N R G

The world should be focusing on renewable resources such as wind and solar power. But large energy producers are opposed to these types of energy, Etcheverry says, because renewable energy is diffuse, can be owned and operated by anyone anywhere, and therefore makes it impossible for the large energy companies to continue to dominate the energy market.

"The big challenge for the 21st century is how can we tap into those enormous flows of energy coming from the sun on a daily basis in a manner that can allow us to have the energy services that we are expecting out of our current civilization. To solve the climate crisis, to solve the energy security crisis, to solve the poverty crisis; all these things are inter-related. And the old solutions that we've relied upon have failed us...

"This is not just about environmental protection, this is about prosperity, of creating new jobs that are sustainable for ecosystems, but also very good for society."

Scientific American recently high-lighted some of the exciting developments in solar film technology, acknowledging that

"The sun blasts Earth with enough energy in one hour—4.3 x 10^20 joules—to provide all of humanity's energy needs for a year (4.1 x 10^20 joules)"

And we're getting better at capturing that energy. Spain, Japan, and Australia are leading the way in adopting this technology as part of their energy plans. Will the US follow or will we be caught up in ethanol and biofuels and "clean" coal and nuclear energy before we realize that just better than oil does not mean the best.