2 February 2012
Eight19’s CEO Simon Bransfield-Garth will be speaking at the Oxford Climate Forum 2012 this Saturday in a session called “How can the developing world take the lead?”. Simon will give an insight into Eight19's IndiGo projects in East Africa, the concept of 'pay-as-you-go solar', and the potential for the developing world to leapfrog fossil fuels and head straight to renewables.
Eight19 has developed IndiGo pay-as-you-go solar for off-grid communities in emerging markets. By combining mobile phone technology with solar power, the aim is to create an affordable solar lighting system that eliminates the limiting high up-front cost of solar lighting. Users purchase scratch cards on a weekly basis and can choose to upgrade after a period of time to progressively expand their systems as their energy needs increase. IndiGo recently featured in The Economist, Technology Review and CNBC Arabia and this week picked up the Rushlight Solar Award.
Other speakers on the panel, include Dr. Karl Gerth, tutor of modern Chinese history at Oxford University and author of As China Goes, So Goes the World: How Chinese Consumers are Transforming Everything; Malini Mehra, CEO of Centre for Social Markets; Dr. Hélène Connor, founder and chairman of HELIO International and Mariana Paoli, senior international campaigns officer at Christian Aid. The Environment Editor of the Guardian, John Vidal, and the advisor on climate change to the President of the Maldives will also be speaking at the conference.
The Oxford Climate Forum is the country’s highest-profile conference on climate change organised by students. It is an opportunity for leading thinkers and doers to come together to discuss the key environmental issues facing the global community. This year’s conference will be held from 3–4 February at the Oxford Town Hall. Tickets can be purchased from the Oxford Climate Forum website.