Energy

Right now the fuel cell is at the top of the list of alternative technologies. Advances in turbine transportation mean that natural gas is going to have an ever-increasing role. Nuclear power may prove competitive enough to have a much longer life than many expect, but until there's a major change in public sentiment, I don't expect to see much new nuclear construction.

Will the grip of oil on personal transportation continue? Sports utility vehicles like Land Rovers and jeeps are hardly the perfect means of urban transport. But people have become very attached to their automobiles. So until we get round to technology where we beam ourselves around, I suspect we'll continue to have them. Some may be electric; others could run on cleaner oil-based fuel or natural gas.

One area, which is certainly not clear, is the impact of the Internet on transport. On the one hand, you will be able to accomplish by sitting in front of a screen what you used to have to go to the airport for; on the other, increased knowledge may well fuel a rising demand for travel. We are only at the beginning of a revolution that is already being called a bigger revolution than the internal combustion engine.

Clearly, everything will become more global. National borders no longer offer protection for national companies and Europe's single market means increasing competition across the continent—not least between energy companies. Socially, too, we are seeing the advent of what is already being dubbed "globality"—the 24-hour, hyperactive, interconnected, e-mail-fuelled, sleep-deprived world of the new millennium.