For the past century, access to relatively cheap and abundant sources of fossil fuels have been the driving force for mobility in all sectors of transportation. However the market landscape has been shifting with increased fuel costs, tighter regulations, and societal changes in the places we live and how we interact. 

As a society, we have finally reached a point where centuries of fossil fuel abuse have caught up with us. Thankfully, we have accepted this. Rather than stubbornly exist in a world of denial, entrepreneurs have stepped forward with innovations to help our adjustment in to a cleaner world.

EU integration has led to many industries in Europe homogenising rules and easing the burden of doing business across multiple countries. However, despite one of the EU's key tenants being the free movement of workers, Europe's transport infrastructure remains surprisingly fragmented.

Recently I just felt compelled to write a post about French Minister Montebourg and his ridiculous contortions to explain barriers put on innovation under what I termed “Slow Innovation”. Adjacent to this story was a very public row around Travis Kalanick’s Uber service and concerted efforts to slow down its spread in France. The story of Uber vs Le Taxi Francais is emblematic of a societal debate that is growing in importance and I believe will come to define the coming decade.

While many smart grid innovations are technically complex, a renewable energy storage solution from Ontario-based HydroStor is brilliantly simple. Imagine filling a child's balloon with air, trapping the air, then releasing it slowly and steadily when you need more air. HydroStor's technology does essentially the same thing, only with energy.

Ecotricity, Britain's first green energy company, is currently attracting new customers at a record rate after announcing a price freeze until at least the New Year – while the Big Six energy companies rush to increase prices by up to 10%.

Over the next five years we will begin to manage our homes in the cloud. Getting access to our information and monitoring our energy use, controlling devices and automating appliances when we are not there will be commonplace. 

Are the rules for entrepreneurial success different in the digital space from auto components or baked goods? Give or take some social-media buzz, I suspect they’re not. Taking a good idea, perfecting it, maintaining quality as demand grows, persuading target customers to pay a decent price: these are the essentials, whether that product is virtual, physical or edible. Here’s a couple of examples that have caught my eye.

When you hear the word ‘drone,’ you can be forgiven for believing it to be a dirty, military term. However, one entrepreneur is rewriting the rules and changing the word's meaning to define a force for good.

The energy market is undergoing a major transformation. It’s moving towards a so-called Smart Grid, which will not only manage supply and demand of energy more effectively, but also integrate new, lower-carbon sources of electricity.