The Energy Sources of the Future

 

We have been fortunate enough to be in an interesting point of time. We are in kind of the transition point between the dirty traditional fossil fuels and the tomorrow powered by green sources. This article will cover some of the awesome mind-blowing tech being researched out there. I would upheld my futuristic view point and be bold to dream that these technologies which are mostly, in either a budding stage or in its infancy would have major breakthroughs it the next 20-30 years. 

Space based Solar Power 

Statistics say that every hour the energy entering earth because of the sun is more than the net energy we use in a whole year. One idea of utilising it is to make large solar farms in Space, to capture the high intensity denser solar radiation in an uninterrupted manner. Giant mirrors would be used to reflect huge amount of solar waves into small solar collectors and the then wirelessly beamed to earth as laser beam or microwave. The only reason that such a futuristic idea is not being worked upon is because of its immense high cost. A leap in the solar technology and lowering of the price of space programs would one day make this idea a reality. Recent efforts by billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos have decreased the cost of space exploration drastically and we hope it would further go down some orders of magnitude. Maybe, then we can practically and feasibility create such devices.

Human Powered Devices

Another technology to consider would be converting human power to electric power. Some basic designs like wind-up flashlights have already been in the market. But the scientist are trying to generate power from normal human movements and store them. We are talking about tiny electronics here, but potential when multiplied by the billions of people is significant. And with developers making electronics that consume less and less power, day by day, one day your watch or phone may charge as it rustles around in your pocket or hand or as you fiddle with it. At Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Scientists have even demonstrated a device that uses viruses to user pressure and translate it into electricity. There are passive devices that can be worn, and produces power from body movements. It is true that Human Power won't solve the world's power crisis, but every small step helps.

Tidal Power

Harnessing all the energy in the motion of the ocean could power the world several times over. This is why 100 of companies are trying to figure out how to harness this energy. Because of the focus on wind and solar, the tidal energy has been overshadowed. But now people are starting to realise the importance of tidal energy and investing in it. An example would be the Oyster, a 2.4 megawatt producing hinged flap that attaches to the ocean floor and as it opens and closes , pumps high-pressure wat onshore, where it drives a conventional hydro-electric turbine. So, one of those could power a whole housing development or a couple massive residential towers- roughly 2500 homes. Another example is the terminator wing -shaped turbine made by an engineer of the air force academy. This turbine employs lift instead of drag, allowing it to theoretically farmers 99% of a waves energy, instead of the current design that allows only 50%. of energy conversion. Recently Australia got the world first-ever wave - powered desalination plant that provides the city with enough drinking water for about 5000 residents. 

Hydrogen as fuel

The element hydrogen- by far the most abundant in the universe - is very high in energy, but an engine that burns pure hydrogen produces almost no pollution. Many space shuttles have been powered by Hydrogen fuel by NASA. The only reason that we are not powering the entire world with hydrogen is because it only exists in our planet in combination with other elements like oxygen. The Hydrogen, once separated can be stored in transportable fuel cells and used to power hotspots. These are now being produced at a fairly large scale. Honda is trying to demonstrate their new versatile Hydrogen fuel cell car by plugging it into a model home in Japan and power the house. Such a cell can power a house for a whole week and drive a car over 300 miles. The main problem is the high cost of these vehicles and the lack of H2 power stations to refuel these. But recently the state of California, South Korea and Germany have installed quite a few stations. 

Geothermal Heat from Lava 

The method of converting the heat rising from the depths of the earth's  core into energy- known as geothermal  energy, powers millions of homes around the world, including a major part of the electricity usage of Countries like the Philippines and Iceland. In Ireland, a deep drilling project has discovered the holy grail when it hit a pocket of magma, which had only happened once before in Hawaii. The team pumped water down into the hole, which the scorching magma instantly vaporized to a record setting 842 degrees Fahrenheit. This highly pressurized steam increased the power output of the system by ten folds, a giant leap in energy generating capabilities of geothermal projects. 

