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THE CHALLENGES
Solar Energy has extraordinary potential to address three daunting challenges the world faces in the next fifty years:
These three challenges are intimately related: 85% of global energy now comes from fossil fuels, the source of most of the human-derived pollutants and greenhouse gases vented to the atmosphere.
- Finding new sources of energy to meet an energy demand that will be at least twice today's demand;
- Reducing the production of harmful pollutants that threaten human health; and
- Reducing the rate of greenhouse gas emissions that accelerate global warming.
THE POSSIBILITIES
Sunlight is by far the Earth's most abundant energy resource. In just one day and a half, the sun delivers to Earth as much energy as is contained in all the oil that was ever created in geologic time. In one hour, the Sun delivers to Earth as much energy as humans produce in one year using coal, oil, natural gas, biomass, hydropower and nuclear power combined. Beyond its huge capacity, solar energy is benign to the environment and climate; it produces no earth-threatening pollutants or greenhouse gases that accelerate global warming.
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