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In 1959, John L. Mero of the Institute of Marine Resources at Berkeley published a 96-page document entitled “A Preliminary Report on the Economics of Mining and Processing Deep-sea Manganese Nodules”. In this landmark study, he discussed the geological and economic aspects of mining the seabed for polymetallicnodules found often partly or completely buried in seabed sediment. In the 19 years between 1965 and 1984, it is estimated that as much as $650 million was pumped into deep sea mining space. Unfortunately, vaulting ambition was not met by technological prowess and most of this investment had sunk without a trace within the space of two decades.

Aerospace companies are working on hybrid electric airplanes, and the earliest versions will likely arrive before the end of the decade.

Global research and development (R and D) spending is forecast to grow by 3.8 percent—or $60.0 billion—to $1.6 trillion in 2014, according to the closely watched annual forecast by Battelle and R and D Magazine. After a flat year of R and D spending in 2013, the U.S. is projected to show modest growth while China is expected to continue its two-decade upward trajectory in R and D investment.

Researchers working in GE labs have used special magnetic material to achieve temperatures cold enough to freeze water. The breakthrough system, which is projected to be 20 percent more efficient than current refrigeration technology, could be inside your fridge by the end of the decade. 

After a decade of surging growth, in which they led a global boom and then helped pull the world economy forwards in the face of the financial crisis, the emerging giants have slowed sharply.

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat recently published The Tallest 20 in 2020: Entering the Era of the Megatall. Within this decade, the World’s first kilometer-tall building will be constructed, along with many other buildings over 600-meters tall. “The term “supertall” (which refers to a building over 300 meters) is thus no longer adequate to describe these buildings: we are entering the era of the “megatall.”

As cable harnesses are already among the most complex and heaviest components used in vehicles, any possibility for weight savings is an attractive proposition. A model calculation of realistic weight-saving potential was analyzed in an average mid-size car with a cable harness weighing just under 30 kilograms. For the substitution of Al wire for Cu conductors, exclusively larger cross-sections (>0.75 mm²) were analyzed, excluding the fine-signal conductors. Al conductors with the next-highest cross-section replaced the affected Cu conductors. Under these conditions, a purely computational weight savings of around 7kg was initially achieved. However, for the last decade in Germany, the solid battery terminals were already made of Al, so the actual potential for savings in this particular case study is 2-3kg per cable harness.

Developing countries such as China, India and Brazil have large populations and are modernizing quickly, but closing the gap with the developed world will require a large amount of electric power. HVDC is the most environmentally friendly and economical way of transmitting large amounts of electric power. Compared with AC, DC transmission needs much narrower right-of-ways, while higher voltages reduce both electricity losses and the cost of building large-scale power lines. As generation takes place further and further away, higher and higher transmission voltages are required. The highest DC transmission voltage has almost doubled during the last decade

The United Nations First Annual Sustainable Energy for All Forum in New York, marking the launch of the United Nations Decade of Sustainable Energy for All (2014-2024) was a success on many levels.

"You can map out a picture of at least a decade of strong growth for emerging nations," he says. "At Rio Tinto, whether it's iron ore, copper, aluminium, uranium, coal or a number of industrial minerals including diamonds, I think it's a pretty good story."

China is expected to unveil soon details of a five-trillion-yuan ($736 billion) investment plan for clean energy in the next decade

The current recession will go down as the most challenging in the industry for decades. Consturction output fell by -8.8% in 2009 in the EUROCONSTRUCT area. A further contraction of -4.0% is expected in 2010. By the end of this year the European construction industry will have been in recession for three years

Rio has gained an earlybird advantage in two mining frontiers, west Africa and Mongolia, where it is building iron ore and copper mines that should serve the market for decades.

Accelerating the Pace of Change in Energy Technologies Through an Integrated Federal Energy Policy provides a roadmap for the federal role in transforming the U.S. energy system within one to two decades.