As with anything else, there's good news and there's bad news.

The bad news is that the earth is continuing to heat up—this past decade was in fact the hottest decade ever recorded in the history of science. Last year, China surpassed the United States as the largest producer of carbon dioxide, and India is not going to be too far behind as it continues to industrialize. This of course is going to put an enormous strain on the atmosphere of the planet Earth. So, in a nutshell, the nations of the world simply don't have their act together. We can only hope that in time, the nations of the world will strive to make changes that affect future generations for the better.

However, there is also some good news to this story.

First of all, the price of solar hydrogen continues to drop. Renewable technologies are not yet cheaper than fossil fuels, but they are approaching fast and getting very close. I personally believe that within 10 years to 15 years at the maximum, the price of solar hydrogen will drop to the point that it will in fact cross the curve for the rising cost of fossil fuels. So when the declining cost of solar hydrogen intersects with the rising cost of fossil fuels, we will reach the tipping point and a sea change will take place. At that point, it will be quite economical to go solar.

I should also point out that the plug-in hybrid car is already on the horizon and has been for quite some time. About 50% of energy use goes into transportation, and transportation of course burns off huge quantities of oil. But plug-in hybrids are going to be hitting the markets soon. Already, Chevrolet plans to release its version—called the VOLT—in 2011. A year later, Nissan plans to release the LEAF. Toyota also plans to up the ante by releasing an affordable, rechargeable version of its popular Prius hybrid in 2011, most likely as a 2012 model.

These plug-in hybrids have the advantage of relying on their electric batteries as a source of power for the first 50 or so miles. If you go beyond that, as a backup, there is the standard internal combustion engine. But most of your commuting, grocery shopping, and other errands are done during that window of 50 miles, meaning that you could essentially go completely electric. However, there’s a catch (there’s always a catch). That is: where does the electricity come from when you plug in the car? Ultimately, it comes from a power plant, and where do power plants get their electricity? Well in the short term, the answer is coal, and coal produces copious quantities of carbon dioxide. So don't believe that the plug-in hybrid is going to save us completely.