8 Bets About the Future

This week, we’re taking bets on the future of energy. Shayle wrote a piece celebrating his colleague’s expected daughter, nicknamed Bug.  Bug will be born at the beginning of 2019. She’ll enter high school in 2033 and turn 30 in 2049. What will her future look like? In this episode, we outline 8 different scenarios that Bug may face in her lifetime — and decide whether or not to take Shayle’s bets. The bets:Bet #1: Bug will control machines with her voice more than with her keyboard.Bet #2: Bug will never personally drive a car.Bet #3: By the time Bug buys her first home, especially if she’s in an urban environment, her surroundings will transformed. Bet #4: By the time Bug shops for her own groceries, >20% of her produce will be grown indoorsBet #5: In Bug’s first home of her own, more than half of her electricity load will dynamically respond to grid or price signalsBet #6: By the time Bug reaches 30 (in the year 2050), electricity’s market share of final energy consumption will more than double.Bet #7: More than 50% of Bug’s electricity, as represented by the national breakdown, will come from renewables by the time she’s a sophomore in high school.Bet #8 : Bug will live over 200 years, and for most of her life, electricity will be her only food.Would you take these bets? Hit us up on Twitter!