Off Peak

October 15, 2000

Life in the Aughts

Experts predict top 10 energy innovations for 2010.

Before we've even agreed on a name for the coming decade, energy experts are predicting life-altering changes by 2010.

A panel of authorities from Battelle Memorial Institute and the national laboratories it manages and co-manages for the U.S. Department of Energy has identified the 10 energy innovations most likely to impact the economy by 2010. The experts based their choices on factors including economics, R&D, worldwide environmental regulation, consumer behavior and preferences, national energy policy, and legal issues.

1. Utilities Converge. Behemoth mega-utilities will emerge from the crowd of players, and likely will be one-stop providers of electric, gas, telecommunications, and water services.

2. Hybrid Vehicles Take Off. The first generation of these vehicles already is here, using smaller, more efficient internal combustion engines with power from electric batteries for an extra boost. The technology will continue to improve, the panelists agree, but it may be decades before we see a full transition to hybrids.