Rifkin's strategy includes developing renewable forms of energy and creating a smart-grid system that allows everyone to produce and share energy. New storage methods would ensure reliable and safe energy distribution.

Large centralized power generation models would be replaced with micro-generation. Buildings retrofitted with solar panels, small wind turbines, and geothermal energy would produce their own energy and add surplus back to the grid.

Rifkin, who founded the Foundation of Economic Trends, says the development of new technologies and reconverting outdated infrastructure would create millions of jobs and jumpstart the economy.