Enhance Readability
On an otherwise reasonable evening, more than 1,000 people packed an auditorium in Boulder, Colorado, for the culmination of the 2011 Unreasonable Institute. They came to see 27 ventures present their solutions to some of the world’s greatest challenges.
Jamie Yang, CEO of EGG-Energy, shares how his venture is distributing clean energy to the last-mile population of over 500 million people in Africa lack electricity services that could enable them to better study, deliver health care, or do business. This shortfall results in reliance on unsafe and polluting alternatives such as kerosene and disposable batteries. These inferior options are also expensive: An average household spends $125/year on lighting, radio usage, and mobile phone charging. EGG-energy are trying to shrink this massive gap between what people in developing countries spend for power and what they receive.
Rather than sell a product, EGG-energy sells a service. The venture sends electricians to the customer’s home or business to install a full electrical system, including high-efficiency LED light bulbs, wiring, and switches. Our subscription entitles the customer to swap a depleted battery for a fully charged one for a small fee. Our customers save money while gaining access to cleaner and safer energy services. EGG-energy customers can immediately improve their quality of life while building the grid from the ground up. We aggregate customer demand at our charging stations, creating a market for distributed generation and laying the foundation for a smart grid.
