A technologically advanced
world
The fast pace of technological development is one of
the most significant characteristics of our time. Today
it takes only a few months to achieve the same number
of important inventions and discoveries that took decades,
if not centuries, in the past. This trend is accelerated
by globalisation, which in turn is accelerated by the
ever-growing use of the Internet. Technological development
helps raise standards of living around the world. Diseases
that afflicted humanity for centuries have been nearly
eradicated, and life expectancy has lengthened in most
countries. But many problems have not been solved yet,
and others are in the offing.
The two common factors that underlie many of the problems
threatening our future are the fast growing population
and the ever increasing consumption of resources driven
by the diffusion of life-styles that have developed
in industrialised societies and are emulated in much
of the world.
Until the discovery of fossil fuels and the beginning
of the industrial revolution, the sun's energy – in
its different forms, direct and indirect (such as wind
and biomass) – was the sole energy source that inspired
and enabled the development of human societies.
Since then, and especially in the past one hundred years
- a relatively short span of time - a powerful energy
infrastructure that now covers practically the entire
planet and is based on fossil fuels and nuclear energy
has been built. Today the world consumes 9 billion toe
per year, compared with around 500 million toe in 1860.
While these energy uses and infrastructure do not yet
benefit billions of poor people who still try to make
do with firewood, they give humanity a power over nature
that earlier generations never knew; they had to survive
with the renewable energy of the sun.
This power helps us live more comfortably than past
generations, but while it meets new needs, it also carries
the risk of irreversibly altering natural balances,
both local and global.
The world’s population has been growing rapidly over
the last century and continues to grow. We were 1.6
billion in 1900; we have now passed the 6 billion mark.
If this trend continues, the human population will rise
to about 9 billion by 2050. The increasingly crowded
world has also become a world of cities. Fifty percent
of the population already live in cities and the figure
is expected to rise to 75% by the year 2050. Dozens
of cities already number more than 10 million people.
Dramatic contrast between wealth and poverty has become
part of any urban landscape, with excessive consumption
among the richer segments and the inability of the poorer
segments, especially in the developing countries, to
meet their most basic needs: decent homes, clean water,
health care, education. If these legitimate and ever-growing
needs are to be met, energy consumption must increase.
What part can solar energy play in this process?
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