Antti Roine 04.08.2008 17:32
- Fig 1: Our climate has never been stable. Carbon dioxide may increase temperature or vice versa. Both are valid conclusions based on currently available experimental data.
Climate change is not the most pressing issue facing mankind today. Hunting down the perpetrators of the greenhouse effect not only wastes time but focuses our attention on the wrong issues. We should instead be looking for new energy sources, new technologies and new means to manage population growth.
The importance of ensuring sufficient energy for the future is almost impossible to overestimate, because energy directly and indirectly affects the price of virtually everything in society. Energy is needed throughout the whole production chain; expensive energy simply means expensive products, food, medicines, pure water and services, and it is also likely to keep wages and salaries down.
Affordable and sustainable energy can allow us to maintain a fair standard of living for the whole of mankind, and thus allow us to focus on preserving our natural environment, biodiversity and even world peace. Massive population growth is the main reason for the exorbitant energy demand. The birth rate must be regulated, otherwise it will lead to further degradation of the environment and a worsening of problems in society, foiling all our other efforts.
Identifying sustainable energy sources seems to be the main problem. The 'right choice' is always easy to identify with hindsight, but it is possible to make more rational choices in advance too. For example, today we can easily say that companies investing ten years ago in cathode ray tube TVs or photographic film misdirected their investment in mature and obsolete technology. The wise companies identified the tremendous development potential of new LCD television monitors and digital photo sensors, and today they are reaping the rewards.
A similar scenario is now evident in the wind and bio-energy sector. Wind turbines and wind farms use technology that is today relatively mature, whereas solar energy still has tremendous development potential. The sun provides more power (1366 MW/km²) per square kilometre than a large nuclear power plant. According to annual net estimates, the density potential of solar energy may be one hundred times greater than that of wind and bio-energy.
Solar energy 300 MW/km2
Wind turbines 3 MW/km2
Bio-energy 2 MW/km2
- Fig. 2: Annual solar power distribution is based on local solar irradiation and cloud coverage over the years 1991 to 1993.
Wind and bio-energy production wastes valuable areas of land and spoils landscapes. The farming of bio-fuels in particular destroys natural carbon sinks and biodiversity, and also pollutes water systems with fertilizers and insecticides. Their real net efficiency may in fact be negative, especially if the entire life cycle and necessary reserve power plants are taken into account.
Solar cells require less land, as they can be placed in sunny deserts or on rooftops, where they will not destroy carbon sinks and pollute the environment. The entire energy demand of Europe could be satisfied with an area of solar cells that is 110 by 110 kilometres in size. Correspondingly, an area of 250 by 250 kilometres could supply energy to the entire world. Wind or bio-energy would require one hundred times more land area.
Sunlight is the primary source of the wind-, bio- and hydropower, which all are secondary energy sources. We do not buy from peddler when we want to get a large amount of goods at low price, but directly from the primary producer. Why not to use this very same idea when looking for economical energy sources?
