Inventor and CEO of Uncharted Power, Jessica Matthews, explains everything that's wrong with a 100-year-old energy infrastructure in the US

Jessica O. Matthews, founder and CEO of Uncharted Power, started her career inventing kinetic energy technologies, like soccer balls and jump ropes that provide people power using motion. At IGNITION 2018, she gave a presentation on the dire need for a global reconstruction of energy infrastructure as we know it - moving from the current grid centralized system to a modular, decentralized system.

Matthews warned that a shiny outlook of tomorrow's technology can overshadow the slow progression of a system that's holding back even the best inventions. "Don't let these bright lights and seemingly convenient wall outlets fool you," she said. "The power infrastructure system here in the United States is over 100 years old."

In fact, the American Civil Society of Engineers gave the infrastructure in America a grade of D+. "It is the oldest, largest machine in use still today, and it's honestly barely working," she said.