Some fundamental challenges are shaping the world we live in, and the need for alternative materials and energies is one of the most prominent issues of this century, especially in the light of global warming and energy need. Another crucial point concerns health care for a continuously aging population. Carbon can provide a concrete foundation for addressing both these challenges. Examples as different as lithium ion batteries in battery-powered vehicles, filtration systems, and synthetic diamonds for industrial applications all have in common the fact that they cannot work without carbon, in all their different forms. Allotropy is a phenomenon in which an element exhibits several different forms, while keeping some shared chemical and physical properties. Whether for low-cost solar cells, semiconductors, medical devices, fuel cells, or electrodes, carbon is going to play a crucial and a central role.