Book review: The Burning Answer, by Keith Barnham
Keith Barnham cuts through the fossil-fuel and nuclear lobbyists' negative propaganda with a clear and original vision for solar power in The Burning Answer.
by Keith Barnham
Weidenfeld & Nicolson
4 stars
Peter Forbes
Keith Barnham cuts through the fossil-fuel and nuclear lobbyists' negative propaganda with a clear and original vision for solar power in The Burning Answer.
He begins with Albert Einstein's two great equations from 1905 and traces the consequences that have led to our present impasse. You already know one of them, but the other, simpler equation, describing the interconvertibility of light and electricity (the photoelectric effect), is the equation that led to the silicon solar cell. Barnham argues that E=mc² is Bad and E=hf is Good.
The first the world knew of the photoelectric effect was the photocell-operated automatic door, patented in 1959; silicon solar cells first powered a calculator in 1978.
Barnham finds it hugely significant that the US and Britain, the nations that principally developed nuclear technology, lag behind the world in renewable solar energy, whereas the leaders in the field are the three defeated nations of the second world war: Germany, Japan and Italy - all barred from developing nuclear weapons.
Barnham is a leading researcher and developer of silicon solar cells and, for a while, his team held the world record for the most efficient version of this rapidly improving technology. He has worked to commercialise his discoveries, but has come up against the chronic failure of British industry and finance to nurture such innovative technology.