In the summer of 1977, a lightning storm took out New York City's electrical substations, plunging it into darkness. Looting, arson and riots broke out, causing more than $300 million (£234m) in damages across the city. A similar incident caused havoc in 2003 after a surge in the grid hundreds of kilometres away in Ohio. Soon, such devastating blackouts could be a thing of the past.

Around the world, cities are moving away from dependency on large, insecure electrical grids to localised energy production - a move that goes hand-in-hand with renewables. Buildings are being used to gather solar energy and capture wind power, and streets are harnessing the power of human footfall - and then storing it in microgrids. In 2018, this growing energy paradigm will make urban landscapes more resilient and greener.

This divvying up of energy production - called microgeneration - is being propelled in part by political and legislative forces. In the US, hundreds of cities have pledged to cut emissions to meet the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement that President Trump has snubbed - placing urban green energy at the frontline of the climate fight. In Europe, legislators will in 2018 introduce laws requiring new public buildings to be almost completely emission-free - enforcing a new era of local, renewable energy production.