Are you also wondering, why your electricity bills are so high? Probably you are not paying enough attention on your energy saving opportunities. The social network “welectricity” can help you understand what you could do better. It allows you to contribute your information on the energy consumption habits and to compare them with your friends.  This idea made welectricity one of the top 10 ideas that had been put forward in the General Electric ECOmagination global contest. GLOBAL IDEAS has met the founder of welectricity, Herbert Samuel.

GLOBAL IDEAS has been at the Berlin based re:campaign, a conference that presents and analyses the best in online-campaigning. We shot a few interviews during the event which we will be releasing from today.

Our guest in the first interview was Ole Seidenberg. He is one of the organizers of the event. His agency ‘Nest’ counsels NGOs to build up successful campaigning using the internet. Ole has as well been one of the bloggers who was part of the initiative “Adopt A Negotiator.” We talked about climate change and social media. The interview was held in german.

Congrats to the people at Nissan, the Japanese carmaker! The Nissan Leaf won the “World Car of the Year” award at the New York Car Show, making it the first ever fully electric car to take home that prize. The Leaf is a zero-emissions vehicle thanks to a big electric motor powered by lithium batteries.

The judges at the auto show said it drove like a “normal car” and selected it over candidates like the Audi A8 Limousine. Experts say the Leaf can drive around 120 kilometers before needing a recharge–pretty impressive, especially with the cost of gas these days.

What do you think of the car?

We’ve got another study to share with you, but this time it’s a new report from Transparency International. The watchdog organization released its ‘Global Corruption: Climate Change’ report on Saturday and they had an important message: don’t let corruption get in the way of addressing climate change.

According to Transparency International, several countries need better oversight when it comes to climate projects to make sure funds are used the right way. And that’s especially important now because experts say we’re likely to see $700 billion devoted to climate change investment by the year 2020. The report also showed that the carbon trading markets and forestry industry are especially prone to corruption.

Tell us a little more about your country–do you think climate change funds are being used appropriately?

As more and more countries start to integrate renewable energy into the mix, the need for smart grids is also growing. What are smart grids? They’re a type of electricity network controlled by digital technology–and that network runs straight from a power plant right into your home. The idea is to make the flow of electricity more reliable and efficient AND be able to better integrate alternative energy sources, like wind power, solar energy, etc.

One of the most important parts of smart grids is actually the intelligence aspect. The technology allows energy consumers to actually track how much energy they use, and when. So that means, you can actually keep track of your own energy ‘behavior.’ It sounds a bit confusing, but you can read more about how smart grids work on the EU’s dedicated website.

There is one catch, though. Privacy protection advocates are worried that your energy information–how much electricity you use, when you use the most, etc.–might not be secure with smart grids. Basically, they believe smart grids could give big energy companies access to information about you that they can store and use for other purposes.

What do you think? Do you think privacy is a big concern when it comes to smart grids? Why?