FROM THE editors December 13, 2004 Issue

Energy futures

Editor

The futures we're focusing on aren't the commodity contracts that are bought and sold on boards of trade. What has our attention this week is the issue of where we, the global family, are headed as energy users and developers.

We're using the plural futures because there is more than one route that can be taken in the quest for sound and sustainable energy for the planet's billions. And there are significant spiritual dimensions to this issue—at both the macro and the personal level—which should not go underexplored.

There may be as many global energy scenarios as there are experts to author and spin them. Some say that the global energy glass is half empty and dwindling, as fossil fuels are consumed and alternative fuel development lags. Others argue that the glass is half full and rising, with rapidly evolving new technologies—wind and solar power generation, hydrogen fuel cells, and biomass, to name some of the more promising energy sources. Then there are those who say market forces should determine energy development, and others who advocate government intervention on a major scale.

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