We asked the experts. Here's the real timetable. By David Pescovitz More than a century after Nikola Tesla harnessed alternating current, power generation hasn't yet found an optimal technology. Oil reserves continue to be vulnerable to political shifts, while the burning of coal incurs the wrath of environmentalists. Luckily, researchers are making headway with methods to generate power from renewable, clean, and efficient sources.
Wide deployment is the next step.
Wired asked five experts to tap into the future of electricity. Even without that incentive, Flavin believes, over the next two decades, many of the aging coal and nuclear plants will be shut down and replaced with wind turbines. But, Simon explains, decorating the scenic Great Plains with wind turbines would not please the public. Commonly thought of as plants that generate less than 1 megawatt of power to produce electricity for individual buildings, micropower plants are used in European hospitals, hotels, and other commercial facilities. Flavin and Lovins contend that the need for long-distance energy transmissions will be minimized.