The Economist: Beyond the bubble. Interest has grown in technologies that bypass the grid altogether, such as micropower. As part of their response to the crisis, Californian officials are signing long-term contracts to buy power at prices several times historical levels: at the new level, even fuel cells can compete.
If necessity is the mother of invention, the energy situation is made to order for innovators.
We’re on the verge of a genuine revolution in the creation and distribution of energy supplies. The catch? If politicians continue rigging markets in favor of their friends, with tax and other policies that discriminate against alternatives, it’ll take much longer to get out from under the yoke of Big Oil and its pals.