Chemistry,Population, Resources

Abstract

Chemistry plays a dominant role in the development of modern human societies over the entire globe. Improving the health and nutrition of people has led to a rapid growth in population, especially among the developing nation. Increase in energy supplies has not matched population growth and, arguably, our total stock of accumulated energy capital is diminishing rapidly. The use of coal or nuclear fuels, instead of oil would present their own set of problems. There is however, the possibility of using sunshine directly, and thus living on our annual income of energy from the Sun. It would be possible, argue the following article, to grow hydrocarbon-producing plants in arid or semi-arid regions of the Earth where they would not compete with food production, and produce hydrocarbons at the order of $20.00 a barrel compared with the current crude oil price of $14.00 a barrel.