In the spring of 2003, at the height of the Iraq War, the U.S. military machine almost lurched to a stop. A terrible and unforeseen crisis gripped combat units from Basra to Baghdad: they were running out of BA5590, military-speak for the principal radio battery in use with U.S. forces. Without BA5590s, units would go offline, one by one, and back to the days of General Custer.

The problem was caused by a number of logistics snafus. Ships full of BA5590s were steaming toward Iraq, but the war kicked off while the ships were days from port. Meanwhile, frontline soldiers were throwing away batteries half-used rather than fully draining them, in an effort to keep their equipment topped up at all times. Each combat division was using over 3,000 batteries a day – three or four times the predicted rate! It took several weeks of round-the-clock shifts at stateside battery plants – and a lot of creative borrowing from other U.S. units around the globe – before the crisis fully abated.

The lesson is simple: High-tech gadgetry can be a wonderful advantage, the linchpin in the heroes’ plan… but the best encrypted cellular phone or latest palmtop computer is just an expensive paperweight without power.

In many societies, fossil fuels and nuclear fission will continue to be a convenient source of power at TL9. Power plants tapping renewable sources such as hydroelectric power, wind power, geothermal energy, or ocean currents will also continue to be used where local geography and climate makes them economical. Other developments that are possible at higher TLs:

TL9: Hydrogen fuel cell power plants supplement or replace fossil-fueled generators, perhaps using renewable energy sources such as solar power to electrolyze water into hydrogen. Solar power stations in orbit beam microwave energy down to the planet. Giant fusion reactor installations may be in limited use.

TL10: Building-sized fusion reactors are common. Cheap superconductor cables improve the efficiency of power distribution. Vast solar power arrays are built close to stars, using solar energy to manufacture antimatter, or beaming it to other parts of the system. Some antimatter power plants are available, but too expensive for widespread use.

TL11: Fusion and solar power remains the dominant energy source, but antimatter is an affordable fuel for situations where high power levels are more important than efficiency. Fields of nanotech “solar plants” grow like weeds and distribute electrical power via superconducting roots or reflective beams.

TL12: Power plants harness the energy in rotating black holes. Superscience power plants tap cosmic energies or convert ordinary matter into energy with 100% efficiency.

• Fuel
• Batteries
• Generators
• Energy Collectors
• Beamed and Broadcast Power