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On the morning of April 28, large parts of Spain, Portugal, and southern France went dark. A massive blackout left millions without power, halting trains mid-track, cutting mobile networks, and rattling the foundation of one of Europes most advanced energy grids. In the days that followed, experts and media outlets scrambled to explain what had happened. Was it a cyberattack? Human error? A structural failure? More than two months later, official investigations are ongoing. Early statements by the Spanish government confirmed that although no single cause has emerged, it wasnt a cyberattack. While the exact cause remains under review, one thing the energy industry agrees on is clear: This cant keep happening. “A relentless cycle of evolution” Power systems are not only extremely complex, they are also in a relentless cycle of evolutionwith new parts coming in and old ones going outall while remaining stable and dependable 24/7, says Richard Schomberg, special envoy for smart electrification at the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). The problem is that many of todays systems werent built for this era of energy evolution. As traditional power plants go offline and renewables come online, grid stability becomes harder to guarantee. What once worked isnt working anymore. There are many causes for failure in an electric system, Schomberg notes, from design limitations to user error to cyberattack to a sudden uptick in use. The goal of a resilient grid, he says, should be to divide and conquerisolating failing parts of the network quickly to avoid destroying critical infrastructure. But in practice, this often results in brownouts or blackouts. The April event wasnt just a wake-up call for Europe. It was a warning for the world. And it echoed similar large-scale disruptions in the U.S. (notably in Texas in 2021), Pakistan, and parts of Africa, where fragile infrastructure, outdated protocols, or extreme weather have repeatedly revealed how brittle many modern grids remain. “It’s not just about having more power” According to energy experts, one of the biggest culprits in grid fragility isnt malicious intent; its poor planning. Anders Lindberg, president of Helsinki-based Wärtsilä Energy, points to the growing gap between ambition and infrastructure. As we bring more renewables online, were not replacing the stability that traditional power plants used to provide, he explains, noting that stability once served as a kind of shock absorber for the grid. When it disappears, even small disruptions can spiral into systemic failure. Wärtsiläs approach focuses on fast-ramping engines and hybrid systems that can stabilize the grid when the wind dies down or clouds roll in. In Scotland, for example, we partnered with Zenobe to deliver grid-forming batteries that can restart the system if it goes down, Lindberg says. Wärtsiläs systems also have black start capabilities, meaning they dont depend on external power to turn on. While large utilities play a role, startups are also part of the puzzle. Norway-based Heimdall Power uses sensor technology and AI to monitor grid infrastructure in real time. With our sensors, you get actual capacity data from the grid, not static limits based on weather or assumptions, CEO Jrgen Festervoll tells Fast Company. That kind of real-time visibility can mean the difference between targeted intervention and total system collapse. Conventional grid monitoring typically relies on fixed thermal limits and weather-based estimates, which often underrate the actual capacity of power lines. Heimdalls sensors measure real-time line temperature, current, and sagallowing operators to safely optimize capacity without overloading. Festervoll adds that events like the Iberian blackout are no longer rare anomalies; theyre signals of deeper grid instability. Its not just about having more power, he says. Its about knowing where that power is going and when things might go wrong. “You need storage that can scale with demand” For many experts, the grid of the future isnt centralized. Its flexible, distributed, and intelligent. This is where battery innovation comes in. While not part of the blackout investigation, companies like Morrow Batteries are positioning themselves to help solve the intermittency problem at scale. Morrow Batteries, which aims to reduce battery costs by 50% while cutting emissions, is building a factory in Norway with a target capacity of 43 gigawatt-hours focused on high-efficiency lithium-ion cells. CEO Lars Christian Bacher says scale and proximity are what make local solutions like Morrow important: You cant just have generationyou need storage that can scale with demand. According to the Net Zero Emissions by 2050 scenario of the International Energy Agency, grid-scale battery storage capacity needs to grow from around 16gigawatts in 2021 to 680gigawatts by 2030a roughly 44-fold increaseto align with net-zero targets agreed to at COP28, the 2023 U.N. climate summit in Dubai. But technology alone wont solve everything. The rules of the grid also need to change. Without