ABSTRACT
Never has there been greater concern about where our energy will come from. Increasingly dire warnings about climate change are matched by heightened political tensions over international supplies, and predictions that our current sources are simply running out. Renewable energy seems to be the obvious solution. Indeed, governments around the globe are keen to develop renewable energy sources; notably the USA, where Barack Obama explicitly stated in his Presidential inauguration speech to the American people (and billions around the world) that ‘we will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories’.1 The possibility that increased energy supplies from renewable sources can reduce reliance on fossil fuels, address national energy security issues and meet the needs of rising demand is being recognised the world over.
