Energy systems in transition

The principal point of the author was to discuss energy systems (ES) in transition, transition addresses the next 10-25 years, and strategy of the transition. He considers different scenarios of future development of ES. Further he presents considerations elaborated during the last years on the concept of novel horizontally integrated ES which gives promise to be at least an approximation to the desired object of no emissions. The main ideas of the concept are: to decompose and thereby clean all the primary inputs before they are brought to combustion; to develop a network combining all the primary inputs to an integrated supply structure of high absorption, buffer, and storage capacity that resembles in some way the supply and utility functions of the well established electric grid but completes it at best on the basis of mass flows; to achieve a high flexibility in supplying the final energy. The author considers the long run perspective of hydrogen, solar, and nuclear energy with respect to alternative energy sources. 6 refs, 24 figs