According to CNN Money, disruptor’s are paradigm shifting businesses that can open up new opportunities and upend existing industries. In their article they listed 15 startups that can classify as such. Looking through the list I found a couple of companies that could be classified as having an impact on lowering our consumption.

The Five on that list are:
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Prof Clifford Kubiak from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) has taken his research, of developing a way to create oxygen for a possible manned mission to Mars, to a different tangent than it was intended for. This was by coming up with the first step to the means of creating fuel from Carbon Dioxide, a very harmful greenhouse gas.
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Researchers at Konarka Technologies have been able to devise a way to introduce a thin film solar cell into a new type of polymer battery creating a self charging battery. The polymer battery was developed by German company VARTA-Microbattery and is being used in Ipod Nano’s.

Still in it’s infancy, the initial design of the self charging battery is expected to have only 3000 hours of useful life or upto 125 days before degrading. It was initially projected for use in cellphones and other small devices.
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CNET reports that SolCool’s parent company, GPM, was recently acquired by AquaCell Technologies. SolCool’s solar powered airconditioner consumes only 500 watts of power when cooling a standard sized room. Their next generation designs are very promising as they are projected to consume only 300 watts.

Great invention I have to say. Primarily because it uses renewable energy and because of the fact that traditionally airconditioners are one of the largest energy consumers off the power grid. Reducing that load off the grid could do well to reduce our need to burn fossil fuels for electricity generation.

Article here