FuturEnergia - Energy is our future !

Professor Dharmadasa chats about renewable energy and plastic

On Friday 25 April 2008 Professor Dharmadasa from Sheffield Hallam University in the UK hosted a FuturEnergia chat on the subject of “Energy Technologies of the Future”. Students from schools in Romania, Bulgaria, Poland and Italy chatted to Professor Dharmadasa on subjects ranging from using renewable energy in schools to the history of solar energy and the role of plastics in enabling newer and better renewable energy technologies.

Professor Dharmadasa stressed the need to rapidly introduce clean energy technologies on a global scale and highlighted the role of plastics in making this possible. Plastics are enabling these technologies and making them more affordable, he told the students. Thin film solar cells and organic solar cells will provide a cheaper alternative to the expensive ones.

At the same time, the Professor explained to students the importance of using a mix of renewable energy sources so as not to overly depend on one technology. He pointed out hydro power, solar energy, wind and biomass-based energy as the most efficient renewable energy resources, adding: The use of plastics in general is providing much more CO₂ economy by saving natural resources, such as trees, which are CO₂ absorbers through photosynthesis.

Professor Dharmadasa is Professor of Electronic Materials and Devices at Sheffield Hallam University in the UK. He has won numerous awards and scholarships and was one of the referees for “The World in 2030”, Futurologist Ray Hammond’s visionary look into how the world of the future will develop. Schools participating in the various “Energy is our Future” competitions will receive a DVD containing an electronic version of “The World in 2030” and a film of its launch in Brussels in November 2007.

The final chat of this school year will take place on 16 May 2008 and will be hosted by Koos van Haasteren, Managing Director for Polymers of Sabic Europe and Vice-President of PlasticsEurope. Schools interested in participating should write to Petru Dumitru at futurenergia@eun.org.