The Elephant in the Room
Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on February 2, 2007
One hot tech industry topic was strikingly missing from the just-ended DEMO 2007 conference—energy conservation. Among the 67 new products showcased, there was not a single one that would either help consumers or businesses reduce their energy consumption, nor was there anything that would reduce the energy consumption of tech products themselves. In fact, the only thing that addressed enegry at all was an improved lithium ion battery from Boston-Power Inc.. Welcome as longer battery life and faster recharges would be, the won’t reduce overall energy consumption.
Energy-saving technologies should be a huge opportunity for entrepreneurs and big companies alike. Big players such as IBM and Hewlett-Packard are devoting a lot of resources to the problem. But where are the brilliant startups? Even small gains in energy would be a lot more useful to society than yet another twist on social networking.
