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The only possible way all this can be averted is by rounding up everyone who opposes nuclear power and shooting them. Unless, in the meantime, Honda comes to the rescue.

You may have read about the fuel-cell car they are running in California. Uncharacteristically, we even sang its praises on Top Gear. Unless that bit was edited out for not being funny. I can't recall.

Anyway, the idea is that a company somewhere, possibly in Iceland where you only have to drill a hole in the ground and free electricity floods out, makes hydrogen. This is then stored. And then you, the motorist, buys a card and inserts it in your car. Once there, witchcraft happens, and the car moves.

I do not even begin to understand how hydrogen is used to make electricity and how that electricity is used to propel one tonne of car, but I do know this: all that comes out of the back is water. Pure, clean, drink-it-when-you're-thirsty liquid silver. I also know that hydrogen is the most abundant entity in the universe.

Of course, you might think that this is all terribly dreary, that no matter how the electricity is produced, it's still an electric car. That when all is said and done you're still going to work every morning in a glorified G-Wiz.

Aha. But here's the really good bit. You see the Honda they're testing in America produces 100 kilowatts, which is a lot. And if the starting point for this technology is a nice round ton, you can only begin to imagine how much Porsche and Ferrari will be producing in the next 10 or 20 years. By 2028, you'll be doing 200mph again.

Of course, you might think this has absolutely nothing to do with the complex business of providing power for your PlayStation and your iPod. But here's the thing: even if I were to turn on every light in my house, and every appliance and every gadget, I'd barely use 10 kilowatts.

So the car, with its silent engine, could simply be plugged in to your meter cupboard, and Bob's your uncle. Even the Honda we have now could generate enough of a zap to power the whole street. And forget having to stock up on Evian and Perrier. Simply attach a hose to the exhaust and sip from the fountain of Honda's genius.

Back at the beginning of the 20th century, the motor car saved the world from the disease and pestilence brought on by having so much horse shit in the streets. Today, at the beginning of the 21st century, it's about to save it again.