And while Solyndra died, other advanced thin-film manufacturers are making progress, including CIGS solar-panel manufacturer Solar Frontier, which opened a huge, 1,000-megawatt factory in Japan. Researchers are continuing to push solar-cell technology forward. A startup called Alta Devices, based in Santa Clara, California, has built world-record solar cells from thin-film gallium arsenide.

There's also some good news for advanced biofuels. The startup Amyris started producing chemicals from sugarcane. Three advanced-biofuels companies began construction on commercial ethanol plants in the United States, and another, Mascoma, announced that it has raised all the funding it needs to build one starting early next year. Meanwhile, startups continue to develop new ways to convert biomass and other abundant sources into fuels—including some that can directly replace gasoline or jet fuel.

While progress is slow on nuclear power in the United States, novel technology for small, modular reactors appears to be getting traction.

Batteries remain expensive, but early-stage technical advances could change that. One company hopes to eliminate liquid electrolytes and much of the supporting material in a battery. Such efforts could double batteries' energy storage capacity and greatly expand the possibilities of electric vehicles. Another demonstrated a prototype that could cut the cost of batteries in half. Advances in fuel cells that efficiently convert energy in fuels such as gasoline to electricity could help increase the range of electric cars, making them more practical.

If new battery technologies don't work, maybe the model developed by Better Place will. The company, which has received more than its fair share of media attention for its idea of selling cars and miles the way cellular carriers sell phones and minutes, has now actually built something. It's nearly finished an Israeli network of charging stations and robotic battery-swap stations that will eliminate the "range anxiety" now limiting the appeal of electric cars—the fear of depleting your battery before you reach your destination. It could also help make electric vehicles more affordable, since drivers don't have to buy the car's battery.

In terms of greenhouse-gas emissions, the best news continues to be the low cost of natural gas, made possible by advances in technology for extracting it from vast shale deposits around the world. Not only does burning natural gas emit less carbon dioxide than burning coal, but new natural-gas power plants could help utilities integrate large amounts of renewable energy. Technologies from GE and others make it possible to quickly increase and decrease power production at planned natural-gas plants, making up for variations in wind and sunlight.

So energy innovation continues. But the impact of new technologies is going to be limited by failures of government policy in the United States and elsewhere, including China.