At the same time, economic growth and prosperity is definitely linked to energy consumption. Following the path of greatest energy efficiency would have us still living in the Middle Ages, and though certain nations might not be as exploited as they are today through our more efficient trade mechanisms (that burn less efficient fuels), many people in the developed world would be entirely unwilling to make this trade (Jones 1997).
The basic problem, of course, is that we can't see into the future and are often unwilling to honestly look at the present. Had mankind looked at the amount of smog produced by early factories -- which coated areas of major cities in soot -- and decided...
But there will always be a need for more energy; whenever energy is available, someone will use it for one enterprise or another. Hopefully we're at a point where we can get our energy more efficiently for awhile, bit only the future will tell what power hungry devices will be thought up to drain the solar panels of their resources. Maybe some sort of space car...
References
Jones, Walter. The Logic of International Relations. Longman: 1997.
WRI. (2009). World Resources Institute. Accessed 4 October 2009.
http://www.wri.org/publication/content/8333
