TheFuture Emerging technology for energy, transport & communications in Aotearoa tag:thefuture.net.nz,2026:editors-feed TheFuture editors 2026-10-28T00:00:00Z Air cars 2007–2016: CityCATs, AirPods and the production that never came https://www.thefuture.net.nz/transport/air-cars/ 2026-10-28T00:00:00Z A look back at the decade when cars running on compressed air were shown at motor shows, promised for showrooms and covered by news outlets worldwide, and at why the electric car overtook them. Distributed generation comes home: rooftop solar and batteries in NZ https://www.thefuture.net.nz/energy/distributed-generation/ 2026-10-28T00:00:00Z Twenty years ago, generating power where it is used was a futurist's idea. Now it is a roof job. What to know before panels and a battery go on a New Zealand house, starting with the roof itself. Heat pumps: the emerging technology that quietly arrived https://www.thefuture.net.nz/notes/heat-pumps-the-quiet-revolution/ 2026-10-28T00:00:00Z While the air car and the city-wide mesh network stalled, a box on the outside wall changed how New Zealand homes keep warm. How heat pumps work, what the rental rules say, and how to get the most from one. MDI's active chamber: how the compressed-air engine was meant to work https://www.thefuture.net.nz/transport/compressed-air-engines/ 2026-10-28T00:00:00Z A fresh explainer on the French air engine that drew worldwide attention in the 2000s: what the active chamber did, why 300-bar air holds so little energy, and why the cars never reached volume production. Peak oil, twenty years on: what the 2007 warnings got right and wrong https://www.thefuture.net.nz/peak-oil/ 2026-10-28T00:00:00Z In the late 2000s, peak oil looked like the defining energy problem of the century. Here is how those warnings have aged, and what they mean for a New Zealand household now. Smart grids vs "intelligent power networks": what actually reached NZ homes https://www.thefuture.net.nz/energy/smart-grids/ 2026-10-28T00:00:00Z The 2000s promised a self-organising grid of small generators and clever devices. What arrived was smart meters, time-of-use prices, controllable hot water and smart EV chargers. That is less glamorous, but genuinely useful. Wireless mesh, then and now: from city-wide mesh dreams to whole-home Wi-Fi https://www.thefuture.net.nz/communications/wireless-mesh-networks/ 2026-10-28T00:00:00Z In the 2000s, mesh radio networks were going to bring broadband to whole towns. Fibre did that job instead, and mesh quietly moved indoors. Here is what changed and how to get good Wi-Fi in a New Zealand home.