
Chapter 37
Three Steps to a Solar System: From 1%
to 40% and 100%
Harry Lehmann
UBA, Dessau, Germany
Since the advent of humankind, energy supply has had a decisive
influence on its social development, since it sets the social and
economic framework within which people live. In terms of energy
use, human history to date can be roughly divided into three periods:
the age of the hunters and gatherers, the “pre-industrial solar age”,
and the “fossil/nuclear industrial age”. We are currently moving
towards a fourth period: the industrial solar age.
The characteristics of a sustainable society have been outlined
and discussed many times. They include, among