The world will change almost instantly when someone invents a better battery. Battery tech is holding almost everything back: electric car ranges, planes, effective solar, even mass energy production.

What we need is a chemically stable, deep charge battery that can run longer than current batteries by a factor of 100. They also need to be lightweight and smaller, and composed of materials that are not particularly difficult to obtain.

Other technology is way ahead of battery tech, and is just waiting for battery tech to catch up. We already have great electric cars, but their drawback is range and re-charge time...not to mention the weight.

Planes are perfect for electric technology because without carrying fuel they can massively increase their range and load capacity. I am sure both airlines and aerospace manufacturers are chomping at the bit to get a plane that is lightweight, long range and fuel free.