The Internet can help the energy crisis by creating an informed — and action-oriented — user base, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said in a talk Wednesday for the New America Foundation.

The Internet was created to let any devices connect to it, and any applications to run over it — as long they play by the rules, he said. So it should be used to design the power grid to allow for distributed power generation, a smart two-way connection, and distributed energy storage in plug-in vehicles.