Energy prognostications at this time of the year are as common as weather forecasts but often less accurate. In either case, the future becomes history more rapidly and painfully than we like, reminding us how myopic and ignorant we remain.So it is for 2010 and its likely role in the evolution of energy sources to fuel global economic activity.Not everyone agrees this activity and the human-derived carbon fuels that now run it are at fault for the current climate crisis—or even that such a crisis exists. This is not the place for that debate. For better or worse, consensus among world governments and scientists is pushing toward less dependence on carbon fuels.It is possible that 20...