The potential of bamboo as an interceptor and converter of solar energy into essential goods and services: focus on Ethiopia

SUMMARY

The sun is the ultimate energy source of the Earth. This energy is a resource if utilised, a menace if not. Plants collect and transform radiant energy to chemical energy through photosynthesis. Part of the converted energy is used for their maintenance, while the remainder is stored as biomass. The living biomass plays a vital role in ecological processes and relationships, and provides essential services: soil and water conservation, a buffer against the adverse effects of rain, wind and sun, aesthetics, recreation, and environmental cleaning. Harvested biomass provides safe energy and materials for production of valuable products through industrial processes and household-based technologies. In the absence of vegetation, solar radiation dries soil moisture and disrupts natural processes essential for healthy ecosystem sustenance. Light-use efficiency of plants is positively correlated with rate of growth and bamboos are among the fastest growing perennial plants. This paper is not a thorough review of radiation or bamboo. The following issues are highlighted: (1) The flow of sunlight to the Earth and its usefulness as a resource if used properly and its tendency to become a nuisance if not. (2) The virtues of bamboos as light interceptors and providers of goods and services, better than many tree species. (3) The endowment of Ethiopia with large natural bamboo resources, the availability of denuded land for expansion, and the urgency for proper management, expansion and utilisation for faster socio-economic development and environmental improvement.