The global economy and our way of life are based on the exploitation of fossil fuels, which not only threaten massive environmental and social disruption through global warming but, at present rates of consumption, will run out within decades, causing huge industrial dislocation and economic collapse. Even before then, the conflicts it causes in the Middle East and elsewhere will be frighteningly exacerbated.

The alternative exists: renewable energy from renewable sources - above all, solar. Substituting renewable for fossil resources will take a new industrial revolution to avert the worst of the damage and establish a new international order.

It can be done, and it can be done in time. The Solar Economy, by one of the world's most effective analysts and advocates, lays out the blueprints, showing how the political, economic and technological challenges can be met using indigenous, renewable and universally available resources, and the enormous opportunities and benefits that will flow from doing so.

About the author(s)

Herman Scheer, winner of TIME Magazine's 'Heroes of the Green Century' for his national and international commitment for Renewable Energy. HERMANN SCHEER is a Member of Parliament for the German Government, the Deutscher Bundestag. In addition, he is President of EUROSOLAR, the European Association for Renewable Energies, and General Chairman of the World Council for Renewable Energy. He has been awarded several prizes in recognition of his work and achievements, receiving the Alternative Nobel Prize in 1999, the World Solar Prize in 1998 and the World Prize for BioEnergy in 2000.

Contents

From Fossil Fuels to Solar Power: Transforming the Global Economy * Part I: Captivity or Liberation: Fossil Fuel and Solar Supply Chains Compared * Ensnared by Fossil Supply Chains * Exploiting Solar Resources: The New Political and Economic Freedom * Part II: The Pathological Politics of Fossil Resources * The 21st Century Writing on the Wall: the Political Cost of Fuel and Resource Conflict * The Distorting Effects of Fossil Supply Chains * The Mythology of Fossil Energy * Part III: Throwing Off the Fossil Supply Chains * Energy Beyond the Grid * The Untapped Wealth of Solar Resources * The Profitability of Renewable Energy and Resources * Part IV: Towards a Solar Economy * Exploiting solar energy * Regionalization of the Global Economy Through Solar Resources * The Visible Hand of the Sun: Blueprint for a Solar World * References * Index