The spectacular world tour by a purely solar-powered plane has shown what new energy is capable of. Hot on the heels of the electric car comes the electric aeroplane. Even if Solar Impulse, the company behind the plane, has not yet developed a fully market-ready product, it has demonstrated its feasibility.
Humankind faces some very difficult choices - our beautiful planet cannot support 6 billion people without fossil fuel. Fossil energy will become rare and expensive in the not very distant future. In China recently, resurgences in nuclear energy have emerged, as the world’s most populous country consumes more and more energy. A United Kingdom family tests their energy consumption and shows us all how that by making small changes we can have an impact.
For humans, sustainability is the potential for long-term maintenance of wellbeing, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions. Sustainability economics involves ecological economics where social, cultural, and financial aspects are integrated. In this episode we look at how business and industry are tackling the problem to lower carbon, the increasing value of bio-fuels, innovative methods and practices in India and Chile and the role solar energy is playing in China.
