by John Cowley

Created on: August 29, 2008   Last Updated: September 19, 2008

When answering this question we need to acknowledge that all the common sources of energy currently available to man are derived from the sun. The energy contained in coal, peat and oil was originally derived directly from our sun. Uranium, the major source of nuclear power, was formed from fusion reactions which occurred in other suns within our galaxy. Coal was formed from trees which where buried thousands of years ago and then subjected to pressure and temperature changes occurring below the surface. Peat was formed in ancient bogs under conditions which prevented natural decay from occuring. Oil and natural gas were formed from dead marine plants submerged at great depths under the oceans. Uranium was formed deep within other much larger stars than our sun, where the extreme conditions of temperature and pressure, essential to its transmutation from lighter elements, existed.

Trees, along with all green plants, terrestrial or aquatic, derive their energy from sunlight via the process of photosynthesis. Most of this energy derived from sunlight is converted into chemical energy in the form of complex carbohydrates like cellulose which makes up a substantial part of the body of any green plant. Cellulose, along with other carbon compounds produced as a result of photosynthesis, is then changed into coal, peat or oil by the processes described above.

Stars which are much larger than our own sun tend to become unstable and explode with a brilliance exceeding that of a whole galaxy. Such supernovas are responsible for spreading materials like uranium throughout the galaxy as star dust. These tiny particle of star dust may eventually combine into larger bodies like planets which accounts for the uranium ore we mine to fuel our muclear reactors.

Fossil fuels are not renewable and eventually the human population must learn to exist without them if it is to survive. In the short term it is essential that we make the most efficient use of these natural resources and prolong their availability as long as we possibly can. Conserving our natural resources means developing a direct means of tapping into the same source from which they themselves were derived, solar energy. We must act immediately and with great urgency as it will take time to develop the technology to a level where it will meet the energy needs of our planet.

Although estimates vary, the writer would suggest that we have less than a hundred years in which to make significant changes to our reliance on fossil

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