International Law in the Pursuance of Sun Power as a New Source of Energy
| Published date | 01 April 1977 |
| Author | Maureen Williams |
| DOI | 10.1177/004711787700500502 |
| Date | 01 April 1977 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
24
INTERNATIONAL
LAW
IN
THE
PURSUANCE
OF
SUN
POWER
AS
A
NEW
SOURCE
OF
ENERGY
By
PROFESSOR
DR.
MAUREEN
WILLIAMS
&dquo;In
the
end
a
time
will
come
when
only
machines
can
talk
to
machines
and
we
must
tip-toe
away
and
leave
them
to
it...&dquo;
(Arthur
J.
Clarke,
&dquo;The
Social
Impact
of
Communications
Satellites&dquo;)
I
PRELIMINARY
OBSERVATIONS
AT
a
joint
meeting
between
astronauts
Armstrong
and
Gordon
and
Argentine
scientists
held
at
the
United
States
Embassy
in
Buenos
Aires,
it
was
stated
that
the
knowledge
attained
in
the
field
of
astronautics
since
the
launching
of
the
first
artificial
satel-
lite
was
even
wider
and
deeper
than
that
acquired
by
mankind
from
the
invention
of
the
telescope
to
the
present.’
Over
three
and
a
half
centuries
have
elapsed
since
Newton
and
Galileo.
It
may
be
fair
to
say
that
each
decade,
indeed
each
year,
of
space
activity,
has
brought
in
its
wake
both
a
general
feeling
of
fulfilment
and
a
sense
of
progress
but,
at
the
same
time,
a
demand
for
new
solutions
to
meet
the
legal
issues
arising
therefrom.
The
human
mind
has
orientated
its
antennae
towards
the
year
2000.
This
deadline
appears
quite
close
and
the
expectations
of
statesmen,
technologists,
economists
and
scientists
are
not
optim-
istic
enough
to
allow
the
present
generation
to
boast
of
the
style
in
which
the
future of
our
children
is
being
foreshadowed.2
The
outlook
is,
in
fact,
exceedingly
gloomy:
saturation
of
the
earth
due
to
over-population,
hunger
because
of
lack
of
food,
contamination
of
the
environment,
nuclear
radiation,
decreasing
industrial
productive
capacity
as
a
result
of
the
exhaustion
of
energy
reserves,
and
undue
exploitation
leading
to
the
depletion
of
resources.
’
With
the
solar
revolution,
the
possibility
that
everyone
could
1
"Universo
y
Sociedad"
First
Colloquium
on
the
Progress
in
Space
Exploration
and
its
Consequences
upon
Mankind.
Buenos
Aires,
19-22
Dec.
1966,
p.13.
2
"La
Nacion"
newspaper,
Buenos
Aires,
23
Jan.
1977,
p.12,
under
the
heading
"Ciencia
y
Tecnologia".
25
be
better
off
is
beginning
to
be
glimpsed
and
the
world
is
appar-
ently
moving
ahead
of
the
storm
in
hopes
of
easing
the
impact
of
recessionary
forces.
It
has
been
calculated
that
the
solar
energy
that
falls
upon
the
Arabian
Peninsula
in
one
year
is
greater
than
twice
the
oil
reserves
of
the
entire
globe.
Even
the
wood
with
which
we
stoke
our
fireplaces
is
a
form
of
solar
energy:
like
oil
and
coal,
wood
is
merely
sun
power
captured
in
convenient
packaging.
However,
the
Earth
is
speedily
running
short
of
these
reserves
of
’stored
sunshine’.
At
our
current
pace,
in
the
next
twenty
five
years
alone
we
will
consume
an
amount
equal
to
all
the
energy
used
by
man
in
recorded
history.3
There
are
two
fundamental
aspects
to
be
borne
in
mind
from
the
start.
In
the
first
place,
that
all
matter
is
energy
and
that
matter-as
a
form
of
association-can
be
converted
into
radiation
which
is
a
form
of
dissociation.
This
conversion
of
matter
into
radiation
presupposes
a
technology
which-when
applied
to
a
celestial
body-results
in
a
problem
which
falls
into
the
province
of
space
law.
The
second
aspect
of
concern
to
the
lawyer
is
that
solar
energy-if
it
is
to
be
utilised
in
its
pure
form-should
be
captured
before
passing
through
the
Van
Allen
and
ionic
filter
belts:
that
is
to
say,
in
outer
space.
This
implies
the
application
of
the
law
of
outer
space
’and
celestial
bodies
and
the
use
of
space
technologies.¢
4
The
views
of
Professor
Fuller
5
offer
an
entirely
different
approach
to
the
consideration
of
energy
economy.
The
Chairman
of
the
United
Nations
Committee
on
the
Peace-
ful
Uses
of
Outer
Space,
on -
June
9,
1975
drew
attention
to
the
question
in
the
following
terms:
&dquo; ...
Indeed,
some
of
the
most
important
future
sources
of
energy
may
be
found
in
outer
space-
perhaps
solar
energy
is
an
example ...
As
other
bodies
in
the
United
Nations
have
done
before
us,
we
might
therefore
now
ourselves
begin
to
look
at
our
potential
future
role
in
developing
the
kind
of
international
co-operation
necessary
to
bring
the
benefits
of
new
sources
of
energy
from
outer
space
to
all
nations.&dquo;5
This
is,
undoubtedly,
the
way
opinion
is
moving
at
all
levels.
3
"Solar
Energy,
the
Ultimate
Powerhouse",
National
Geographic
Mag-
azine,
Vol.
149,
No. 3,
March
1976,
p.385.
(John
L.
Wilhelm).
4
"El
sol
ante
el
derecho
internacional",
off-print
of
"Symbolae
Garcia
Arias",
Nos.
33-36
of
"Temis"
magazine,
ed.
Zaragoza
Univ
(Facultad
de
Derecho),
1973-74,
p.328-329.
Paper
submitted
by
Aldo
Armando
Cocca.
5
Buckminster
Fuller,
South
Univ.,
Illinois
in
his
books
"Ideas
and
Integ-
rities"
and
"Utopia
or
Oblivion",
summarised
in
the
"Journal
of
Ekistics",
Vol.
34,
No.
203,
October
1972.
6
Doc.
A/AC.105/PV.144,
pp.
22, 24
and
25.
To continue reading
Request your trial