Energy in one form or the other is the sole originator and sustainer of all forms of life on earth. Its understanding could lead to a positive attitude and unravel the ways of happier living.

Energy is synonymous with life. Energy creates life and life stores energy. The stored energy has been at the heart of all conflicts as well as trade in the world. Life starts, sustains and ends due to and because of energy.
For us, the mortals on earth, the very source of the origin of energy is the sun. Earth is the only known planet that thrives life as we know it. It is a unique mix of circumstances of the earth being at a uniquely optimal distance from the sun: the incline of its axis that creates the seasons; the miraculous composition of its atmosphere that blocks harmful rays and thermally insulates it so precisely from the cold sink of the inner space; produces the life sustaining cycle of precipitation that is central to living cycle; the plants that become the energy storehouses that life of all kind feeds and lives on. It is the uniquely fine temperature balance that is very ideally suited to sustain the unique form of life.
The planet earth is known to be over 4.5 billion years old. For most of that age it continued to undergo formative upheavals that eventually settled down at a very fine and precarious balance of climatic environment that would give rise to life and then sustain it to this day. Although the terrestrial life is presently at a transient crossroads due to rising global temperature resulting from man-made greenhouse gases’ accumulation in the atmosphere, human ingenuity will help overcome the challenge. Very coincidentally, the life started in the form we know it only when the global temperature rose some half a billion years ago.

Man has developed the ability of extracting these sources of energy – normally termed as fossil fuels – and putting them to use to in the service of human lifestyle. The Industrial Age was made possible and sustained to-date by the increasing exploitation of fossil fuels.

The unique source of energy that sustains all forms of life-chain in the solar system is the sun. The sun radiates energy in the real time and the principal mode of energy storage is the photosynthesis provided by plants of all kind. There is a beautiful chain of energy storage in plants till it becomes food for biological life. The grass receives real time energy from the sun, which by itself is not enough in real time to sustain life. It needs to be stored for the next chain. When the grass stores photosynthesis energy over a few weeks, it grows a few centimeters and there comes the sheep to graze over it. The grazing transfers the energy stored by the grass to the sheep, which after months of grazing stores the grass-stored energy by growing its flesh tissues. As the sheep stores enough energy in its mass, it becomes a source that sustains man’s life by satisfying his gut needs. This brings us to the end of stored energy chain as man fortunately is not a cannibal of its own kind. Similarly, when the grass stores more energy it produces its seeds that humans crop as cereals that feed the appetite of people, their cattle and pets. Cereals can have a very long life that ensures human survival through droughts and other calamitous circumstances.

We could customise those forms of agrarian life and practices that lead to more efficient conversion and storage of energy for greater prosperity of the mankind. The ingenuity to increase the supply of water would be the prime need of the day. With an increased supply of water and warmer temperatures, humanity will have set the stage for a new era of plenty. Together with technological advances, improved health and longevity, faster travel and worldwide coverage of IT, the likely food abundance could create an era of plenty bordering on the edge of sovereignty of abundance by the advent of 2100.

In the terrestrial life, some of the solar energy stored in plants and algae is transformed by temperature and pressure of overburden and transforms into coal, oil and gas. Man has developed the ability of extracting these sources of energy – normally termed as fossil fuels – and putting them to use to in the service of human lifestyle. The Industrial Age was made possible and sustained to-date by the increasing exploitation of the fossil fuels.
At each stage of the energy chain, some energy is returned to the earth in the form of excreta that soils up the grass and remains of biological life. Nature has synchronised the endless chain with a unique perfection. Any perturbation within the cosmic system is evened out but a major upheaval could make life we know difficult to survive or sustain. Take for example the hitting of the earth by an asteroid some 65 million years ago at what the geologists call Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary – formerly known as the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary – that nearly wiped out the life on earth and some of the spectacular species like dinosaurs vanished from the planet. It is interesting that the scientists have now made plans and preparations to divert any imminently colliding asteroid away from the earth’s course.
The successive stages of energy maturation relate with the energy storage accumulation. For example, the crop of maize matures earlier than wheat and wheat has greater stored food energy compared to maize. Similarly sugarcane stores more energy than wheat for longer time photosynthesis. The very secret of agronomy is the storage of solar energy through the length of exposure to the sun and the efficiency of the conversion mechanism of the specie.
Human beings are the most successful living specie on earth. They continue to grow in number, intelligence and brainpower. It successfully overcomes natural vagaries that threaten the specie. But some unprecedented challenges have now emerged as a result of overindulgence of the stored energy chain which is causing the increasing global warming. Global warming in the historical context is what had given the biological life a head-start in the first place. The present global warming offers both an existential challenge as well as a promise of greater solar-incidental-energy to stimulate the chain of life. We could customise those forms of agrarian life and practices that lead to more efficient conversion and storage of energy for greater prosperity of the mankind. The ingenuity to increase the supply of water would be the prime need of the day. With an increased supply of water and warmer temperatures, humanity will have set the stage for a new era of plenty. Together with technological advances, improved health and longevity, faster travel and worldwide coverage of IT, the likely food abundance could create an era of plenty bordering on the edge of sovereignty of abundance by the advent of 2100.
In the energy taxonomy, it is very reassuring that the starting point of the energy chain is not likely to run out any time soon. The sun is expected to continue to supply energy for tens of billions of years. Any individual, community or nation that clearly identifies and exploits the new energy construct during a higher temperature spell will have better chances of surviving and thriving. It is reasonable to conjecture that the ongoing technological leaps will also help the humanity to turn the tide of global warming well before the turn of the next century which I predict to be the start of the era of plenty for all.
The greatest marvel is how life flows in real time from the shining and warming rays of the sun. There may be a cruel disconnect there: sun rays are almost eternal but the life is woefully short! The real bounty is the constant blossoming of new life to keep the living vigor at its peak! See how empty stems of a dormant cherry tree burst into exuberant blossoms in the early spring. Nature has decided to give life the bounty of rejuvenation over the longevity of form. Given a choice to me personally I will without doubt go for the excitement of changing reality than the certitude of an eternal perpetuity.

The writer holds a PhD degree from Stanford University, California USA. He is a former Federal Secretary and has been the CEO/Chairman of OGDCL and Chairman NEPRA.
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