The Green Future

David Roberts reviews Tom Friedman's new book:

Friedman recognizes the core green truth that the future is all about clean electrons -- that is, carbon-free electricity -- and energy efficiency. He wants to electrify as much power use as possible, including transportation, and co-opt the vehicle fleet as a distributed energy--storage network. Moving power use to the grid also opens up the full potential of an "energy internet," Friedman's term for a smart electrical grid infused with information technology ("ET meets IT"). Energy wonks know that the "electranet" (as Al Gore calls it) is a huge piece of the energy puzzle, but it's difficult to discuss without sounding like a dippy Buck Rogers fanboy. Perhaps it takes someone as unabashedly full of himself as Friedman to pull it off, and to his credit he goes in deep, laying out an elaborate future scenario of what life will look like when every appliance, vehicle, and power plant is in constant communication.