We should rethink our energy use to power economic growth

Mkwiro Wasini Solar Power plant. [File, Standard]

Albert Einstein, one of the most eminent scientific intellects in history, distilled a profound truth into a concise adage: "Everything is energy and that's all there is to it."

This deceptively simple statement unfolds to reveal a universe where, at its most fundamental level, everything we experience - from the tiniest bits of energy and matter that we can't even see, to the huge and beautiful arrangement of stars and planets in space, from a quick idea that pops into your head to the big, solid bulk of a mountain is made up of energy.