If you ask experts about the reason that solar power is unrealistic, you will generally hear the same basic answer: solar power cannot be easily stored. Because large-scale solar is only cost-effective in a few areas, the inability to efficiently store and transport renders it difficult to use. Added to this is the fact that solar power only works when the sun is out, which means that, unless you have effective storage or an address in Arizona, it isn't all that reliable.

A similar problem plagues hydrogen fuel cell cars. Right now, producing hydrogen requires a large energy expenditure, which means that fuel cells operate at an energy deficit from the start. Regardless of how non-polluting they are, if producing the fuel costs a fortune and uses a ton of energy, then they really aren't all that green.

These are hardly minor problems. Although Honda has begun offering fuel-cell powered cars and Whole Foods has begun powering its stores with fuel cells, the technology is still extremely expensive and the infrastructure for supporting it is largely nonexistent. Most companies are waiting to enter the fuel cell arena until there is proof that it can be economically feasible. Meanwhile, solar power, by and large, remains small-scale and relatively insignificant.

Recently, however, Daniel Nocera, a chemistry professor at MIT, developed a catalyst that can use solar power to generate hydrogen from water. It is cheap to produce and may well pave the way for efficient solar power, cheap hydrogen fuel cells, and a clean, inexpensive power source. It is hard to overestimate the impact that this catalyst may have. The easiest comparison would be to the development of power plants, the production of alternating current, or the development of the gasoline engine. In other words, if this discovery proves to be real, Professor Nocera has just changed the world!