Disruptive consumer innovations have to appeal to those buying or using them. But should public policy try and steer the disruption process? The CESAR project on low-carbon pathways for Canada argues that it should: “Looking forward to the next 30+ years of systems change, it is imperative to understand the implications of new technology, business […]
SILCI Bulletin on Disruptive Consumer Innovations and Climate Change December 2018 As the nations of the world gather in Poland for the latest round of climate change negotiations, the imperative to reduce emissions grows ever stronger. Disruptive consumer innovations have an essential part to play – from shared mobility and smarter homes to peer-to-peer […]
Charlie Wilson visited the International Energy Agency in Paris to present research on the potential contribution of disruptive consumer innovations to accelerated energy-system transformation in line with the 1.5oC climate target. This follows the recent IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5oC which had a dedicated (if short) section on disruptive innovation. Have a […]
The SILCI project has recruited two new members. Dr Emilie Vrain has joined as a Senior Research Associate from the University of East Anglia’s Environmental Science department. Emilie will be conducting research on the social networks of early adopters of disruptive low carbon innovations. She also has a strong interest in smart homes and appliances […]
Charlie Wilson gave a public lecture at his old alma mater, the University of British Columbia, on new research showing how to meet the 1.5oC climate target by transforming energy services. Examples of potentially disruptive innovations that can significantly reduce the energy required to provide useful services include shared mobility, pre-fabricated whole home energy retrofits, […]
A new online platform is tracking potentially disruptive ‘mega-trends’ which can contribute to global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Launched by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE), the ‘SDG Trend Scanner’ has data on trends ranging from ageing, automation, digitalisation to climate change, social instability, and vulnerable employment. As the […]
On his travels by boat and train across to Vancouver, British Columbia, SILCI project researcher Charlie Wilson stopped off in the prairie state of Saskatchewan where he spoke to the CBC about low-carbon travel as well as new research on low-carbon innovation and the 1.5°C climate goal. Fittingly, the day he was interviewed was the […]
At the workshops we ran a year ago on disruptive low-carbon innovations, one of our keynote speakers, Kathryn Myronuk, made an interesting comment along the lines of: “I don’t get excited by the new stuff being invented, I’m interested in the stuff that’s been around for some time but is being combined in new ways […]
On the way home from Brussels on Eurostar, I picked up a copy of the Financial Times. The cover story was about how the number of millennials (born between 1980-2000) has overtaken the number of baby boomers in the US, marking a shift in consumer power as “millennials are now in the most important age […]
SILCI team member, Charlie Wilson, was one of the authors in a new study published in Nature Energy which shows how dramatic transformations in the way we move around, heat and cool our homes, and buy and use devices and appliances in our cities can help raise living standards in the global South to meet […]