Nuclear Wastes 

Nuclear fission power plants have provided power to U.S. for decades and form a major part of the total electricity generated. They use light water tech. to surround the fuel rods with water, which slows the neutrons and allows a sustained nuclear reaction. But, the system is very inefficient. Only about 5-10% of the Uranium atoms in the rod get used up by the time it has to be removed. All that unused, highly radioactive Uranium just gets added to our growing stockpile of Nuclear Waste. But, recently, Scientists have come up with another, more efficient way, called the fast reactor, where the rods are submerged in liquid Sodium instead of Water. This allows 95% of the Uranium to be reused, instead of the an acceptable inefficient 5%. Adopting this method would solve the huge problem of getting rid of the large amount of Nuclear Waste stored. GE Hitachi has already designed a fast reactor called PRISM and is shipping it to power Companies. The obstacle is the high cost of building new reactors as well as the myth that proclaims nuclear reactors to be unsafe. The benefits are huge- It is a proven Technology that emits pretty much no greenhouse gases. The best example is France, which has 75% of electricity needs met by its 60 + Nuclear Power Plants. 

Solar Windows 

With production and installation cost decreasing day by day, and revolution in solar and battery Techs. Solar power is taking off around the world. Europe is best in photovoltaics and is driven by Germany as its leader. On an average sunny day an 2012, Deutschland got as much as 20 Nuclear Power station equivalence at that time. This was enough to power 50% of the country. Spain is generating more that 50% of its power from Renewables. The recent Breakthrough in Quantum Dot solar cell Technologies would allow highly efficient solar panels to double as transparent Windows. When this technology becomes cheap enough to hit the market, every sun-exposed window including those in the cars, could generate solar power. 

Biofuels

The advancement of Biofuels as substitute to gasoline was introduced in 2010 and has been growing ever since. Although, it is not a green source, but it definitely meets the high demand for energy. Moreover, this method itself acts as a carbon sink during its life time, so it definitely better than other fossil fuels. Traditional the areas used to grow biofuels is the same as that which is used to grow food. This results in loss of food producing land. The 3rd generation biofuels solves this problem, Algae. Algae's natural oil content is greater than 50% and can easily be extracted and processed. We can convert the remaining part of the plant into electricity, natural gas and even fertilizers. Algae grows quickly and does not need farmland or freshwater. Alabama, became the world's first algae biofuel system that can also effectively treat human waste water, this actually resulted in a carbon-regale outcome !! The 40,000 a day demonstration plant basically floated giant bags on a boy, pumped waste water into them, added a little algae and let the sunlight do its thing . Before long the algae grew everywhere and cleaned the waste water so good that it could be used for drinking purpose. 

Flying Wind Farms 

We are already getting a lot of energy from wind, but the Buoyant Air Turbine or BAT, that float 1-2000 feet above the ground where winds are strong I no or little birds fly, we can generate much more efficient energy and in a more eco-friendly way. A ringed balloon consisting of a wind turbine in the middle is tethered securely to the ground. It can even handle winds more than a 100 miles per hour and can be fitted with additional wife units to give better internet connection to remote areas. Moreover it can be fit in the back of a truck and transported as per convenience. It uses modern sensors to detect and settle to floaty height for maximum power output. These systems can also be used in offshore wind farms where the obstructions are less and wind speed is more. There will soon be one of the main tower based systems. 

The Nuclear Fusion

Unlike Nuclear fission, Nuclear fusion does not create any deadly nuclear waste because it fuses atoms together instead of breaking them. But Nuclear fusion is easier said than done. This is like putting a sun into a box! The problem is we are not sure of how to make the box. The materials produced are so hot that it can possibly melt down the reactor. But is such a holy grail of seeming-less energy that government and Private companies are spending billions to research this. I T E R  holds one of the most promising future for nuclear tech. Magnetic confinement and Inertial confinement Techniques have served as huge breakthrough and we hope to achieve fusion by 2050. 

Let us hope for the best and believe Humans would find a way to a greener and more efficient future.