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• “Health internets” that will make it easier for public officials to track and manage disease outbreaks;
• Smart buildings with networked systems that enable them to respond to changing conditions quickly and automatically, almost like living organisms;
• A transportation system dominated by zero-emissions vehicles and readily available electric-car charging stations;
• Smart water and sewer systems that will reduce waste and pollution; and
• Real-time, integrated data on crime and potential crises that will help officials respond quickly … or even proactively (shades of “Minority Report,” anyone?).

Carbon capture and storage remains a nascent technology: no one has yet proved that an integrated process can work on a commercial scale. But the US, Canada, Australia, the European Union and others have pledged billions of dollars to back demonstration projects. This suggests commercial deployment could be possible around 2020.

Even so, any transition to carbon-free generation will take decades. Low-carbon technologies are generally more expensive than fossil-fuel plants: some, such as offshore wind, are a lot more expensive. And with wind, power generation will not be constantly available. Britain, which is backing Europe's fastest expansion of wind power, is building into its plans for 2030 a huge margin of spare generation capacity which can be used when there is no wind.

Nine European countries have today signed a major agreement to develop the
world's first large-scale offshore wind energy grid in the North and Irish
seas, providing a boost to the continent's fast-expanding offshore wind
industry.

UK energy minister Lord Hunt joined with ministers from Germany, France,
Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark, Sweden and Ireland to sign the
agreement on the sidelines of today's European Council meeting in Brussels.