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Watch a video of Jacobson discussing his findings. The energy sources that Jacobson found most promising were, in descending order: • Wind • Concentrated solar power (mirrors heating a tower of water) • Geothermal energy • Tidal energy • Solar panels • Wave energy • Hydroelectric dams

The emerging ocean power industry is poised to grow from less than 10 megawatts of capacity worldwide today to more than 1 gigawatt in six years, reaching a market worth more than $500 million annually, according to a report by Greentech Media and the Prometheus Institute scheduled for publication next week.

Wave power is the most promising source of ocean energy for South Africa and a "very conservative" estimate is that some 8 000 to 10 000 megawatts (MW) of electricity could be generated from the Cape's West and South Coasts, says eminent marine engineer Professor Deon Retief.

Chances are you've heard of hybrids and biofuels, but what about oil-producing yeast and turbinelike buoys that transform ocean waves into electricity? Those are just a couple of the alternative-energy sources that may power the future according to Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense Fund and coauthor, with Miriam Horn, of the new book "Earth: The Sequel"

ACROSS the road from a golf course and next to a verdant, cow-filled field in Whetstone, a village about as far from the sea as it is possible to get in England, there is a ship's engine-room in a barn. The area is dripping with history—Frank Whittle, one of the inventors of the jet engine, used a neighbouring shed for his project—but this is not some clanking historical curiosity, such as a steam engine rebuilt by an amateur enthusiast. The whirring gas turbine and whining motor being put through their paces in bucolic Leicestershire are at the cutting edge of maritime engineering. The electric drive being tested there could represent the next leap forward in ship design, as significant a technological shift as the one from sail to steam power in the 19th century.

Smart plugs would be fitted to all appliances in the home and communicate via radio waves back to a central control panel to calculate how much energy each device is using and when equipment is operating needlessly. For example, if your phone is fully charged it will turn off further supply of energy to the phone.

The plug will even have an “integrated motion sensor” to detect minimal activity in a room to shut down devices left on. If something has been shut off that shouldn’t be, a simple flick of a switch to turn it back on again will tell the central controller that you don’t like that particular service being compromised.

The French inventor Georges Claude is largely forgotten today; if he is remembered at all, it is as the creator of the neon lamp. Yet one of his projects from the 1920s could resolve the global energy crisis - by harnessing the power of the oceans.

It seems that everyone is getting into the battery business, one of them will succeed in making a smaller, lighter and less expensive battery.  This development by ExxonMobil sound very promising. ExxonMobil Chemical and ExxonMobil's Japanese affiliate, Tonen Chemical have developed a thin film separator for use in lithium-ion batteries, that would enable production of batteries like those found in cell phones and laptops, to power cars and trucks. These new film technologies are expected to significantly enhance the power, safety and reliability of lithium-ion batteries, thereby helping speed the adoption of these smaller and lighter batteries into the next wave of lower-emission vehicles.

The Nanogenerator uses a technique of lining up zinc oxide nanowires inside of a special electrode. Tiny filaments are sent into movement by natural forces like blood flow, walking, mechanical vibration or ultrasonic waves. The devices are so minuscule that thousands of them could fit on a head of a pin.