We live in a world obsessed with green power, which is perhaps hardly surprising when we take into consideration the fact that not only is oil a decreasingly available commodity but much of it lies under the sands of countries which are not particularly friendly towards the West! The United Kingdom has embarked on a very ambitious programme of despoiling the environment with huge windmills which may never produce as much electrical power as the amount consumed to build them, even supposing that they don't rust away long before the break even date; however even this frantic attempt to avoid the so called "inevitable" consequences of global warming cannot mask the fact that the date when the oil runs out is approaching rather quickly! The world needs to find a new power source, and find it quickly.

Much of the wealth of Norway comes from electricity which is generated by the hydroelectric power stations but it has to be admitted that the situation in Norway, with vast quantities of water pouring off the mountains, is entirely different to that in most of the rest of the world. Back in the 1960s nuclear power was looked upon as being the answer to all our prayers but a series of highly publicised near disasters has blackened the whole project in the minds of the voters of most of the advanced countries, and the North Sea oil and gas which has kept the UK economy buoyant for the last few decades is very much in decline. There are of course many other possibilities apart from destroying the landscape with noisy windmills; tidal power, including the possible building of barrages across river estuaries, notably the Severn, have their adherents but the enormous costs and engineering difficulties have meant that most government agencies that of consider the possibilities have quietly postponed decisions in the bravest possible way! I have another suggestion for a way of solving our world energy problems; and it is extremely simple, utilising the simplest element known to man; hydrogen.

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Using technologies like photoelectric cells is possible to transform sunlight directly into electrical power, or it can be focused to heat water and drive steam turbines. The resulting electrical power can then be used in a process called electrolysis, which separates water into its constituents of hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen can be liquefied by compression and cooling and thus transported worldwide; it is highly inflammable and so could be used to drive turbines or in the engines of modified cars, and the only byproduct would be water, rather than the photochemical mix which is produced by oil based fuels. It is a fair comment to say that hotter areas like the deserts of North Africa would be the best places to site the hydrogen generators but even the United Kingdom with it's uncertain climate still receives around 60% that falls on a hot area like the Greek islands, where even the primitive sun panels generate huge quantities of hot water and experts have estimated that if a solar power project was launched in the UK with the full backing of government it could be possible for us to completely eliminate our need for oil within 20 years. There is hope for us yet!