Energy Boom

This scenario is not highly probable, but hopefully it's surprising enough.

Somewhere in 2009 a society of physics researchers unveils the secret of cold fusion. Unexpected to the rest of the world, these altruistic scientists decide NOT to patent the technology and relieve the suffering that the price of 300$ per barrel of oil has brought mostly to the underdeveloped countries. The process is extraordinarily cheap and an energy production facility can be deployed almost anywhere at a very short time.
This process creates an abundance of cheap energy. All the conventional methods of producing energy are abandoned. Due to the cheap price and the huge amounts of energy available, the advances in electronic devices and technology in general turn mostly towards increased power and functionality, without paying any more attention to energy usage efficiency. Thus, we get more powerful computers, electric cars and communication devices. Transportation costs drop by large.
As a result of the technological developments, most of the electronic office equipment is being replaced by a more powerful one. Also the classical gasoline powered vehicles are replaced by electric. This creates a huge amount of electronic and other waste, in such proportions that the governments decide to introduce a large tax on it. By 2015, this is solved with a new recycling technology that isolates separate elements from the waste.
Still, due to the cheap electric fuel, everybody owns a car and uses it to go to work. This creates enormous traffic jams, and the rush hour is extended almost during the entire day. While working on improving the public transportation, the governments decide to reduce the traffic jams by offering companies tax reductions for allowing employees to work at home. Due to the technological revolution in communication devices, in most of the professions it is possible not to travel to the office. Instead working at home becomes a growing trend. The employees start receiving benefits for rent and monthly expenses from their employers. Now that the employees are working from home, head-hunting has reached new dimensions.