systemic reform, even the best batteries cant deliver the results theyre built for. Many grid protocols were written for a world of centralized, fossil-fuel power, Wärtsiläs Lindberg says. They dont account for the unpredictability of wind or solar. You can have the best tech, but if the regulations dont allow it to respond fast enough, you still fail. Wärtsilä, for example, is working with regulators to modernize system response and ensure decentralized assetslike batteries and flexible enginescan step in when needed. The companys recent hybrid system agreement in Curaçao and its support for Texas grid resilience during the 2021 winter blackout are proof points. “We have the tools” Globally, the cost of blackouts is rising. The U.S. Department of Energy projects that by 2030 the United States could experience more than 800 hours of blackouts per year, up from just a handful today. If current infrastructure and resilience investments dont keep up, that reality could become grimmer. Add climate volatility to the equationwith more storms, heat waves, and energy demand surgesand the economic stakes grow even higher. Building for resilience doesnt only mean faster restoration. It means designing systems that can avoid outages in the first place. A 2024 study by the USC Price School emphasized that investments in power grid resilience are more cost-effective than repeated recovery efforts. The researchers found that a dollar spent on resilience tactics could avoid several dollars in future outage costs, particularly in regions prone to extreme weather or infrastructure failure. These tactics range from undergrounding power lines and strengthening substations to integrating decentralized energy systems. And resilience isnt only a matter of hardwareit includes coordination, visibility, and smarter protocols that can isolate, contain, and correct anomalies before they escalate. Yet theres hope. We have the tools. We have the technology, Lindberg says. What gives me hope is that countries are starting to take a more pragmatic view, focusing not just on cutting carbon but on building systems that can handle stress. IECs Schomberg agrees, stressing that standardization will be key: Energy designs and local constraints will vary, but all systems need technical solutions to monitor, optimize, and stabilize. Thats where IEC standards come in. The April blackout in the Iberian Peninsula was a flashpoint, but it shouldnt be the final word. If anything, it exposed just how fragile our energy systems are when ambition outruns readiness. The next question isnt whether there will be another blackout, but whether well be ready when it comes.
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E-Commerce
Its never felt more impossible to keep up with the trend cycle. Trends feel harder to predict, too fast to respond to, and even harder to get in front of. In many instances, it appears to be all reactive rather than proactive. Micro-trends are fleeting and elusive. By the time you read this, the Labubu boom might be over. Dont know what that is? Exactly. Were inundated with trends that are so low-level, so born from “the internet,” that it makes it hard for anyone to zoom out and see the big picture. Theres no time to ask questions like whats driving this change? Whats the human trend behind the micro-trend? However, there are always ways to distinguish the fleeting happenings of the day from insights that actually matter. Doing this successfully does require time and effort. A recent MIT study revealed that the use of ChatGPT is atrophying critical thinking skills. This is a bitter (but likely not shocking) pill, but critical thinking is exactly what we need more of. Sure, tools like ChatGPT can help you move quickly, collating info or top-line snapshots, but they cant replace the time and thinking that you need to unlock relevance. There are core tenets of trend forecasting that can help us with this. They allow us to sort the relevant and useful from the overblown and noisy. But like I said, they require a little effort. Build your bibliography First, breaking free from your self-perpetuating, algorithmic bubble requires significant work. Some platforms may allow you to reset your algorithm, but theres no substitute for building your own bibliography. If you havent already, try to build one that actively takes you away from your typical sources of news and information. Look in places you might not naturally gravitate towards, but show you whats happening outside your sphere. If youre a telehealth brand trying to move from transactional to aspirational, look at whats emerging in high-end hospitality. If youre a fitness brand looking to help your consumers build habits and stay with you, consider reading about the mechanics of the gaming industry. Look outside of your business to get new points of view. Say youre a beauty or a wellness brand right now. Its easy to think clean girl is the key micro-trend influencing the globe, and you should lean in. But if you look around your meeting table and see only slick-haired, twenty-to-thirtysomethings with Rhode lip gloss phone