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For thousands of years, the use of biomass has been sufficient to meet people’s vital needs, providing food, heat, fibers (e.g. clothes) and even shelter. Industrialisation was initially based on wood energy, mostly charcoal: however, the damage to forests was so important, both in China and in Western Europe, that

The conversion of solar radiation into calorific, electrical or chemical energy for our purposes is what is known as solar energy. Over time, this energy has become one of the major sources of renewable energy alongside biomass, hydraulic energy and wind energy. The use of solar energy is still quite