Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T03:05:45.511Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Coming Energy Crisis and Solar Sources

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2009

John O'M. Bockris
John O'M. Bockris
Affiliation:
Professor of Chemistry and Director, Institute for Solar and Electrochemical Energy Conversion, School of Physical Sciences, The Flinders University of South Australia, Bedford Park, South Australia 5042, Australia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The nature of the present (pseudo) and coming (real) energy crises have been indicated. Recent evidence suggests that pollutive dangers from nuclear fission plants are far greater than had been thought. The resuscitation on a large scale of coal as an energy source would give pollutive dangers, including climatic changes due to excess carbon dioxide.

Solar energy systems, earlier impossibly expensive, are now predicted to have the same capital cost-range as have nuclear reactors. Cheap, high-purity silicon coatings which adsorb at <10–4 cm but do not emit at >10–4 cm, thin-film photovoltaics, thermoelectrics, and photosynthesis, are areas of immediate solar energy research interest.

Roof-top energy collection may be a permanent part of the future, but will not avoid the necessity of large ‘solar farms’ to collect energy for industry and transportation. Storage should be in the form of hydrogen: there are advantages in developing cheap hydrogen as a general and clean fuel, for transportation and other purposes.

Type
Main Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 1 , Issue 4 , Winter 1974 , pp. 241 - 249
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 1974

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bockris, J. O'M. (1971). The hydrogen economy. Environnment, 13, p. 51.Google Scholar
Bockris, J. O'M. (1972 a). Electrochemical future. Pp. 1–23 in The Electrochemistry of Cleaner Environment (Ed. Bockris, J. O'M.). Plenum Press, New York: xiii + 296 pp., illustr.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bockris, J. O'M. (1972 b). The hydrogen economy. Chemical and Engineering News, 30th 10, p. 16.Google ScholarPubMed
Bockris, J. O'M. & Appleby, J. (1972). A hydrogen economy; an ultimate economy. Environment This Month, 1, pp. 29–35.Google Scholar
Bockris, J. O'M. & Fredlein, R. (1973). Workbook of Electrochemistry. Plenum Press, New York: ix + 177 pp., illustr.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bockris, J. O'M. & Srinivasan, S. (1970). Fuel Cells: Their Electrochemistry. McGraw-Hill, New York: xxiii + 659 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
CSIRO (1964). Solar Water Heaters; Principles of Design, Construction and Installation. Division of Mechanical Engineering, Circular No. 2, Melbourne: 16 pp.Google Scholar
Currin, C. G., Ling, R. S., Ralph, E. L., Smith, W. A. & Stirn, R. J. (1972). Feasibility of Low-cost Si Solar Cells. Report of Tyco Laboratories presented at the Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, Silver Spring, Maryland, 2–4 05; 16 pp. (mimeogr.).Google Scholar
Curtis, R. & Hogan, E. (1970). Perils of the Peaceful Atom. Gollancz, London: 148 pp.Google Scholar
Daniels, F. (1964). Direct Use of the Sun's Energy. Yale University Press, New Haven: ix + 374 pp.Google Scholar
Davey, E. J. (1970). Solar Water Heating in Australia. Paper presented at the International Solar Energy Society Conference, Melbourne, 2–6 03: 7 pp. (mimeogr.).Google Scholar
Elliot, M. A. & Turner, N. C. (1972). Assessing the future rate of production of the world's fossil fuels. Amer. Chem. Soc. Symposium on Non-Fossil Fuels, Boston, 21 pp. (mimeogr.)Google Scholar
Golueke, C. G. & Oswald, W. J. (1963), in Solar Energy, 7, p. 86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gregory, D. P., Ng, D. Y. C. & Long, G. M. (1972). The hydrogen economy. Pp. 226–80 in The Electrochemistry of Cleaner Environments (Ed. Bockris, J. O'M.). Plenum Press, New York: xiii + 296 pp., illustr.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manabe, S. (1970), cf. SCEP Reports: Study of Environmental Problems. MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts: xxii + 319 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Manabe, S. (1971), cf. SMIC Reports: Study of Man's Influence on Climate. MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts: xxi + 308 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Marchetti, C. (1973). The hydrogen economy. Chemicai and Engineering Review (Japan), 5, pp. 1–23.Google Scholar
Meinel, A. B. (1973). Solar Energy Conversion Study. University of Arizona, Tucson: Technical Proposal Submitted to N.S.F., pp. 1–14.Google Scholar
Mlavsky, A. I., La Belle, H. E. & Chalmers, B. (1971). Silicon solar cells. Materials Research Bulletin, 6, pp. 571–80; pp. 581–90; pp. 681–90.Google Scholar
Mlavsky, A. I., Chalmers, B. & La Belle, H. E. (1972). Edge-defined, film-fed crystal growth. Journal of Crystal Growth, 13–14, pp. 84–7.Google Scholar
Morse, R. N., Read, W. R. W. & Trayford, R. S. (1970). Solar Still Operation in Australia. Paper presented at the International Solar Energy Society Conference, Melbourne, 2–6, 03: 7 pp. (mimeogr.).Google Scholar
Plass, G. N. (1972). The influence of the combustion of fossil fuels on the climate. Pp. 24–6 in The Electrochemistry of Cleaner Environments (Ed. Bockris, J. O'M.). Plenum Press, New York: xiii + 296 pp., illustr.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sternglass, E. J. (1972). Low-level Radiation. Ballantyne Books, New York: x + 214 pp.Google Scholar
Watson-Munro, C. N. (1972). A new look at solar radiation as an energy source. Search, 4, pp. 100–4.Google Scholar