In 1978, Congress was convinced the United States was running out of natural gas so it passed the Power Plant and Industrial Fuel Use Act (FUA). A decade later the law was overturned as vast new sources of natural gas were found. In 2003, the National Petroleum Council estimated North America might have 1.1 trillion [...]
Over the past few months, I have delivered keynote addresses (on the topic of emerging trends) to a number of utility-related organizations across the country. In addition to covering technological advances in advanced batteries, fuel cell and solar technology, I explain how new business models are also fueling the trend toward decentralized, distributed energy. On [...]
This article (Co-ops Told to Prepare for New Technologies) offers a solid recap of my keynote presentation at the 2012 Touchstone Energy New & Emerging Technologies Conference. To emphasize the point that big change is coming for the utility industry, consider this paragraph from India's Panel Price Crash Could Spark Solar Revolution: Recent figures from [...]
Corning Glass has created an impressive 11 minute video that offers a real "window" into the future. If you have the time, I highly recommend it ... especially if you're in the automotive, buildings & construction, education and/or health care industries:
In the coming weeks I’ll be addressing a number of utility-related organizations, including delivering keynote presentations at the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s 2012 Touchstone Emerging Technology Conference in Fort Myers; the Minnesota Rural Electric Cooperative’s Annual Conference in St. Paul; and the Western Energy Institutes 2012 Spring Energy Symposium in Las Vegas. I’ll be [...]
(Editor’s note: The following is an excerpt from our forthcoming book, 20/20 Foresight: A Futurist Looks Ahead to the Ten Trends That Will Shape the World of 2020, which I am writing with the able assistance of fellow futurist Simon Anderson. This chapter takes a look at the future of electricity.) In the spring of 2014, the [...]
MIT Technology Review has an interesting video on a new wind turbine currently undergoing development. I have no idea if it'll work but, as the picture suggests, the one thing I do know is that the future of energy will look different than we expect. Related posts by futurist Jack Uldrich: Unlearning May Be Blowing [...]
"The scope of what you can do is expanding as the cost of sequencing is dropping like a rock." The above quotation is from Andrew Paterson who led the sorghum sequencing project. Sorghum might not sound all that exciting but it is the number two biofuel crop in America after corn. If sorghum can be genetically manipulated [...]
"In recent years, advances in computer processing power have allowed geologists to make sense of seismic data 15,000 feet or more below the ocean floor. Three-dimensional imaging and seismic mapping are now possible even below thick layers of salt, which used to blur views of untapped reservoirs. Superstrong alloys allow drill bits to go into [...]
I'm in Winnipeg, Manitoba today to deliver the opening keynote at BioFibe 2011. One of the more significant trends I'll be discussing is synthetic biology. To better appreciate the field's vast potential, consider this recent quote from the October 17, 2011 Wall Street Journal article, A Faster Path to Biofuels: "The technology has the exciting [...]
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