various species of bacteria and fungus for their microbial fuel cells.

A massive canal is dug around the natural basin of Vienna and the Danube is then channeled. Citizen bioscientists  build a‘cloud missile’ to impregnate the low lying cumulus clouds with bacteria that will generate clouds and trigger rainfall.

These particular microbial communities have evolved ways of triggering cloud formation and rainfall, thus creating a self-sustaining ecosystem that facilitates their own dispersal and in doing so controls the weather and keeps a rain cloud to remain constant above Vienna.

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Mikrobenhimmel

Die Bürger werden staatlicherseits aufgefordert, neue Formen der Energiegewinnung zu entwickeln und sich dafür die geografische Lage Wiens zunutze zu machen. Lokale Geoingenieure, Dammbauer und SynBio-Wissenschafter arbeiten Hand in Hand, um ein Mikroklima zu schaffen, das zu perfekten Erntebedingungen führt.

Rund um Wien wird ein Kanal gegraben, in den die Donau umgeleitet wird. Mit einer “Wolkenkanone” werden die tief hängenden Kumuluswolken mit Bakterien imprägniert, welche die Entstehung von Wolken verstärken und Niederschläge auslösen. Auf diese Weise wird eine konstante Regenwolke über Wien geschaffen, die ein autarkes Ökosystem mit kontrolliertem Wetter ermöglicht.

About Jessica Charlesworth

Jessica Charlesworth is a designer/researcher and works experimentally with projects that enable her to explore design as a means to create debate and storytelling, often about the interactions between people, alternative futures and emerging technologies. She holds an MA Design Interactions degree from the Royal College of Art and works as a designer and researcher in futures consulting, service design, interaction design, user experience and design strategy.
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