The Burning Answer: A User's Guide to the Solar Revolution

Keith Barnham

ISBN 10: 0297869639 / ISBN 13: 9780297869634

Published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2014

About this Item

, . Author: Professor Keith BarnhamFormat: HardbackNumber of Pages: 400A user's guide to the solar revolution - and why we must all get on board, before it is too late. We are a cusp civilisation. In just over three generations, we have consumed approximately half the useful oil which took photosynthesis around two million years to produce. In approximately two generations we have used around half our useful uranium resources. We are faced with an urgent choice, the roots of which, Keith Barnham explains, lies in 1905 with the discovery of Einstein's 'other' equation, E = hf. By an extraordinary coincidence, this little-known equation, which began the quantum revolution and could hold the key to our future survival through the generation of electricity from sunlight, was discovered in the same year as E = mc2, the equation that threatens to destroy us. This book will investigate the reasons why scientists exploited the equation E = mc2 for energy generation much faster than E = hf, putting our civilisation on an ever-sharper knife edge. But THE BURNING ANSWER is as much about solutions as problems. Through his groundbreaking research, Keith Barnham offers the controversial promise that, despite our much higher energy demands now than in earlier periods of human evolution, our sun can provide all our primary energy needs again. The sunlight falling on the earth in one hour is more than enough to supply all the energy demands of humankind for one year. This solar technology can save us from the threats of global warming, diminishing oil resources, and nuclear disaster -- provided we don't allow politics to stand in our way.

Seller Inventory # 9780297869634

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Burning Answer: A User's Guide to the Solar Revolution
• Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
• Publication Date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0297869639
• ISBN 13: 9780297869634
• Binding: Hardback
• Book Type: Hardback

About this title

Synopsis

Our civilisation faces a choice. We could be enjoying a sustainable lifestyle but we have chosen not to. In three generations we have consumed half the oil produced by photosynthesis over eight million generations. In two generations we have used half our uranium resources. With threats from global warming, oil depletion and nuclear disaster, we are running out of options. Solar power, as Keith Barnham explains, is the solution.

In THE BURNING ANSWER he uncovers the connections between physics and politics that have resulted in our dependence on a high-carbon lifestyle, which only a solar revolution can now overcome. Einstein's famous equation E=mc2 led to the atomic bomb and the widespread use of nuclear energy; it has delayed a solar revolution in many countries. In a fascinating tour of recent scientific history, Keith Barnham reveals Einstein's other, less famous equation, the equation the world could have relied on.

Einstein's other equation has given us the laptop and mobile phone, and it also provides the basis for solar technology. Some countries have harnessed this for their energy needs, and it is not too late for us to do the same.

In this provocative, inspiring, passionately argued book, Keith Barnham outlines actions that any one and all of us can take to make an impact now and on future generations. THE BURNING ANSWER is a solar manifesto for the new climate-aware generation, and a must-read for climate-change sceptics.

About the Author

Keith Barnham is Emeritus Professor of Physics at Imperial College London. He started his research career in experimental particle physics working in research laboratories at CERN in Geneva and the University of California Berkeley. Mid-career he switched to researching solar energy and invented a solar cell with three times the efficiency of today's roof-top panels. He lives with his wife, the poet Claire Crowther, in Somerset.http://burninganswers.com