by
Paul
Benhaim60s has made this increase exponential. Now, fossil fuels are
used on such a vast scale that the planet is failing to cope. The
build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is recognised as a
major cause of the instability in the global climate, placing vast
areas of the world at risk.
The world population has doubled since 1950. By the year
2030, more than 10 billion people will inhabit the earth. There is
little doubt that we can no longer enjoy our present consumption
patterns without putting the future of life on earth at risk. In the
developed West, we currently enjoy the benefits of a
disproportionately large share of the world's energy; yet the whole
planet carries the burden of our emissions. As the global demand
for electricity rises -particularly in China and the rapidly developing
eastern economies -any increase in emissions will have dramatic
consequences for the global eco-system. The world cannot
support our socio-economic activities. The time is ripe for
consideration of alternative models of development. Hemp is a
major part of such alternatives as a raw material. But does
alternative automatically mean green? A fascinating process is
going on. Inside the sun, matter is converted directly into energy
by the process of nuclear fusion, where small amounts of matter
yield an enormous amount of energy. This potential is illustrated
by Einstein's famous law E = mc2, where E is the amount of
energy created, m is the mass of matter destroyed and c is 3 x
108 metres per second - the speed of light. In fact, the sun
generates a massive 3.94 x 1023 kW of power all day, every day.
This radiated energy takes about 8 minutes to cover its 93 million
mile journey to reach us on earth. As it heats up the surface of the
earth, it causes air to move around the planet, creating the global
wind-power resource. Some of this wind energy is concentrated by
the sea, giving us the world's wave power resource.