List of Emerging Technologies - Energy

Energy

Emerging technology Status Potentially marginalized technologies Potential applications Related articles
Vortex engine Chimney Cooling tower Solar updraft tower Power generation.
Airborne wind turbine Research Fossil fuels Producing electricity KiteGen
Artificial photosynthesis Research, experiments replicate the natural process of photosynthesis, converting sunlight, water, carbon dioxide into carbohydrates and oxygen AlgaePARC
Biofuels Diffusion Fossil fuels Energy storage, more so for transport Issues relating to biofuels
Concentrated solar power Growing markets in California, Spain, Northern Africa Fossil fuels, photovoltaics Producing electricity DESERTEC, BrightSource Energy, Solar Millennium
Electric double-layer capacitor Diffusion, continued development Chemical batteries Regenerative braking; energy storage: generally faster charging, longer lasting, more flexible, greener
Flywheel energy storage Some commercial examples
Fusion power Theory, experiments; for 60+ years Fossil fuels, renewable energy, nuclear fission power Producing electricity, heat, fusion torch recycling with waste heat ITER, NIF, Polywell, Dense plasma focus, Muon-catalyzed fusion
Generation IV reactor Research, Experiments Traditional nuclear power reactors, fossil fuels Producing electricity, heat, transmutation of nuclear waste stockpiles from traditional reactors
Grid energy storage Increasing use
Home fuel cell Research, commercialisation Electrical grid Off-the-grid, producing electricity Autonomous building, Bloom Energy Server
Hydrogen economy Diffusion of hydrogen fuel cells; theory, experiments for lower cost hydrogen production Other energy storage methods: chemical batteries, fossil fuels Energy storage
Lithium-air battery Research, experiments Other energy storage methods: hydrogen, chemical batteries, some uses of fossil fuels Laptops, mobile phones, long-range electric cars; storing energy for electric grid
Lithium iron phosphate battery Commercialization
Molten salt battery Applications and continuing research
Molten salt reactor Research, Experiments Traditional nuclear power reactors, fossil fuels Producing electricity, heat
Nanowire battery Experiments, prototypes Other energy storage methods: hydrogen, chemical batteries, some uses of fossil fuels Laptops, mobile phones, long-range electric cars; storing energy for electric grid
Nantenna Research Fossil fuels Producing electricity
Silicon–air battery Experiments
Smart grid Research, diffusion Smart meter, SuperSmart Grid
Solar roadway Research Fossil fuels Producing electricity
Space-based solar power Theory
Thorium fuel cycle Research started in the 1960s, still ongoing Uranium based nuclear power, fossil fuels Producing electricity, heat
Wireless energy transfer Prototypes, diffusion, short range consumer products Power cords, plugs, batteries Wirelessly powered equipment: laptop, cell phones, electric cars, etc. WiTricity, resonant inductive coupling

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Famous quotes containing the word energy:

    “There are no accidents, only nature throwing her weight around. Even the bomb merely releases energy that nature has put there. Nuclear war would be just a spark in the grandeur of space. Nor can radiation “alter” nature: she will absorb it all. After the bomb, nature will pick up the cards we have spilled, shuffle them, and begin her game again.”
    —Camille Paglia (b. 1947)

    “The welfare, the happiness, the energy and spirit of the men and women who do the daily work ... is the underlying necessity of all prosperity.... There can be nothing wholesome unless their life is wholesome; there can be no contentment unless they are contented.”
    —Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)

    “Perhaps catastrophe is the natural human environment, and even though we spend a good deal of energy trying to get away from it, we are programmed for survival amid catastrophe.”
    —Germaine Greer (b. 1939)