Portfolio 3 - Solar Power to Rule in 20 Years, Futurists Say

According to futurist and inventor, solar power will be the paramount source of energy in twenty years time for people’s need. Looking at the current situation, we need almost ten thousands times more sunlight to meet the energy needs of all people and technology is improving tremendously in capturing this solar energy annually. This favourable output is based on Kurzweil’s Law of Accelerating Returns. Currently almost ninety nine percent of the energy supplied around the world is from fossil fuels, which can cause rapid depletion of resources. However, engineers are working hard in creating nano-engineered based solar panels to capture solar energy more efficiently. Furthermore, they are also working in achieving the economical state for solar energy to be comparable with fossil fuels. With the aid of information technology advancement, solar energy technologies improve to a great extent due to the ability of precise measurement and linkage with the Law of Accelerating Returns. With reference from Kurzweil, the usage of solar energy by the world will hit hundred percent in twenty years time. Also, apart from information technology, there are other technologies such as solar concentrators to aid in the efficiency of capturing solar energy. The solar concentrators are able to store large amount of energy in a nano-engineered cell, which can later distribute throughout the world with ease for people’s need. Therefore, the challenge of capturing this solar energy is significant to engineers as solar energy will be the long-term supply energy in future.

Live Science, "Solar Power to Rule in 20 Years, Futurists Say," [Online document] 10 February 2008. http://www.livescience.com/environment/080219-kurzweil-solar.html.