The World in 2030

The World in 2030 53
flooding out of the world’s laboratories and development
centres at an ever increasing pace.
And it is for this reason that I open the main part of
this report with a discussion about the type of technologies
that may emerge between now and 2030 (and because the
implications of this exponential technology development
are so extreme). As I mentioned in my ‘Backdrop’ section,
new technology is the ‘joker’ in the pack of cards that will
shape our future. It has the greatest potential to affect
dramatically all of the other ‘key drivers’ of change that I
have identified – except, alas, the continuing explosion in
the world’s birthrate.
New technologies likely to be developed between now
and the year 2030 may even have the potential to offer
partial solutions to problems such as climate change and the
looming energy deficit. For example in May 2007 the San
Francisco Chronicle reported:
Scientists are eyeing the jet stream, an energy source
that rages night and day, 365 days a year, just a few
miles above our heads. If they can tap into its fierce
winds, the world’s entire electrical needs could be
met, they say.
Dozens of researchers in California and around the
world believe huge kite-like wind-power generators
could be the solution. As bizarre as that might seem,
respected experts say the idea is sound enough to justify
further investigation. 102