We’re surrounded by inexhaustible clean-energy sources—the sun, the wind, the ocean, plants, atoms, the earth’s core—but the technology and economic rationale for tapping them have lagged behind our imaginations. The world’s insatiable and destructive appetite for energy is now making some of the more far-fetched clean-energy concepts seem increasingly plausible and necessary. Here we survey […]
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Summary. Reprint: R0909F Trying to keep up with the world’s insatiable appetite for energy, scientists and entrepreneurs are exploring six innovative concepts: high-altitude wind turbines, genetically engineered algae for biofuel, wave power from the ocean, nuclear fusion, enhanced geothermal systems, and solar cells in space. They all have serious backing; not one is a sure bet.
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We’re surrounded by inexhaustible clean-energy sources—the sun, the wind, the ocean, plants, atoms, the earth’s core—but the technology and economic rationale for tapping them have lagged behind our imaginations. The world’s insatiable and destructive appetite for energy is now making some of the more far-fetched clean-energy concepts seem increasingly plausible and necessary. Here we survey six innovative energy technologies in various stages of development. Some of these ideas have been tinkered with by scientists and entrepreneurs for decades; others moved from drawing boards to pilot projects only recently. All have serious backing and profound potential—and none are a sure bet.
A version of this article appeared in the September 2009 issue of Harvard Business Review.
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Gardiner Morse is a former senior editor at Harvard Business Review.
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