By Susan Kraemer •
October 23, 2009
A completely new concept of underwater wave energy using a simple 7 ton kite turbine design has been developed by Minesto; which is a spinoff from the Swedish military and aircraft design firm Saab. The Deep Green underwater turbine captures the power of the ocean just like a kite in wind.
The system could generate 18 terawatthours of energy annually, enough to provide nearly 4 million British households with reliably green electricity every year. UK households now use about a third of what average US households use in energy.
By mcmilker •
April 16, 2008
A recent article in Business Green discusses several ways of classifying the green consumer and the issues related to reaching them. Though demographics, the tried and true way of sorting out consumers into groups by income, age, education, etc. works well in some categories, it’s not as helpful in segmenting green consumers.
Enter Psychographics, often used by niche marketers, it can be an effective tool for eco entrepreneurs.
- Demographics looks at characteristics of people that include age, income, education, occupation, household size, home ownership and home value, among other factors.
- Psychographics delves deeper into people’s lifestyles and behaviors, including their interests and values.
While segments of green consumers vary according to the source you use (check out this hilarious post that outlines some of them) I’ll use the Natural Marketing Institute’s labels for LOHAS ( lifestyles of health and sustainability) consumers.
- LOHAS — very progressive on environment and society, looking for ways to do more; not too concerned about price (16%).
- Naturalites — primarily concerned about personal health and wellness, and use many natural products; would like to do more to protect the environment (25%).
- Conventionals — practical, like to see the results of what they do; interested in green products that make sense (e.g., save money) in the long run (23%).
- Drifters — not too concerned about environment, figuring we’ve got time to fix environmental problems; don’t necessarily buy a lot of green products, though may like to “be seen” in Whole Foods to enhance their image (23%).
- Unconcerned — have other priorities, not really sure what green products are available, and probably wouldn’t be interested anyway; they buy products strictly on price, value, quality, and convenience (14%).
