|
Press Release – July 26, 2010
Vincentian/Caribbean
Innovation in Contention in Global Smart Grid Challenge
Welectricity, a social network for energy
efficiency, in top 10 of over 500 ideas in GE Ecomagination Challenge KINGSTOWN, ST VINCENT & THE GRENADINES - Welectricity, an innovative, award-winning tool for delivering energy efficiency via social networking is in contention in the GE Ecomagination Challenge, a global search by one of the world’s largest companies for the best ideas in the world that will help power the 21st century ‘smart grid’. The Ecomagination Challenge, backed by a US$200 million fund and launched by GE earlier this month in collaboration with leading venture capital firms RockPort Capital, KPCB , Foundation Capital, and Emerald Technology Ventures, is a global commitment to build an innovative clean energy future. The first round of the challenge is based on open voting – and Welectricity, the brainchild of Vincentian energy consultant Herbert A (Haz) Samuel, is now ranked in the top ten of over 530 ideas submitted to GE from all corners of the globe. Subsequent rounds of the challenge will be adjudicated by GE’s panel of experts and several ideas will be selected for cash prizes and for the development of commercial working relationships with GE. Description of Welectricity Welectricity, a free
web application (at www.welectricity.com)
that allows users to track and reduce their electricity consumption at
home was launched on April 22nd (the 40th anniversary of Earth Day) and
within 3 months had registered users from 33 countries worldwide. Though built on a
Web 2.0 platform, Welectricity is not a technology fix for the global
energy consumption problem. Rather,
it is based on principles of behavioural economics – it incorporates
behavioural nudges to motivate people to reduce their consumption. The first of these
nudges is the provision of information.
People need information to allow them to understand and, if
necessary, adjust their consumption.
But it is now well-established (though not widely recognized)
that information, on its own, does not motivate people to change their
consumption behaviour. Consumers
also need regular feedback, they need to be able to set
consumption-reduction goals (and to make plans to achieve those goals)
and, most importantly, they need to be able to compare their consumption
with that of similar others – a condition psychologists refer to as
“social proof”. Samuel notes that
“psychologists and behavioral economists have found that social proof
is one of the most fundamental and powerful factors that influence
people to take action, and this is one of Welectricity’s key
features.” Welectricity
packages these specific behavioural factors into a social network that
incorporates the normal functions of social media – users sign up, set
up profiles, invite and interact with friends on a simple, twitter-style
messaging interface. On the
Welectricity dashboard, a bar graph of the user’s electricity
consumption (based on information entered from actual bills) is
displayed and the consumption graphs of similar users can be
superimposed and directly compared. A key feature of
Welectricity is that it is a low-carbon solution that only requires
access to an internet-connected computer and some information from
existing utility bills. No
smart meters or other in-house monitoring devices need to be
manufactured, packaged, shipped, purchased and installed for
Welectricity to work. This Samuel sees as an important point. “After
all,” Welectricity’s blog notes, “what’s the point of using a
whole lot of energy and carbon emissions to bring you a bunch of new
stuff that’s meant to help you use less energy and emit less
carbon?” How to vote for Welectricity in the GE
Ecomagination Challenge GE has set up an online voting system to record and track votes for the various ideas submitted. To vote for Welectricity, visit http://bit.ly/vote4we and click on the “Vote for this idea” button. You will be asked to register. Once registered, you will be able to vote by going back to the page. Facebook users can visit www.facebook.com/welectricity to go to the voting page. More information on Welectricity A video on how Welectricity works is available online, and more information on Welectricity is available at the following links. § Article on the intellectual underpinnings of Welectricity § Press release on launch of Welectricity § Article on Welectricity in New York-based EcoHearth Welectricity Inc P O Box 2096 Kingstown St Vincent & the Grenadines Mob +1 (784) 528 6974 Fax +1 (784) 482 6974 Skype: hazbert Email: haz@welectricity.com Web: www.welectricity.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/welectricity
|