A positive vision
16.1 March 2019
“A positive vision”1
“It is one thing to campaign against Climate Change and quite another to paint a compelling and engaging vision of a post-carbon world in such a way as to enthuse others to embark on a journey towards it.”
“Harnessing the power of a positive vision.”1
“The first step to creation of a localised, low-energy abundant future is actually visioning possibility [of] a powered-down future – a positive vision – one which is energy-lean, time-rich, less-stressful, healthier and happier.”1
Immense Helio-dynamophores
16.2 March 2019
Born in 1884 Hugo Gernsback was a child of the nineteenth century – he was also a visionary. In 1911 he wrote a twelve-part serial for his magazine, “Modern Electrics”, entitled “Ralph 124C 41+” in which he presented with a “lively mix of plausible speculation and sheer fantasy” the technological wonders of an America in the year 2660.2 Today he is credited with a vast range of successful predictions including: fluorescent lights, television, radar, space travel – and the generation of power from solar energy.2
“They alighted onto an immense plain on which…were the…Helio-dynamophores, or Sun-power generators. The entire expanse, twenty kilometres square, was covered with glass. Underneath…were photo-electric elements which transformed the solar heat direct into electric energy.”1
“It is easily understood what an enormous power the entire plant could generate. In fact it supplied all the power, light and heat for …New York.”1
This vision of a world powered by sunshine was written over one hundred years ago – but over the intervening decades it has been ignored and forgotten. The industrialised nations remained wedded to their vested interests and the burning of fossil fuels – energy sources that emit CO2 into the atmosphere.3 It is the suns energy trapped by such greenhouse gases that results in Climate Change – but it is perhaps this same energy that could be the solution to the problem?
The Sun is composed predominantly of hydrogen, helium and approximately 1% heavier elements.4 Energy is generated by the fusion of hydrogen atoms into helium in the central core.3 This migrates to the outermost layer , the corona, which has a temperature of around 2,000,000 K. Almost all the energy emitted by the sun is radiated into space.4 Only a tiny proportion of this radiation reaches the earth – estimated to be 1 x 1018kWh per annum3 – but this is still “equivalent to around 10,000 times the worlds energy requirements.”3
Therefore we would need to harness only 0.01% of this energy to provide all mankind’s current total energy needs.3
It has been calculated that if PV modules of only 10% average efficiency were installed on 1% of the earth’s surface – that is some 500,000km2 or 1.3% of the earth’s total desert area – would produce enough electricity to supply all the worlds current energy requirements.5
“PV has the… potential to become one of the world’s leading energy sources.”5
Solar radiation can be converted directly into electricity using photovoltaic (PV) cells and therefore have the potential to provide an energy source that is both sustainable and inexhaustible.5 PV cells make no carbon emissions and therefore do not contribute to Climate Change.6 It’s now common place to see PV modules mounted on the roofs of buildings but large-scale systems, with hundreds of thousands or even millions of solar panels, have also been playing an increasing role the growth of solar generation over recent years.6
Following the 2015 Paris Agreement there has been increasing numbers of solar farms being built as governments strive to contribute to reducing global carbon emissions.7 Some of the biggest in the world today include: the Kamuthi solar farm in Tamil Nadu, India, which comprises 2.5 million individual solar modules covering an area of 10 Km2 and providing a capacity of 648 megawatts (MW).7
Similarly in Qinghai province, China, the impressive Longyangxia Dam Solar Park solar project consists of 4 million solar panels spread over more than 25 km2 giving a capacity of 850MW.7
Obviously there are constraints – large-scale solar projects require large amount of land and can have impacts on existing plant and animal habitats.6 One approach is to locate projects in the desert or on already degraded land. For example some 47 acres of the former New York City Freshkills Landfill on Staten Island – once the largest landfill in the world – has been turned into a 10 MW solar farm.8
Today we are moving towards Hugo Gernsback’s vision of a solar powered world.
It has been asserted that 100% of the worlds energy needs could be met by renewable generation by 2030.9 To achieve this ambitious target we need an international agreement to implement a sustained programme of research and design, financing, production and installation of a PV system of global-scale.
This is no longer “sheer fantasy” – some responsible and farsighted nations are even now building a future powered by…
“immense helio-dynamophores.”5
A clean energy revolution
16.3 March 2019
“The average person uses 59Kwh per day. We don’t all use the same amount of energy. The average European uses almost twice as much per year as the global average, the average American uses nearly four times as much, whilst the average African uses about a fifth. 82% comes from fossil fuels. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to coal, oil and gas…but now we urgently need to stop taking it out of the ground. Emissions from burning fossil fuels is the biggest cause of human induced climate change.”
“At any given time, there is a massive 16,300Kw of solar energy arriving on the Earth’s surface for every person in the world. Solar panels covering less than 0.1% of the total land surface – and area of [367×367 kilometers] could meet today’s energy needs.”
“Photovoltaics are…worth getting excited about.”
“It has the potential to more than meet today’s energy needs.”
“Whilst solar is better in some parts of the world than others the overall abundance of the sun’s energy means that most places should have enough. The availability of other sustainable energy sources such as wind and hydro are a further help for many of the places like the UK.”
“Solar is the world best renewable opportunity by far and has enormous potential. It will need to be rolled out much faster than any transition the world has ever seen. If we could keep the [current] rate of installation up we could meet all todays energy needs in just 30 years.”
