"Apartheid" is a loaded term, but it's how World Bank President Jim Kim described the growing gap between industrial economies and countries lacking energy and resources to develop.
He made this point to scientists and engineers gathered at the ARPA-E summit, arguing that technology advances need to provide ladders out of poverty for the billions that are struggling.
General Electric's full-scale supercritical CO2 turbine on display at the ARPA-E summit
This week, I attended the Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy's annual summit. The initiative is the Department of Energy's take on the military's legendary research firm, DARPA.
While engineers have made some really cool new energy devices, some of the speakers at the conference cautioned that bad policy could stifle innovation.
A researcher demonstrates a fluid that can store thermal energy
The Obama Administration has proposed doubling clean energy research and development spending. The move is part of an agreement forged between 20 countries in November 2015 during the Paris climate change negotiations.
There's a growing cadre of researchers who say that the United States could switch to 100 percent renewable energy. They say that it's not just feasible, but that it may be the best option for fighting climate change.
The technology for solar energy has improved drastically over the past decade, but scientists think it can still do better. While there are fundamental limitations, there are loopholes that can make solar panels more efficient and cheap.
However, solar energy companies and market analysts say red tape is the main hurdle holding the industry back. Permitting costs and local regulations often prove costly for rooftop solar installations and make utility installations less attractive for investors.
In one of the more controversial articles I've written, I report on the idea that the way we model the health effects of radiation at low levels may be wrong. This has huge implications for the nuclear energy industry, since they spend so much money trying to get radiation exposures down to zero.
Many environmental groups oppose revising this standard (and have sent me some angry letters about it).
Batteries are constantly improving, but people continue to demand more from their devices, so it's hard to tell. Some researchers are working on new energy storage devices that would leave current batteries in the dust and would be impossible to ignore as an option in vehicles and on the grid.
However, many industry analysts say the technology isn't the limiting reagent. On the grid, regulations are making it hard for batteries to catch on and in vehicles, low fossil fuel prices are moving the goal posts for energy storage.