Dateline: August 27 2031
Solar power is the only solid-state energy technology. It doesn’t require any moving parts or fuel to do its job for years on end. And, like computer chips, it gets more powerful and cheaper all the time.
But there’s a dark side to cheap solar power; while it empowers individuals to contribute to the energy internet, it also threatens to make power utilities and the national grid bankrupt and obsolete. And like it or not we need the grid for stability. Microgrids are just too fragile when there’s too much or too little energy to meet demand. Utility-scale batteries are the answer, and lithium is king of the battery technologies but has its limitations. For long-duration, high-efficiency energy storage you need something better and more affordable.
Enter the energy dome, a system that stores renewable energy as liquefied gas and releases it again on demand, to drive turbines that power the grid. And what better gas than carbon dioxide? It’s denser than air, inert and non-toxic, and easier to compress and liquefy than something like nitrogen.
From humble beginnings as a start-up backed by Google in an effort to reduce its carbon footprint, Energy Dome emerged as a key technology to efficiently store all that excess solar power on sunny days, and keep feeding it back to the grid — all week if necessary. Again and again, endlessly recyclable, and easily topped up when necessary.
Who would have thought just a few years ago that the demon gas of climate change, CO2, would one day solve the storage problem and rescue the power grid?
First published on Mindbullets August 28 2025.
Solar power goes viral
Rooftop, backyard and portable solar is the new meme
Dateline: March 14 2022
The biggest energy revolution in 150 years arrived gradually, then suddenly. Personal solar power has displaced central utilities completely for individuals, homes and small businesses.
What’s more, large businesses and corporate campuses are contributing to the energy internet, sharing their excess power in slack times and buying back from the smart grid when they need to. Utility-scale generation has shrunk to essential services only, heavily subsidised by governments.
The remarkable thing is that this revolution in energy didn’t come from organised business or government programmes, or even environmental groups. Like the smartphone boom, it was driven by innovation and empowered individuals. Like a YouTube video or a Facebook meme, solar just went viral.
Africans were the first to embrace cheap, portable solar packs, mainly to charge their phones and give them reading light at night. Most villages in Africa still don’t have any grid power, and LED lighting and phones are invariably kept going with batteries and small solar panels.
At the other end of the scale, Californians, Australians and Germans have embraced rooftop solar in a big way; nowadays you just don’t design a roof without considering where the panels will go.
It’s a culture shift that was evident to future thinkers but has caught many old-school utilities and state-owned enterprises off guard. There’s just no demand for traditional “baseload” power any more.
First published on Mindbullets March 9 2016.
Despite appearances to the contrary, Futureworld cannot and does not predict the future. The Mindbullets scenarios are fictitious and designed purely to explore possible futures, and challenge and stimulate strategic thinking.
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