Until we lose it, many of us take electricity for granted: for the past 100 years, the developed world has grown to expect a constant supply of power at the flick of a switch.

However, for many people across the globe, gaining access to a reliable supply of electricity is extremely difficult, if not impossible. While diesel generators can offer a solution, they are rarely completely reliable and, with their emissions, have an impact on the environment.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), “Access to electricity is particularly crucial to human development as electricity is, in practice, indispensable for certain basic activities.” This is a major issue: the IEA’s World Energy Outlook 2014 has reported that globally, around 1.3 billion people have no access to electricity.

Germany based Mobile Hydro is an initiative attempting to empower the world’s off-grid communities that have little or no access to reliable supplies of electricity.

Their big idea? A small, low cost, ‘kinetic hydro power plant’, called ‘Rotor’, that can be placed in rivers and generate clean, renewable electricity.

Installation artist Markus Heinsdorff came up with the initial design and concept for the Rotor. Mobile Hydro’s first prototype was developed in collaboration with Technische Universität München.

“The technology is really simple,” Mobile Hydro’s Andreas Zeiselmair told CNBC.com in a phone interview.

Read the remainder of this story on CNBC’s Website…

http://www.cnbc.com/id/102318058

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