UpDate - Vol. 12, No. 21, Page 4
February 25, 1993
Solar power: Ready and waiting

     Solar power is practical, affordable and waiting to help nations
reduce reliance on carbon dioxide-creating fossil fuels.
     That was the message delivered repeatedly when scientists, business
and government leaders from across the globe gathered at the University
Feb. 16 to tout the progress of solar energy technologies.
     The day-long international symposium, entitled "Balancing Energy, the
Economy and Ecology: The Solar Contribution" was the concept of Karl W.
Boer, professor of physics and engineering, and was organized by the
University's Institute for Energy Conversion, which Boer formerly directed
and founded.
     The prestigious event turned out to be a fitting prelude to the award
ceremony that evening when the University's first Karl W. Boer Solar Energy
Medal of Merit was presented to former President Jimmy Carter for his
contributions to the advancement of renewable fuels. Not only did several
speakers praise the former president for speeding progress in the research
of renewables, but many remained in Newark after the symposium to attend
the award ceremony.
     Adolf Goetzberger, president of the International Solar Energy
Society, opened the conference on a somber note. "We are approaching our
limits of growth," he said. He told participants that if the world
continues its present population and consumption growth, the planet will
become depleted of natural resources and the Earth's environment will be
permanently altered. He said solar energy is the one limitless,
non-polluting power source available today.
     Goetzberger's warning about the environmental costs of continued
reliance on fossil fuels was echoed by Henry W. Kendall, Nobel laureate,
professor of physics at M.I.T. and president of the Union of Concerned
Scientists.
     Kendall told participants the union has just released a paper,
entitled "World Scientists Warning to Humanity." The treatise was signed by
1,600 senior scientists, including more than half the living Nobel
Laureates in the sciences.
     "It calls attention to the cluster of human activities that are
putting great pressure on global systems, what many of us think of as an
assault on the environment, misuse of resources and the absolute need to
control this damage.... What we risk if we do not realize what lies ahead
is leaving subsequent generations-our children and our children's
children-a ravaged and mutilated Earth, and we do not have much time,"
Kendall said.
     Edward Smeloff, chairperson of the board of the Sacramento Municipal
Utility District, (SMUD) said his company has decided to abandon its use of
nuclear power and has made a commitment to replace part of it, 400
megawatts, with renewables. Smeloff said that by the year 2000, SMUD
intends to be generating one-sixth of its electricity with renewable energy
sources.
     Smeloff's message was reinforced by Thomas Nordmann, president of
Swiss Solar Industry Association, and by Dr. Hubert Aulich, CEO of Siemens
Solar GmbH, who said that, except for the United States, developed and
developing nations are increasingly using photovoltaic solar collectors in
their power resources mix. Nordmann showed slides of buildings and even
cable cars powered by photovoltaic collectors in Switzerland. He said that,
by the year 2000, 3 percent of Switzerland's energy will be supplied by
renewables.
     Siemans, which builds power plants around the world, has invested
several hundred million dollars in the research, development and marketing
of photovoltaic power systems. Aulich said Siemans is anticipating a
substantial market in developing nations where populations are diffuse and
lifestyles not dependent upon centralized, large-scale energy plants.
     After discussions of the merits and demerits of photovoltaic
technologies, the symposium ended with a word about politics and the man
who made the symposium possible, Karl Boer.
                                        -Barbara Garrison