The Energy Crisis and SPS for the Third World’s Future RASHMI MAYUR1 Introduction Beyond a doubt, this is an age of contradiction : while on the one hand we have an unprecedented explosion of knowledge, more than 60% of the people on Earth remain illiterate; while we have the potential to grow enough food for everyone, 42% of the people in the developing countries go to bed hungry. Around 0.4 to 1 billion people remain undernourished. While we are about to explore the farthest reaches of the outer universe, and while the unlimited energy sources of the sun remain unused, energy shortages in most of the countries of the world cripple their development efforts. Mankind is at a crossroads. Never before has such immense potential for development, and for destruction, been at his command as today. If we succeed in using our vast array of knowledge acquired through our understanding of the laws of nature as well as our technical mastery of the secrets of the universe, we should be able to convert many of mankind’s visions into future realities. Knowledge, like problems, knows no boundaries. For the first time scientific knowledge can be applied globally to human problems. Man’s main concerns since the beginning of history have been security and development by mastering the universe (whatever its size and shape, perceived at a specific moment in time), and in institutional arrangements. Among the many developments during the more than 2 million years of man’s life on Earth, the one which has dramatically altered the course of his future was the Industrial Revolution of 300 years ago, with mankind gaining unprecedented control over the physical universe. At each stage of his advancement, man confronted many complex problems, some of which were resolved, while others became more intricate, posing a challenge for future struggle. None of these difficulties, however, has deferred efforts to pierce through the mysteries of the problems faced in order to move towards a new stage of research. Internationally, a multitude of problems confront mankind today, and the scenario seems rather grim and unpredictable. With 5 billion people in the world, there is still a strangulating population explosion at the rate of 2% a year which, according to several forecasts, will bring the population to 7 billion by the end of the century. Two-thirds of these people, living in more than 100 countries are as removed from the industrialized civilizations of Europe, North America, the C. I. S. and Japan as they were for millennia. There is a threat of a cataclysmic nuclear war which can eliminate all forms of life. There Global Futures Network, 73A Mittal Tower. Nariman Point, Bombay 4(10021, India.
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