Mankind faces breath-taking challenges. A growing population with increasing material demands is to manage on a globe already under heavy environmental pressure. Environmental Systems Analysis is a subject which seeks solutions to these problems from the point of view of technical supply systems. We look for technical solutions which are more sustainable than those we have today and for ways of changing these technical systems so that they can better meet the limitations set by the availability of natural resources and environmental degradation.

Patiently impatient – Belief in the potential of the sun

Each year, the Earth is reached by 10,000 times more solar energy than the total global consumption of coal, oil and natural gas. At the same time, solar cells – which have been developed since the 1950s – are now so efficient and cheap that they could more than satisfy the world's entire energy requirements. There is no doubt that the sun represents the future," states Björn Sandén, Professor of Environmental System Analysis.

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