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Professor
David Faiman
faiman@bgu.ac.il
Department of Solar Energy and
Environmental Physics, Ben-Gurion National Solar Energy
Center, Jacob Blaustein Institute for Desert Research,
BGU, Sede Boqer Campus, Midreshet Ben-Gurion 84990,
Israel
  David
Faiman
is Professor of Physics and Chairman of the Department
of Solar Energy & Environmental Physics at Ben-Gurion
University's Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert
Research, Sede Boqer where he is also director of
Israel's National Solar Energy Center.
A physicist
by training, he obtained his first degree from the
University of London, and his second and third degrees
from the University of Illinois. During the years
1969-1976 he performed
research in theoretical physics at Oxford University,
CERN and the Weizmann Institute. In 1976, he joined
Ben-Gurion University where he participated in the
establishment of the
Blaustein Institutes, refocusing his research activities
into the field of applied solar energy. He is widely
published and has chaired or been a member of numerous
international committees. At present, he is Israel's
representative to the Task 8 Photovoltaic Specialist
Committee of the International Energy Agency and has
co-authored their latest book:
Energy from the Desert: Very Large Scale
Photovoltaic Systems; Socio-economic, Financial.
Technical and Environmental Aspects (Earthsacn, London,
2009)
Topic:
Future Solar Energy on Earth: Its Relation to Present
Western Energy Production, and a Possible Path for
Evolution
The energy policy of western nations has
evolved from an era in which: (a) energy was abundant;
(b) most of the consumption was in the west; and (c)
different states developed their own energy policies
independently from one another. At present, the world
is at an intermediate stage, in which traditional energy
resources are becoming less available and there are
serious grounds for concern that energy consumption is
producing an adverse affect on the global environment.
There is accordingly widespread agreement on the
desirability
to move to a planetary energy regime
based upon renewable resources. To date, progress in
this direction has been limited by the relatively high
cost of the necessary technologies and, to a certain
extent, by complications involving the need and ability
for states to reach binding long-term agreements with
each other. In order to progress towards a desirable
future, it is important to keep in mind: present
consumption patterns; short-term projections (because
longer-term projections are less reliable); the time
scale on which we must act; present technology options
and their costs; funding possibilities; business
interests and land limitations. Within such a framework
this presentation will indicate the extent to which The
Far East and the Middle East hold many of the keys to a
global solution.
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