This post is in partnership with GE
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It’s easy to forget the impact Thomas Edison had on the way we think about the technology business—this is the guy who took electricity commercial, after all.
Perhaps you've noticed the glut of hybrid and electric vehicles set to enter the market in the next few months—the Nissan Leaf, Chevrolet Volt, and Ford Focus Electric are just some the EVs coming down the pipeline. Electric vehicles get the majority of the attention from car companies looking to build next-generation vehicles. It makes sense; major automakers have been working on hybrids, all-electric vehicles, and charging stations for years. But there's a dark horse in the race to switch to alternative fuels—a fuel that allows drivers to fill up in a matter of minutes for the same price as gasoline: hydrogen power. Does it stand a chance?
Have you noticed that plug-in electric vehicles are slowly trickling into the mainstream? If you haven't, you certainly will soon—major automakers like Nissan, Chevrolet, and Toyota all have plug-in electric or hybrid electric offerings set to roll off production lines in the next few years. But there's a catch: As it stands, the electrical grid can't handle the onslaught of electric vehicles that will all start charging at, say, 7 p.m. every evening when commuters get home from work. If everyone in your city or town started driving (and subsequently charging) EVs today, the grid would probably fail. So what can be done?