Our current model of energy production is not the optimal arrangement – it is simplythe product of a series of decisions made over a long period. Vijay Vaitheeswaran, in his investigation into the history and prospects for renewable energy, identifies a precise moment back in 1884 when we unwittingly locked ourselves into the modern, centralised, grid-based electricity system. He explains that early experiments in electrification in the US, led by Thomas Edison, centred on standalone ‘micropower’ plants in homes and offices around New York City. A fight for investment between Edison and his rival Nikola Tesla, which Edison eventually lost, meant that grid electrification based on AC technology became the backbone of the electricity network.As this story illustrates, the energy system we have is not the only way of doing things. A return to Edison’s micropower vision – updated, of course, with the renewable technologies we now have at our disposal – offers one route to solving the energy crisis and climate change.