Demand management & the flexible economy

Sustainability Group Meetup 2

We invite you to share your views and experiences, and learn from other members involved in sustainability-related projects. We plan to hold regular meetings where we discuss topics chosen by the members.

Our second meeting will be focused on demand management & the flexible economy and will be hosted by Hub member Matthew Parsons. Do come along if you’re interested in sustainability, either as a novice or an expert.

The event

Mature (Western) electricity grids are in a transitional period, as they morph from their traditional role as simple distribution networks for centralised fossil fuel generation, into platforms for hosting diverse systems of exchange between units of distributed energy generation and consumption. Throughout this, the physical infrastructure – power lines and transformers – will barely change; rather it will play host to the inevitable restructuring of our energy system. The challenge for the sustainability movement is to grasp the opportunities opening up during this transition, and make sure we effect positive changes in our economy and society, rather than just a re-shuffle of the incumbent patterns of over-consumption.

Matthew will introduce this topic by explaining the details of his start-up and their demand management platform (Hestia).

The speaker

Matthew Parsons is a technology generalist with degrees in neuroscience and physics, with interests in the areas of worker self-direction and alternative structures of work. He is Co-director of Exergy Devices and raised seed funding from Nesta and InnovateUK in 2014. Matthew has 4 years experience in sustainable energy startups and has been a member of the Impact Hub for 2 years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXIACo8JmW0&feature=youtu.be