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Put together art, technology, ecology and cooperation and you might just come up with sustainable growth that won't harm the planet.

That's the premise behind Artecoopdesigners, a forward-looking group of Europeans who will be bringing their innovative ideas to Wyoming's Rocky Mountain Oilfield Testing Center (RMOTC).

RMOTC will host a free public presentation titled "Models of Transition" on Wednesday, Aug. 27, from 7-8 p.m. at the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission building, 2211 King Blvd.

Innovation is what RMOTC is all about. The first well in 1889 in what would become Wyoming's nationally famous Teapot Dome oil field brought in $10-a-barrel oil that was so pure it could be used as a lubricant without refining.

Almost 120 years later, the oilfield south of Midwest remains world renowned, but not only for its still-producing wells. The field, which now is operated by the U.S. Department of Energy as RMOTC, is a test site for oilfield and renewable energy technologies.

Artecoop, an acronym that stands for art+technology+ecology+cooperation, will use the site's challenging weather to test global trends in architecture and actions that could sustain the planet into the future.

RMOTC Task Manager Brian Height said the idea is to test architectural and engineering concepts that are meant to work with the environment to lower or eliminate the carbon footprint.

"We're talking about what other communities are doing around the world that have taken control of their own destiny," he said.

Height's family lived off the grid with solar power in Sandy Point, Utah, before moving to Wyoming and RMOTC.

He's known Daniel Lipschits, director of project development for Artecoop, for several years, although they'll be meeting for the first time for the presentation.

The projects that will be tested at RMOTC include helium-filled photovoltaic arrays, self-sustainable urban housing units and decentralized energy distribution.

The "Models of Transition" presentation will include models and an explanation of each of the projects that Public Involvement Specialist Jim Nations said already are drawing local interest for alternative energy sources.

"This is really a kickoff to let people know what we're (RMOTC) capable of," Nations said. "It just takes imagination."

More information on the Artecoop organization is available at www.artecoop.net.

For information on the RMOTC public presentation, contact Nations at 233-4831.

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