I like that!
Where do I sign up?
Actually, its a good joke but it might not be a joke in a few years time. The 'savior of the world' could well turn out to be solar energy.
Generating electricity from photovoltaic panels isn't new - the first panels were built in the 1950s and they've become widespread over the past few years, powering everything from solar calculators to homes. What is new, however, is the technology behind the panels.
At present, solar panels are built using thin wafers of solar which are contaminated and bonded together in order to create an electron imbalance. When sunlight strikes the panel, the photons from the sunlight are absorbed by the silicon wafers and the imbalance in the wafers produces an electrical current. All very good and exciting, but there are problems with the technology - firstly, they use a lot of silicon and are therefore expensive and secondly, the manufacturing process produces a lot of contaminates and some solar production plants are more environmentally friendly than others.
What is new is that various companies are now working on screen-printed solar panels that use a lot less silicon and are much more environmentally friendly. Until now, these
amorphous panels have not been as efficient as their silicon wafer counterparts, but that is starting to change. The printing process is also becoming more efficient. The results are that the cost of solar panels could drop in price from around the $3/watt they are today to 10-20c per watt in a few years time.
At that point, solar becomes the cheapest way of generating electricity. Of course, it doesn't solve all the problems - such as storing electricity for use when the sun doesn't shine - but once the price has dropped to that sort of level, we could start seeing solar panels fitted on everything - self charging electric cars, mobile phones, laptop computers; solar powered homes that can generate more electricity than they can use. It could make a big difference to the way we view and use electricity.
So back to the cartoon. I've done my bit. Back to the leadership visionary stuff again...