OK - there is a basic misconception here...

All energy that falls upon the earth from the sun - excluding that which is
directly reflected back as visible light - is adsorbed, and causes whatever
it is that adsorbed it to heat up. All objects that are warmer than
absolute zero (-273.15°C) radiate energy as infra-red radiation. The warmer
they are - the more energy in the radiation (and the shorter the
wavelength). An object that is warmer than its environment (say a hot
potato out of the fire) - will radiate infrared radiation (you can feel
that coming from the hot potato) - and this will continue until such times
the potato is the same temperature as its surroundings. At this point, the
radiation the potato emits is the same as that it receives from the rest of
the environment, all of which is radiating too, and it is then in "thermal
equilibrium with its environment" - and we say it has cooled to ambient
temperature.

A piece of white-hot steel - is radiating in the visible region of the
spectrum (very hight radiant energy - loses a lot of heat very fast) - and
as it loses heat through radiation - it gets redder and darker - and the
wavelength of the energy emitted gets longer and longer - and the radiant
energy gets weaker and weaker.

Conversely - any object that is cooler than its environment (a bottle of
coke left out of the fridge) will receive more radiation than it emits -
and will warm up - until it is in equilibrium.

(you will notice that I have left out convection and conduction of heat -
we'll just concentrate on radiation - which operates everywhere - even in a
vacuum).

It's this radiated infrared energy (from the earth's surface) which is
intercepted by CO2, water vapour and synthetic greenhouse gases - and
prevented from radiating back into space (so the earth's temperature rises
to a new higher equilibrium temperature - at which, again, energy in =
energy out. This is the basis of global warming..

The energy collected by solar collectors obeys exactly the same laws - the
collectors heat up and re-radiate energy, the electricity that they make
generates, in the end, heat - which radiates. The captured energy (by a
solar collector) doesn't somehow become entrapped - (except very briefly by
charging batteries - or creating some high energy compounds - in the end -
the energy is released - and ends up as infrared radiation, same a rock.

The only exception to that has been the burning of fossil fuels - where
ancient trapped solar energy is being released - but the amount of thermal
energy we are speaking of is relatively miniscule - compared to daily solar
input. What IS causing the problem is the increase in CO2 released - and
its shielding effect on radiated infrared energy from the earth's surface.

Hope this helps clarify things

Hugh





>Hugh,
>
>It is unfortunate that I do not have an understanding of basic
>physics, nevertheless, you had answered the issue with your reply.
>That we, humans had distorted the natural environment of the earth
>and this is done through energy wastage resulting in an incomplete
>natural transformation of the available energy on earth.
>
>It is not the amount of energy resources that is available but the
>conversion of energy that creates an inbalance environment that
>matters. Energy can be used naturally by the environment or
>unnaturally by human.
>
>In simple term, if we are replacing fossil fuels with solar energy,
>it is estimated that 432.5EJ (energy used from fossil fuels in 2005:
>from
>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_energy_resources_and_consumption)
>is absorbed from the sun's ray on earth, which originally is
>absorbed by the environment.
>
>With increasing energy usage by humans, more energy will be "taken
>out" from the environment causing an inbalance situation and a
>likely "climate change"
>This is similar in concept with the displacement of fossil fuels
>from under the ground into the earth's atmosphere.
>
>To avoid these situation, we should avoid excessive and wasteful
>usage of these resources be it fossil fuels, solar or any other
>alternaives.
>