A Burning Man 295
Roman Empire during the Siege of Syracuse. No proof of
the weapon exists today, but the Greek navy recreated the
experiment in 1973. From a distance of 164 feet [50 m] they
managed to set fire to a wooden boat.^422
In the 19th century, the industrial world was dependent
on mainly coal as a power source. As coal is a finite
resource, scientists and engineers became concerned that
the industrial world was running out of coal. The French
mathematician, August Mouchet, attacked the problem by
designing solar-powered steam engines.^422 “The time will
arrive when the industry of Europe will cease to find
those natural resources, so necessary for it,” Mouchet said.
“Petroleum springs and coal mines are not inexhaustible
but are rapidly diminishing in many places. Will man, then,
return to the power of water and wind? Or will he emigrate
where the most powerful source of heat sends its rays to all?
History will show what will come.”^423
A 19 year old Alexandre-Edmond Becquerel showed in
1839 how to convert light from the Sun to electricity – the
photovoltaic effect. But as more oil was found and the solar
technology was still expensive and inefficient, the world
continued to be dependent on fossil fuels.^422
According to Elon, solar power will in the future be a
major part of the technologies used to produce the world’s
energy. The rest of the energy will come from a combina-
tion of nuclear, wind, hydroelectric, and geothermal power.
“I think that solar power will be the single biggest source of
electricity, at least in the US,” Elon said. “If you look at the
growth rate of solar then we will have power as long as the