Rethinking on Electric power

My son sent me a mail alerting me to a site that showed how a normal reading lamp could be converted into by replacing its bulb with a LED strip powered by a  9 volt battery.  I am fascinated by this kind of thinking on converting our  high power  machines into low voltage devices. From the time of Tesla and Edison, we have been using high  line voltages between 110 to 230 Volts, AC or DC. And electrical engineers have stuck to designing machines that work only at high voltages and currents. We already have small devices like cell phones that work wonderfully on low voltages and negligible current consumption. In addition, we have hand held torches powered by rechargeable batteries that can be charged using hand wound systems like old telephones, or from solar panels or wind power generators. Solar lanterns are the  latest craze in many countries.  We have the technology to design low power devices. The current thinking has to be changed. We cannot continue to build huge dams across rivers , destroying forests and disturbing wild life. Further dams have a limited life, high maintenance and their efficiency decreases due to silting and low inflow whenever the rain fall becomes deficient. We can instead use solar panels on rooftops to power low power lighting, and work low power appliances. We could redesign refrigerators to work on 12-18 volts , using a built in inverter to work compressors or better use solid state cooling systems that are silent and use very little current. In fact the electric system in each home should be redesigned to work on low power, between 12 to 18 volts and all appliances redesigned to work at low , safe voltages. For too long have we been making machines that work only on 230 volts and 5 to 16 amps. Everything we use can be made to work on low voltages.  Only our lazy nature and the stupid belief that we will be able to power everything  through big power stations that burn fossil fuels or work on nuclear energy. Koodankulam Nuclear Power station in Tamil Nadu has acquired much controversy over high public opposition from local residents who fear   silent radiation, nuclear meltdown or  Fukushinma  and Chernobyl style accidents, compounded by unplanned for tsunamis or ocean flooding caused by climate changes. Hence, investing n wind power and solar systems or even tidal power systems can be better and safer alternatives. So far the poor public has been fooled by the so called experts that we need huge power stations to power our industries. This is a big lie. The famous BMW car is manufactured in USA using power made from methane piped in from landfills. I wonder if this technology is so outdated that we cannot use it for powering our own industries in India. We really must ask our  industries to switch over to lower power devices and newer technology. Burning diesel and Natural gas or coal is becoming expensive and  we will have to  reduce their consumption as these fossil fuels will either run out or become too costly to recover economically. Let us hope, some intelligent people begin working on this plan to save our planet. We cannot continue this conspicuous consumption any more.