Solar energy the answer to climate change

COMPARED with Copenhagen 2009 and other weather conferences — the recent 2011 UN Climate Change Summit, with representatives from 140 countries, and held in Durban South Africa — craved no more media coverage here than a “falling star”.

Thankfully the suppressive Koyoto Protocol (1997) has expired and the top polluters — United States, China and India have unexpectedly come out in support of the “new roadmap”. Since Koyoto was launched hundreds of millions were spent in an attempt to bully society into becoming blind adherents of an unscientifically proven climate-change culture. This is not the way forward.

By adopting sensible precautionary action — not burning toxic substances like plastics and rubber, ensuring untreated seepage from factories, slurry pits or septic tanks cannot pollute rivers or drinking-water sources — would be a good start. By cutting back on use of fossil fuels and replacing them with wind, marine or solar power where possible —- would also contribute. Familiarising ourselves with these and other environmentally friendly practices would benefit all forms of life, and, into the bargain planet Earth would also be less aggravated.

We need just one globally funded tangible plan that would drastically reduce greenhouse gases right across the world within the next 20 years. Surprisingly, we have the answer — clean, sustainable and viable solar energy.

The sun bombards our planet with 9,000 times more power than is needed to run every car, heat all our homes and energise every machine and gadget on this earth.

All Europe’s needs, according to Prof Anthony Patt of Boston University could be provided by lining 0.3% of the Sahara Desert with modern concentrated solar power technology, costing maybe $50bn.

It is not a colossal expense relative to cost of carbon fuels and oil production. So what are we waiting for?

James Gleeson

Turtulla

Thurles

Co Tipperary