cases, it might just be your surroundings. Businesses have to learn to think forward. Consider the driving factors Once youve uncovered an insight that feels meaningful, its time for some critical evaluation. Speed and convenience are everything right now, so its easy to slip into the just get it done mindset. But when youre trying to speak to deep human truths, you do need to get it right. That means sitting with things and letting them percolate. A classic trends tool is STEEP factors. These help us remember the drivers of trends. They are social, technological, environmental, economic, or political forces that feed into major movements or attitudinal shifts. For example, do you know what a borg (blackout rage gallon) is? A favorite of college students the last several years, theyre gallon jugs filled with alcohol and usually have a fun, borg-centric play on pop culture written on them. The average person looks at this and thinks, Wow, college kids are drinking more than ever. Thats insane. A marketer may look at it and think, Cool, we can sell borg-sized products to young people now. Cultural strategists and trend forecasters might ask, Well, whats in it? If you unpack Gen Zs borgs, theyre made up of alcohol, water, flavor, and electrolytes. Thats because theyre a generation that grew up firmly steeped in wellness culture. You realize borgs arent just about silly names and colorful alcohol, they reflect an attitude of a generation who considers their health differently than those before them. Manifestation versus cultural moment Bear in mind as you uncover new ideas and topics, too, that one example doesnt make a trend. Yes, we can use data from fast-moving content, but we need to assess it thoroughly. Thats when you notice whats beneath the surface of a seemingly quick-churn micro trend. Remember, were looking for cultural signposts. That means different, multi-category, multi-industry spanning examples. I wouldnt call the sustainability movement a trend necessarily, but when it began to explode, we saw its impact everywhere. In fashion, we saw Patagonia encouraging us to buy less. In food, we saw Impossible Foods and Oatly become consumer favorites. Beauty brands began to offer refillable packaging. When you see cross-category adoption, you know something is sticking. Crafting relevance Isn’t this the goal of every business leader? To uncover insights that meaningfully shape your business and its future. Some relentlessly chase relevance, jumping on every viral trend, while others strive for resonance and longevity. You need to strike a balance between the two, but its also important to be intentional in how you pursue the former. To be honest, I struggle to think of an example of a trend thats established itself as truly resonant in recent years. Something impactful doesnt get lost in the endless flood of content. Yet, consumers are increasingly looking for something more enduring. A definition of “insight” is the capacity to gain an accurate and deep, intuitive understanding of a person or thing. If were so overloaded with content, we no longer have that capacity. Those who succeed will be the ones taking the time to uncover the enduring, shaping not just their businesses, but the culture around them.
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E-Commerce
If youve spent any time on the kids birthday party circuit in the past few years, youve likely logged more than one Saturday at a trampoline park amid packs of children freed from the tyranny of indoor voices. Parents of yore in search of movement-focused venues had to settle for Chuck E. Cheese or the ball pit at McDonalds. Today, chains like Sky Zone, Altitude, and Urban Air are competing to earn the loyalties of energetic children everywhere. With a mix of acrobatics, rock climbing, and foam pits, these venues prioritize exercise over technologyand their recent success challenges common assumptions about modern parents tolerance for risk, if only for the length of a childrens party. Or perhaps theyre just thrilled by the absence of smartphones. We hear a lot from our customers about screen time, says Shawn Hassel, CEO of Sky Zone, the trampoline park sectors dominant player. We focus on that analog experience, where kids can just be kids. [Photos: Evan Jenkins] [Photos: Evan Jenkins] Sky Zones 251 locations in North America, almost evenly split between corporate owned and franchises, collectively hosted 300,000 birthday parties in 2024. The company saw $435 million in corporate revenue, $80 million of which Hassel says will go toward expanding to 500 locations by 2027, mostly via franchises. Fueling its growth is a shift to targeting experienced franchisees; the company recently closed a 10-pack deal in the Dallas and Oklahoma City markets with a family that owns several McDonalds locations. On the customer side, Sky Zones membership program, with 800,000 active members, continues to grow, driven byyou guessed itbirthday partiers. Every time, they bring 9 or 12 of their friends, Hassel says. It pretty much sells itself.
Category:
E-Commerce
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