Electrical energy in the future. A vision of 2050

Abstract

The article contains scenarios for the power sector’s development until 2050, as proposed by students of Electrical High School No. 4 in Wloclawek. Many current trends in the development of technology have led the authors to attribute the verisimilitude to their selected visions of the future. The growing demand for energy, while fossil fuel resources and traditional methods of processing them are shrinking, will cause dissemination of the use of so-called environment-friendly sources of energy, such as wind or biomass. Energy will be commonly converted in domestic power stations equipped with energy storage capabilities and integrated with the grid by smart controllers for two-way energy transfer. The power grid role will change, and the existing energy consumers will become its prosumers. In the opinion of the authors the only alternative for this power sector development vision may be thermonuclear generation, which requires, however, incredibly high capital expenditures and level of technological development. However, launching thermonuclear power plants would free humanity from the fear of a future predominated by energy crisis.