Electric cars sit charging in a parking garage at the University of California, Irvine January 26, 2015. “The Irvine Smart Grid Demonstration”, a $79 million project funded half by federal stimulus money and half by Edison and partners like UC Irvine, was launched in 2010. The $12 billion utility's research team Southern California Edison is testing everything from charging electronic vehicles via cell phone to devices that smooth out the power created by rooftop solar panels. Those are some of the roughly 60 projects in the works at Edison's Advanced Technology division. It has a small $19 million annual budget, but its influence far exceeds that. (Photo by Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)

A group of girls hit the town in York, United Kingdom on December 30, 2020. Revellers hit the streets for a final drink before being plunged into Tier 4 lockdown. (Photo by Nb press ltd)

Excited Brits beamed as they grabbed a pint outside in Leeds, United Kingdom on April 17, 2021. Pubs and restaurants with outdoor space have been allowed to reopen as lockdown restrictions are eased in the UK. (Photo by Nb press ltd)

Pedestrians cross a road in Cape Town, South Africa Saturday, March 28, 2020, as South Africa went into a nationwide lockdown for 21 days in an effort to control the spread of the coronavirus. (Photo by Nardus Engelbrecht/AP Photo)

A police officer chases shoppers to clear the streets of the Red Light market on the first day of lockdown to stop the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Monrovia, Liberia on April 11, 2020. (Photo by Derick Snyder/Reuters)

A watchmaker waits for customers during a government-imposed nationwide lockdown as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus in Chennai on June 29, 2020. (Photo by Arun Sankar/AFP Photo)

A member of the South African National Defense Force (SANDF) stands on a military vehicle during a joint South African Police Services (SAPS) and SANDF patrol on day 31 of the national lockdown as a result of the ongoing coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic in Johannesburg, South Africa, 26 April 2020. The patrol was in the high density areas of Hillbrow and Yoeville where civilians are still breaking the strict lockdown rules. Those that where breaking the rules where arrested. South Africa's Stage 5 lockdown is due to end 30 April 2020 when stage 4 will be implemented. (Photo by Kim Ludbrook/EPA/EFE)

Members of the contemporary circus company Cirk La Putyka perform in front of sculpture of Franz Kafka's head to entertain local residents in Prague, Czech Republic, 21 April 2020. The aim of the Cirk La Putyka events in the streets of Czech capital is to get live art back to people during the lockdown. According to them, when people can't go to the artists, to the theater, the actors go to the people. The Czech government has imposed a lockdown in an attempt to slow down the spread of the pandemic COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. (Photo by Martin Divisek/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)