Just as Larry Hagman, alias J. R. Ewing, has been transfigured from the most prominent villain in the TV series “Dallas” and the face of the American oil industry into the owner of what is allegedly the largest private solar facility in the USA, more and more people all around the world are becoming producers of renewable energy. So instead of taking oil dollars to the bank, Hagman will perhaps be able to deposit the electricity he has generated in excess of his own needs in his energy account in the future. His energy bank, operating on a principle similar to that of conventional banks, would collect small quantities of energy from numerous private producers into a large volume for sale on energy markets or for transaction deals with financial ­derivatives. Hagman could also participate in profit distributions from the bank corresponding to interest payments from classic business banks.

The account could act as a depository as well, withdrawing the energy as soon as Hagman needs it for purposes – similar to a classic bank giro account. He could charge his electric car, even if the sun is not shining. He would get this electric car from a power firm on the basis of a limited term contract and a ­monthly mobility fee including a flat rate for all services such as ­power consumption, maintenance, insurance, etc. And this is not the only scenario from the world of telecommunications which might find its way into the energy industry. ­Information and telecommunications technologies (ICT) are the key to ­answering one of the most urgently and most often discussed questions of our times: How can we ensure that we will have the energy we need in the future?

Transformation in the energy industry is irreversible

The most recent World Energy Outlook issued by the Interna­tional Energy Agency clearly illuminates the enormous challenge for the future provision of energy: based on plausible assumptions about economic development, the consumption of primary energy worldwide will increase by 45% by the year 2030. The consumption of primary energy in Asia and the Middle East is even expected to double (IEA 2008).

As the supplies of fossil fuels, which today still cover more than 80% of our energy requirements, continue to dwindle, the costs for their production, the transport, and the exploitation of ­reserves will rise, inevitably pushing up end energy prices.