Welectricity, the innovative social network, that we have mentioned before in GLOBAL IDEAS, has won an award at the prestigious Knowledge@Wharton/Wipro Technologies Innovation Tournament. The competition was held at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania on April 27th 2011. Welectricity has excelled and beat 44 other teams, that also made it to the semifinals. Welectricity’s web-based service was judged to be the “Best New Sustainability Innovation” (full press-release here). Well, congrats for the award! The idea behind Welectricity is absolutly worth it in our opinion. It allows users to track, compare and reduce their electricity consumption at home. Users from 86 countries worldwide are participating already.

We would like to give you the opportunity to watch the report that GLOBAL IDEAS made with the help of Welectricity again. In this post you will also find an interview we did during the filming in Kingstown, St. Vincent.

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?

Remember Eyjafjallajökull? The massive erupting volcano in Iceland that brought travel across Europe (and beyond) to a grinding halt last year? If you were one of the many travelers stuck in an airport, chances are you do. It turns out the very same volcano that caused so many problems might soon be key to a green-friendly future!

 

Officials in Iceland are looking at building a massive power cable to Scotland that would send large amounts of geothermal and hydropower to Europe. The country has vast amounts of untapped green energy potential, especially hydropower and geothermal sources–an estimated 75% of Icelandic energy is undeveloped according to the government. The new power cable could produce enough energy to power 5 million homes in Europe.

 

Our Global Ideas reporter Jenny Hoff is in Iceland covering the future of the country's geothermal revolution, so stay tuned for her report coming soon!

 

 

 

 

Earlier this year reporter Marion Hütter from the Global Ideas team brought us this interesting story about how Cambodia is harnessing the power of the sun and rice husks–yes, rice–to create electricity. That's especially important in a country like Cambodia, where 80 percent of people live in rural parts of the country, outside the national electricity grid.

 

A company called Kamworks has manufactured "Moonlight" solar lamps that can provide as much as 20 hours of light. And the cost of the lamp is being slashed, from $50 to $25. Another company called SME Renewables is working on new energy solutions in Cambodia, like turning biomass into electricity.

Check out this report–and enjoy!