1. Renewable energies and the global energy mix until 2100
The above mentioned vision is based on the one hand on the immense abundance of solar radiation, the most sustainable of our planet's renewable energies, and on the other hand on the forecast of the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU) on the global energy mix until 2100. Even if such long-term forecasts are associated with a high degree of uncertainty, the energy transition initiated politically in Germany is supported by society and the economy.
Processes involving light are a key driver of innovation in the development of sustainable solutions for global problems of the 21st century such as energy, water, food, climate and mobility. Sustainable solutions to other global challenges, such as communication in digital networks, the guarantee of data security and worldwide logistics in the exchange of products, as well as coordination in the prevention and control of pandemics, also depend on the degree to which light replaces fossil and nuclear fuels as an energy source and becomes the dominant method for transmitting signals in our networks.
