I share your enthusiasm, Chandra. We appear to be on the verge of some breakthroughs in alternative energy. One start-up in Hawaii is experimenting with very large kites which generate electricity. On paper, the idea looks as though it might deliver electricity less expensively than coal. There are a lot of issues to work through, though: control systems, how to handle bad weather, keep planes away from the wires, etc. It would work best in low population areas, probably, which means we'll need a heck of a robust grid system to move power around. (We probably needed that anyway.) Improvements in solar are just around the corner. I expect the efficiency of solar panels to at least double within 5 years, based on laboratory discoveries just in the last year. Think about solar panels that can generate electricity at night, and solar panels that can capture a much wider range of light frequencies than current panels can manage. Both should be coming to market soon. The most critical choke-point in our way is battery technology. If we could economically build a battery that stores as much or more energy as a tank of gas for about the same weight, we'd be over the tech hump and into reaping big economic rewards. We aren't nearly there yet; the closest we can come is the energy equivalent of 2-3 gallons of gasoline in a much heavier battery array. Primitive. Everyone that can do it has jumped with both feet into battery research; the potential payoff is enormous. Thus far only small improvements have emerged. Even with primitive batteries, though, short-range electric cars are poised to take off, and so are electric-assist bicycles and electric motorcycles. Perhaps the strangest and most exciting concept comes from Segway (in collaboration with GM), which has completed work on a prototype two-wheel electric vehicle with a range of 25-35 miles, can go 25-35 mph, has a range of around 30-40 miles. The "thing" - it isn't a car, it's more like a wheelchair on steroids than anything else I can think of - seats two, offers better visibility to the driver than many compact cars, and has a turn radius of zero (it can spin in place). Like the original Segway, it automatically balances itself on its two wheels. They were tooling around NYC this past week in this thing. Cool, but they aren't ready to say when they might offer one for sale. And it doesn't look like there's a trunk. Me, I'm just about to take delivery of a custom-built long wheel base electric cargo bicycle. Putting out in the neighborhood of 90 ft-lbs of torque at full throttle, it can haul a rider and 200 lbs of cargo up most hills, pedaling optional. With the trailer I have for it, I'll be able to haul any conceivable amount of groceries - certainly more than a grocery cart can hold. It tops out at about 26 mph with a light load. Just the thing for most shopping trips under 5 miles, or longer recreational rides. Fuel costs? Pennies. If the new Segway is cool at 300 lbs, how cool is a cargo vehicle that weighs about 120 lbs (with trailer), hauls more cargo than the Segway, and looks and rides almost like an ordinary bicycle? (It looks basically like a long mountain bike with a trailer hitch and a box strapped to the rear rack. Most people wouldn't look twice unless it's pulling a loaded trailer.) America does seem to be headed for economic retrenchment, and I think we won't emerge from it until we have mastered cheap alternative forms of energy. Fortunately, that, too, is a game anyone can play. All it takes is imagination.