How I Serve
I search for emerging companies, technologies, disruptive technologies,
innovations, start-ups and up-starts. I’ll look to match potential problems…
e.g. “plastic pollution” to solutions… e.g. 3D Printer for recycled plastic waste…
for potential venture capitalists, angel investors, and online funders.
I’ll also highlight a variety of topics including funding success stories,
the environment, housing, medical, artificial intelligence, science,
aging populations, disabled populations, social entrepreneurs, philanthropy,
and topical news. I’m always searching for great people innovating,
inventing, and doing, great things.
The 411: Keeping Bugs Happy and Populating Too!
Found on: - https://www.treehugger.com/corporate-responsibility/ecotricity-launches-wind-and-solar-powered-cell-phone-network.html
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https://www.ecotricity.co.uk/
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DBG7d3x9Dw
Ecotricity launches wind- and solar-powered cell phone network
And profits will go to giving land back to nature.
It's not often that a marketing video for a mobile phone network talks about wildflower meadows and land management practices, but Ecotalk isn't your average mobile phone network. Founded by UK-based renewable energy company Ecotricity—which has brought us collapsing smokestacks, vegan biogas and some cool urban wind turbines—Ecotalk offers a wind and solar powered cell phone network with no exit fees, 30 day rolling contracts, and a promise to channel profits into giving land back to nature.
And that's where the land management stuff comes in.
You see, the UK has lost 97% of its flower-rich grasslands since the 1930s, and insect populations have suffered as a result. Ecotricity has already been buying up farm fields and exploring new, more nature-friendly management practices. In 2004, for example, it planted a new woodland with 20,000 trees for each of its first 20,000 customers near its first wind turbine in Lynch Knoll, Gloucestershire, leaving another 20 acres to be managed as grassland. (The company has also focused on bee-friendly wind and solar farms.)
Now Ecotalk is stepping up that commitment, working with charities like Buglife, Natural England, Friends of the Earth and The Wildlife Trust to identify and purchase pollinator-friendly wildlife habitats which will eventually form a network of ecosystems across the country.
Not bad for a mobile phone network.
To green energy company
In 2010 we introduced the concept of green gas to Britain and in the process we evolved into a fully-fledged green energy company. It’s a pretty revolutionary idea – that we can make our own gas and put it into the national gas grid.
Our model
We operate a unique model. We use our customers’ energy bills to fund the building of new sources of green energy. We like to refer to this as turning ‘bills into mills’ – energy bills into windmills, sunmills and - soon - gasmills. We’re a not-for-dividend company – our profits go back into our mission.
With no shareholders to answer to, we’re free to dedicate ourselves to the task of building new sources of green energy. And we share the benefits of our work through our ecobonds – giving people the chance to share the financial benefits of the green energy revolution.
Energy is the key
Electricity is the biggest single source of carbon emissions in Britain – but it’s not the only one, of course. The big three are energy, transport and food, between them accounting for 80% of all of our personal carbon footprints. The one thing they have in common is that energy plays a vital role in them all. That’s why we extended our work beyond the boundaries of traditional energy companies.
In transport, we built the Nemesis, Britain’s first electric super car – to demonstrate how cars of the future could actually be wind powered. Next came our Electric Highway, the world’s first national network of car charging stations - to kick-start the electric car revolution in Britain.
On the food front, stay tuned for news of our wind powered tractor and farm energy concepts.
Green Britain
We do all this in pursuit of our vision for a Green Britain – a place in which we all live more sustainable lives and where ethical business is the norm, pursuing outcomes other than profit. And we do it all with the support of our customers.
Dale Vince OBE, Ecotricity founder
The Virtual Power Plant
The Virtual Power Plant (VPP) is the future of energy in Britain. It’s a way for businesses and generators to help make a more stable, greener grid – and to benefit financially too.
What is a Virtual Power Plant?
It’s a digital control system that wirelessly connects thousands of businesses, energy generators and energy storage systems across Britain – what we call ‘assets’.
The Virtual Power Plant monitors the energy grid and makes small adjustments to these assets – better balancing supply and demand. The result of this is a more stable grid and better energy efficiency.
How does the Virtual Power Plant (VPP) work?
The adjustments are small. For example, when demand on the grid is high, this could mean wirelessly lowering air conditioning or dimming lights for just sixty seconds. But with thousands of businesses plugged in, it makes a big difference.
The changes happen in the background, so there’s no disruption to day-to-day activities – but the businesses involved benefit from lower energy bills and a revenue share for being part of the VPP.
How does VPP work for you?
For businesses
Think of it as having a remote energy manager whose sole mission is to improve your business energy usage. You may not see any changes to your usage at all – but you’ll still benefit from lower energy bills and a revenue share.
The process is simple. We simply attach a wireless box to your meters, then our central control system sends commands and scheduling signals to the boxes – increasing or reducing energy when it might benefit the grid and you.
For energy generators
It’s the same principle: we simply reduce your generation at certain periods when the grid is full, or increase your generation if the grid’s low.
You’ll still get a generation payment, plus the added benefit of revenue share payments for being part of the VPP.
You can find out more about solar power and wind energy generation here.
For energy storage systems
We’ll remotely charge or discharge your battery at optimal moments to maximise the battery’s revenue generation – and, importantly, maximise its life.
And of course, you’ll get revenue share payments too.
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