When I was in California last week, I had the chance to sit down with Skip Staats.

Skip has devoted much of the last twenty years to his project EcoSoul, which, for my money, is one of the coolest ideas around.

EcoSoul is a multi-power model, using many kinds of energy (solar, wind, tidal, pyrolysis, biodiesel, ethanol, etc.) to create a completely sustainable energy solution in Avalon, a city on Catalina Island just south of Los Angeles.

The idea is to incorporate multiple beginning points, have them all run to a central hydrogen storage facility, and then back out again. This would even out the peaks and troughs in the system, allowing for continuous, green power.

Pretty impressive.

This is the idea: use them all. Not one, not two, but all. There is no magic bullet. All of these systems work, but all have drawbacks. Find a way to harness them all, however, and you're good as gold.

Staats is in the process of putting his partners together, so anyone with ideas should check out the site and get in touch. You'll be part of something special.