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Clean as a breeze

In various places around the world something remarkable is happening: Alternative-energy technologies have left behind the experimental stage, and are now economically turning sunlight, wind and other renewable resources into useful forms of energy.

This achievement opens up a thrilling possibility. Just as the economic miracles of the 20 century were powered by fossil fuels, the 21st century may be marked by an equally dramatic move away from those fuels – and the environmental damage they have done. The result may be nothing less than an energy revolution.

Roughly 100 years have passed since a transition of a similar extent took place. Much of the energy system now in use was created by an explosion of inventions between 1890 and 19910. During that short period, cities were transformed, as automobiles and electric lights replaced horse-drawn carriages and gas lamps. These old technologies had prevailed for centuries, but they became obsolete in a matter o...