No, although silicon is the second most abundant element in the Earth's crust, it must be refined like anything else before it is useful. Silicon is extracted by heating sand along with coke (same as steel) in electric furnaces, which of course requires a lot of energy.

Wind turbines are good ideas, but no one wants to live in a world where you cannot see the forest, because a thicket of giant wind turbines surround us. Just ask John Kerrey and Ted Kennedy about this point. No doubt, they will have little objection as long as lower-classes of people, like you and me, are left to deal with it.

What will be the effect of interfering with the winds that naturally sweep across the landscape? Of course, there are those unfortunate birds and bats, whacked out of the sky by the whirling blades. Is that a concern?

Geothermal energy seems like a good idea, but I suspect there will be a piper to pay if this technology spread across the globe. Remember, how energy is always on the move, from stored potential energy to a higher state of Entropy. We enjoy life on this planet in large part due to the Earth's magnetic field. This magnetic field is generated because the Earth has iron in a liquid or semi-liquid core.

The mushy insides of our planet circulate due to this non-solid state, and that liquidity depends on stored energy (heat) that exists under the surface. If we tap that heat on a planet-wide scale, there will be a transfer of heat to the surface and ultimately away from the core. Mars is said to have cooled, and no longer has a liquid core. Mars does not have the magnetic fields as we do, that protect the surface from the ravages of solar radiation.

Mankind cannot and simply will not exist without converting potential energy one way or the other, and doing so inevitably leads the world to a higher level of Entropy, and ultimately to our doom. I dare say that the planet cannot help but change, mostly due to the tendency of all systems to reach a higher state of Entropy.

Man is a part of the equation, and due to the laws of nature, the end result will be the same no matter what we do. In terms of alternative energy, just as the grass always looks greener on the other side of the fence, once we leap over the fence we may find that it isn't necessarily so.