The energy industry is being driven by innovators that maximize technology to encourage efficiency and lower energy consumption.
Opower
It’s a software company based in Virginia that designed software capable of generating tailored reports for its clients. The reports include an analysis of each customer’s energy usage. Based on the results, it comes up with recommendations on utilizing advanced behavioral science techniques to make small changes with their consumption.
Since the company started in 2007, it has estimated about 3.6 billion pounds of carbon emissions eliminated and paved the way for their clients to save $290 million on their energy bills.
Center for Sustainable Shale Development
This Pennsylvania based company serves as a bridge between the environmental groups and energy producers. Among the main concerns that they deal with is the controversial “fracking” or hydraulic fracturing.
This drilling technique is controversial despite paving the way for a domestic energy boom. It became the center of debates between environmentalists and energy companies. The center comes in between to get the involved parties working with them on a model that will maximize the economic benefits of producing natural gas with minimal risks to the environment.
San Diego City
The city hosts a variety of projects promoting clean energy infrastructure. A Solar-to-EV project in the parking lot of the San Diego Zoo provides renewable energy to the grid. It enables the charging of plug-in electric vehicles in solar power. The University of California, on the other hand, has launched the first electric car-sharing service in the nation and in the process of building the largest charging stations in any of the universities worldwide.
With other companies following suit, the future seems bright for the people who initiate the change and spread the word about the benefits of using renewable sources of energy.