Techno-economic Modelling of Sustainable Energy Future Scenarios

As the world moves towards a low carbon economy, the focus will move away from the intense part of energy generation (raw material extraction and refining), towards the finer high-value ends of energy sale and distribution. There will be more focus on 'power' rather than 'energy', and automation in consumer energy sale will deliver more value than digging for coal or drilling for oil. It is interesting that we automate the dispatch and pricing for trains, flights, logistics, supply chains, e.t.c, but choose to remain in the dark ages of manually generating energy and consuming it at the same time in very inefficient ways. It is also interesting that the internet has revolutionized information, such that large volumes of information can be moved globally without central control, can be stored, and can be generated from any part of the world. Yet we generate energy locally and consume it locally. Can techno-economic models and optimization change the world of low carbon energy supply? Can the implementation of energy supply chain models support CHPs, biomethane, fuel cells, and other renewable technologies?