Solar energy saves the earth?

It is important to accept the obvious global warming, although credit should really go to the enormous storms and other damage with the resultant loss of life from recent disasters.

Governments' problems in accepting responsibility looks like the key. The more capitalist regimes demand the right to feed the greed of multinational and local business, they are unlikely to give in to mild requests from organisations that don't pay them. Power politics is the only answer and real people themselves are responsible for this. Solar power is being advocated next as a major player in solving the renewable energy lobbies' perennial problem of getting into the marketplace.

With up to 25% increase in uses of solar PV panels before 2020 and wind energy currently increasing by only 5%. The time is running out for fossil fuel use and solar could eventually supply every energy need.

One of the numerous experts on such things, from the Stockholm Resilience Centre, is Johan Rockstrom. He quotes: "The window is shutting very rapidly on the 2 degrees target," hinting that 3 or even 4 degree target may have to be adopted. The consequences, give recent storms, is misery and death for so many people that the power politics become super-hurricane politics. Food supplies, water and sea-levels are simply the tip of the iceberg of natural disasters prescribed, if these targets were to be allowed.

These are the reasons why the UN are coming out with yet another report on why we have to quickly adopt new ideas. We simply have to move on from the use of 17% of renewable or "clean" (but very, very expensive) carbon fuels to 100%. The projected maximum for 2050 would be 68%, at its maximum. There is simply no solution to that shortfall of at least 32%- and that alone could kill off hopes of preventing further global warming.

Every continent and country is now affected by warming, with their economies suffering badly already from loss of food and water supplies. Paris reports on how to combat the climate change, but every report is against a background of governmental ineptitude and failure to respond.

We had annual totals of 49 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases in 2010 (a rise of 11 billion in only one decade) with the vain prediction of maintaining emissions to that level until 2030. Fossil fuel investment would have to drop by $30 billion with a concomitant increase in renewable energy investments by $147 billion. That leaves some of the decision making in the hands of financial institutions, so there is a need to be careful when you invest your money! Near-impossible!

This is the third and last climate change report by the UN. Opinion polls show people still hanging onto old beliefs, indicating education is essential, not only in poorer countries, but also in the 2 big polluters: the US and China.

The UN indications are that the PV cell in solar panels will be the only possible saviour, although it is hard to believe that wind power and the rapidly-developing tidal and wave systems won't change in impact as yet more technological advances help us out. New PV systems already use low light and employ east or west facing arrays, with amazing contrasts between their multi-crystal, though silicon-based cells.