Fig. 3. Projection of the electricity demand of Western Europe. year 2000 and none is expected to reduce the gap between European energy production and demand significantly in the long term. The new sources currently being considered are - direct terrestrial solar-energy conversion - wind energy - biomass - geothermal energy - wave and tidal energy. The estimated contribution from terrestrial solar energy (about 300 TWh) looks quite conservative, but it is probably realistic in view of the operational constraints on the use of such power plants in Europe. Terrestrial solar electricity generation is expected to find wider application only in those areas outside Europe where insolation is high and extensive power grids do not already exist. At present, the only large scale energy options being actively investigated in Europe as alternatives or supplements to fossil fuels are fast-breeder and thermonuclear-fusion reactors. Bearing in mind that it is still uncertain whether either of these two options will be able to supply a large fraction of Europe’s future energy needs, there appears to be a strong need to investigate any further additional energy source which potentially offers the possibility of significantly increasing Europe’s indigenous energy supply. It is difficult to understand, therefore, why the
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