Innovations in energy storage, smart grid, and electricity generation technologies will affect every part of the source-to-consumer supply chain for powering the planet.

Fuel Cell

Leading truck manufacturers Kenworth, Toyota, and UPS have begun investing in the technology, which would allow transport vehicles to run on hydrogen and oxygen, releasing only heat and water as emissions. It is expected that fuel cell vehicles would be extremely clean alternatives to current trucking solutions.

Lithium-air batteries

Leading laboratories of the world are working on this technology. There are only two instabilities in the technology's current form preventing it from hitting mass markets: unpredictable short circuiting and speedy loss of battery power.

First Generation Smart Grid

The first step in making a reliable and responsive smart grid system requires the installation of smart meters in every household and building. The new meters will send usage information in real time to your energy provider, allowing adjustments in availability to fluctuate according to the area's latest needs. The widespread implementation of this technology at present has some difficulties, although the first pilot projects are being created in the USA.

Tidal turbines

These underwater pinwheels harness energy from wave movement. Pilot projects were launched in California, but they were suspended because of accidents. Scotrenewables Tidal Power announced the launch of a new low-cost turbine off the coast of Scotland. It's also the “largest and most powerful” turbine of its kind in the world with a power generation capacity of two megawatts, according to its manufacturers.

Space-based Solar Power

This project involves the creation of a powerful space power plant. But the high cost of transporting the panels and other equipment into space has prevented the idea from becoming fruitful for commercial energy production. In addition, the transfer of generated energy back to Earth has been a concern.