ABSTRACT
Introduction Global economic and per capita income growth will lead to increasing world energy needs and emissions of greenhouse gases that, in turn, will accelerate and intensify the consequences of climate change. Research and development of renewable energy technologies are a matter of global concern and interest because deployment of these technologies can ameliorate or break the link between economic development and local, regional, and global environmental damage. Furthermore, renewable energy sources can provide the quantity, form, and quality of energy needed to meet demands for economic growth and can be sustainable if they are based on forms of solar energy that are replenished on a timescale on the order of a human lifespan. If so done, there will be minimal net increase in greenhouse gas emissions and further disruption of the radiative energy balance of the earth’s atmosphere. The use of renewable energy will allow economic development and mitigation of climate change to proceed in synergy rather than in opposition.
