Much has been written about gamification and Facebook’s recent foray. As longtime readers of this blog will note, we are skeptical of the ability of such to engage users and motivate behavior change over the long run but, to be fair, let’s review three more relevant articles. The market has been anticipating a substantial social […]
Read more »Two interesting approaches to using social networking to activate energy conservation. The first, via GreenBiz.com, takes a look at NRDC’s recent decision to join forces with Facebook and Opower to launch a landmark initiative designed to kick energy efficiency up a notch. The second, courtesy of GigaOm, reports on a German start up building a […]
Read more »Via Forbes, an interesting article on the need for smart apps for the smart grid. We have long advocated such, although we believe apps that permit transactions will ultimately prove to be more sustainable and useful that games etc. As the report notes: “…The other day a friend of mine asked me what he could […]
Read more »Via Smart Grid News, an interesting article that the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) is urging U.S. regulators to toss out the “traditional” utility business model and create energy services firms instead. These new-breed utilities would be rewarded for helping their customers become more energy efficient. “What we need to do is flip […]
Read more »Two interesting articles about consumers and the smart grid, and what really motivates conservation: money and a sense of ownership: The first – via Greentech Media – provides recent data from a survey put out by the Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative (with light green in graph below indicating “somewhat” and dark green indicating “strongly” increase […]
Read more »I saw an article recently on what GigaOm has called the “Googlization of solar,” the trend towards software, big data, and wireless networks combining to remake the modern energy infrastructure. While the article focuses adroitly on the different types of IT that may enable better/more efficient solar power (e.g. algorithms that control mirror position; smarter […]
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