Ok, so I run a micro innovation/design/strategy agency based in Paris called Fraîche Design Thinking S.A.S.

Through one of my recent client projects, I had the opportunity to interview the founder of a startup that is using physics-informed A.I. to build digital twins of electrical grids so that utilities can optimize existing infrastructure for planning and operations. This guy had me convinced that the grid is the unsung hero of the energy transition.

That giant, out-of-sight, out-of-mind, taken-for-granted piece of infrastructure that nobody seems to care about (until the lights go out across Iberia) is the backbone of the global energy transition.

Who knew!?

I love a good underdog story.

Listen, this grid, she's on a hero's journey, somewhat of a reluctant one. She's the quiet helper, always in the background, the kind of character who never wanted all the glory or spotlight or fame. But darn-it if humanity isn't facing an existential crisis that only she can avert! She must step up to the plate to face untold dragons and epic challenges until she returns home changed—automated and modernized—for the good of all mankind.

It's a grid love story.

I found it fascinating and decided to learn more about the global energy transition in general, which is how I found myself in a MOOC called 'The Transition to the Decarbonised Economy of Tomorrow' put on by Delft University of Technology.

I'm going to be live-tweeting the course a little bit here [and on LinkedIn] because I think there are opportunities for the world of innovation/design/strategy to tell this story in a more compelling way. I'll let you know what's tripping me up, explain it as best I can, and ask if you've got a clever angle on it—which I'll share back with the professors and moderators of the course, FWIW.

Because life on earth is under pressure. We need movement, we need energy transition, and we need something to believe in. 🌿