Energy, Technology, and (Possibly) the Nature of the Next World Economy Upswing

In the last several upswings of the world economy, core innovations paired new engines with new fuels: steam engines with coal, internal combustion engines with petroleum, and numerous electricity-driven applications with fossil fuels. In each instance, the new fuels initially were inexpensive, abundant, and incredibly powerful but also damaging to the climate and environment. Now we need to develop engines that can run using decarbonized fuels to minimize CO2 emissions. In this chapter we shift our focus to the implications of carbon-based energy sources, system leadership, and climate change. We first review the evidence for a strong relationship between global warming and fossil fuels and then consider what might be done to forestall the consequences of such a relationship.We then relate macro-level fluctuations in world economic growth to policy responses focusing largely on electricity and transportation.