Future Energy Technology: Enabling New Science for a Sustainable Future

With the financial crisis hitting the world economy in 2008, the boom of gas shale and fracking in the US, and the recent move toward outdated technologies in some parts of the world, tackling many of the challenges facing humanity in the 21st century has been relegated to second place. The supply of clean energy is one of those challenges. The test facing us is how to sustain economic growth while dealing with limited primary resources and minimizing environmental pollution. Energy is a fundamental necessity for almost everything needed to sustain us, from food production to drug design and safe drinking water. Our quality of life is reflected by the human development index, which strongly correlates with the availability of energ