14
Introduction
The conventional energy consumption for powering the modern civilization
throughout the world is indeed accelerating the finite level of current fossil fuel
reserve of 36,630 EJ [1, 2]. The global fossil fuel energy consumption was 283 EJ/
year in the year 1980, 347 EJ/year in 1990, 400 EJ/year in 2000, and 511 EJ/year in
2010 and it would be 607 EJ/year in 2020, 702 EJ/year in 2030, 855 EJ/year in
2040, and 988 EJ/year in 2050 [1, 3]. The utilization of fossil fuel globally in the
year 2018 was 2.236 × 10
20
EJ which was responsible for releasing 8.01 × 10
11
tons
of CO 2 into the atmosphere and accounted for acceleration of deadly climate change
rapidly [4–6]. Consequently, adverse environmental impact such as acid precipitation, stratospheric ozone depletion, and massive diurnal temperature fluctuation is
occurring unpredictably throughout the world [3, 7, 8].
Recent study shows that the concentration of atmospheric CO 2 amount is
400 ppm which needs to be lowered to a standard-level grade of 300 ppm CO 2 for
clean breathing and healthy respiratory system for all mammals [9–11]. Another
research revealed that climate change and rising global mean temperature (GMT)
with associated consequences pose a serious threat to natural systems and mankind’s well-being due to the burning of fossil fuel since it releases radioactive CO 2
into the atmosphere in a certain period of time [3, 12].
Unfortunately, the consumption of conventional energy currently is still accelerating rapidly throughout the world; the situation shall remain unchanged until a
renewable source of energy is developed to utilize sustainable energy. Simply it is
an urgent demand to develop sustainable energy technology to mitigate fossil fuel
consumption where the “new source that fulfills the needs of the current without
compromising the ability of future demand of energy to fulfill the complete needs
for the future generations.” Hence, solar energy utilization globally can be an interesting source to fulfill the net energy requirement throughout the world. It is a natural renewable energy source generated by the sun which is created by nuclear fusion
that takes place in the sun [13–15]. Simply fusion occurs when protons of hydrogen
atoms violently collide in the sun’s core and fuse to create a helium atom and the
process, known as a proton-proton (PP) chain reaction, emits an enormous amount
of energy [3, 12]. Since nuclear fusion by the PP chain reaction releases tremendous
amounts of energy in the form of waves and particles, solar energy is constantly
flowing away from the sun to the solar system and part of it reaches earth which is
a tremendous source of clean and renewable energy [5, 16–18]. If a mere 0.001% of
the annual solar energy reaching earth is used, it will satisfy the net energy need for
the entire world which is clean and abundant everywhere. In this study, therefore, a
research has been performed to harvest the total global solar energy reaching earth
in order to mitigate global net energy need which is clean and environmentally
friendly.
2 Solar Energy
Introduction
The conventional energy consumption for powering the modern civilization
throughout the world is indeed accelerating the finite level of current fossil fuel
reserve of 36,630 EJ [1, 2]. The global fossil fuel energy consumption was 283 EJ/
year in the year 1980, 347 EJ/year in 1990, 400 EJ/year in 2000, and 511 EJ/year in
2010 and it would be 607 EJ/year in 2020, 702 EJ/year in 2030, 855 EJ/year in
2040, and 988 EJ/year in 2050 [1, 3]. The utilization of fossil fuel globally in the
year 2018 was 2.236 × 10
20
EJ which was responsible for releasing 8.01 × 10
11
tons
of CO 2 into the atmosphere and accounted for acceleration of deadly climate change
rapidly [4–6]. Consequently, adverse environmental impact such as acid precipitation, stratospheric ozone depletion, and massive diurnal temperature fluctuation is
occurring unpredictably throughout the world [3, 7, 8].
Recent study shows that the concentration of atmospheric CO 2 amount is
400 ppm which needs to be lowered to a standard-level grade of 300 ppm CO 2 for
clean breathing and healthy respiratory system for all mammals [9–11]. Another
research revealed that climate change and rising global mean temperature (GMT)
with associated consequences pose a serious threat to natural systems and mankind’s well-being due to the burning of fossil fuel since it releases radioactive CO 2
into the atmosphere in a certain period of time [3, 12].
Unfortunately, the consumption of conventional energy currently is still accelerating rapidly throughout the world; the situation shall remain unchanged until a
renewable source of energy is developed to utilize sustainable energy. Simply it is
an urgent demand to develop sustainable energy technology to mitigate fossil fuel
consumption where the “new source that fulfills the needs of the current without
compromising the ability of future demand of energy to fulfill the complete needs
for the future generations.” Hence, solar energy utilization globally can be an interesting source to fulfill the net energy requirement throughout the world. It is a natural renewable energy source generated by the sun which is created by nuclear fusion
that takes place in the sun [13–15]. Simply fusion occurs when protons of hydrogen
atoms violently collide in the sun’s core and fuse to create a helium atom and the
process, known as a proton-proton (PP) chain reaction, emits an enormous amount
of energy [3, 12]. Since nuclear fusion by the PP chain reaction releases tremendous
amounts of energy in the form of waves and particles, solar energy is constantly
flowing away from the sun to the solar system and part of it reaches earth which is
a tremendous source of clean and renewable energy [5, 16–18]. If a mere 0.001% of
the annual solar energy reaching earth is used, it will satisfy the net energy need for
the entire world which is clean and abundant everywhere. In this study, therefore, a
research has been performed to harvest the total global solar energy reaching earth
in order to mitigate global net energy need which is clean and environmentally
friendly.
2 Solar Energy