I find this quote interesting. Even if Rifkin was wrong–famously wrong–he still made a valuable contribution to the discussion. He must be the first person to describe so completely a viable alternative to the fossil fuel economy. It may not have come to pass, but who knows if Rifkin’s act of imagination helped to spur someone like Shai Agassi’s imagination. These sorts of scenarios certainly get the mind working. Mature technologies develop in a linear fashion, but innovations tend to make horizontal jumps. Fuel cells may have more surprises in store. None of us can predict how, or when, the energy revolution will come (my guess is it’s closer than we think.)