Access to clean, affordable and reliable energy has been a cornerstone of the world’s increasing prosperity and economic
growth since the beginning of the industrial revolution. Our use of energy in the twenty-first century must also be sustainable. Solar and water-based energy generation, and engineering of microbes to produce biofuels are a few examples of the
alternatives. This Perspective puts these opportunities into a larger context by relating them to a number of aspects in the

Resilience is usually defined as the capacity of an ecosystem to absorb disturbance without shifting to an alternative state and losing function and services.

Overwhelming scientific evidence shows that CO2 emissions
from fossil fuels have caused the climate to change, and a dramatic
reduction of these emissions is essential to reduce the risk of future
devastating effects. On the other hand, access to energy is the basis
of much of the current and future prosperity of the world.