“  Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.

This has universal appeal in that it embeds the concept of inter-generational equity, a social goal, firmly into the definition.

From this overall concept of what constitutes sustainability, a range of considerations on equity of energy supply across regions, time scales over which fuel and energy source mixes and technology changes and the like, can be developed.  Within the spatial dimension, considerations of sustainability that operate at the global scale needs to be translated to the operations of large and small companies, national and local governments down to individual households.  It is a complex mix in an increasingly complex world.

But one thing is certain, the world’s energy demand is going to continue to increase.  This demand will be largely satisfied by fossil fuels and this use is not sustainable using current technology in the long term.  Massive changes are required to turn the world around onto a more sustainable pathway that will probably take many decades even to make a significant start.

The aim of this paper is to briefly explore some of the possible technological options that will guide us on the road to a more sustainable energy future.
 
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