New Scientist organised a one day ‘Reinventing Energy’ conference in London involving many leading ‘disruptors’ in the energy and IT sectors. The conference was a follow-on from an earlier report commissioned by New Scientist called “Gamechangers: Energy”
Tony Seba’s lecture on “clean disruption” in energy and transportation systems can be seen here
Car clubs and car sharing are examples of disruptive low carbon innovations relating to mobility. Car clubs such as Zipcar and Car2Go offer a pool of vehicles to members for use over short periods of time on an as-needs basis. Car sharing (or lift sharing) is the shared use of a private vehicle for a specific journey, particularly commuting. […]
Distributed systems that combine solar PV, on-site battery storage, and demand response to utility or prices signals are an example of a disruptive low carbon innovation relating to electricity supply. These systems enable customers to ‘defect’ from the grid as the combination of generation, storage, and flexible demand can reduce or eliminate reliance on centralised electricity supply. These […]
Reuse networks or service economies for consumer goods are examples of disruptive low carbon innovations relating to material wellbeing. Reuse networks like Freecycle circulate used goods among members. Service economies provide goods on a per-use basis from a central shared pool (e.g., for garden tools). These social innovations perform poorly (if at all) on valued mainstream […]
Smart homes or net zero energy homes are examples of disruptive low carbon innovations relating to housing. Smart homes comprise sensors, monitors, interfaces, control hubs, and devices that are networked wirelessly, and allow households to control, automate and optimise the domestic environment. Net zero energy homes combine advanced whole-system efficiencies (such as Passivhaus) with onsite renewable generation. Both smart homes and net […]