It's an astonishing fact that capturing all the energy in just one hour's worth of sunlight would enable us to meet the planet's food and energy needs for an entire year. Project Sunshine tells the story of how scientists are working to reconnect us to the 'solar economy', harnessing the power of the sun to provide sustainable food and energy for a global population of 9 billion people: an achievement that would end our dependence on 'fossilised sunshine' in the form of coal, oil and gas and remake our connection with the soil that grows our food.
Steve McKevitt and Tony Ryan describe the human race's complex relationship with the sun and take us back through history to see how our world became the place it is today – chemically, geologically, ecologically, climatically and economically – before moving on to the cutting-edge science and technology that will enable us to live happily in a sustainable future.
Like no other book, Project Sunshine gives a true picture of how we are going to live – and going to have to live – in the surprisingly near future.
Steve McKevitt is an expert in communications and consumerism. Over a 25-year career his clients have included Nike, Coca-Cola, Deutsche Bank, Sony PlayStation, Harvey Nichols, Motorola, Universal, Virgin, BT and Atari. Steve is chairman of Golden, an ideas agency with clients in the UK, Europe and the USA, and also works as an advisor to national and regional UK government on employment, skills, business innovation and international trade.
Professor Tony Ryan OBE is a polymer chemist at the University of Sheffield. He delivered the 2002 Royal Institution Christmas Lectures and regularly appears on Radio 4's Infinite Monkey Cage with Brian Cox and Robin Ince, and has been on In Our Time with Melvyn Bragg.