12 Renewable Alternative Energy Sources Of The Future
Is alternative or renewable energy truly a great option for our ultimate survival? From making clouds as sun blockers to panels in the moon, here are the most groundbreaking renewable alternative energy sources. Would they really save our future?
12 CO2 Good For The Environment?
We have been hearing for ages that one of the worst things for our planet is CO2. As mentioned, Alexander Graham Bell predicted the dangers of fossil fuel overuse, but the US dep of energy as well as GE are working together to use the carbon dioxide released by power plants for renewable purposes. Using CO2 to store the heat generated by the solar power plants to be delivered to the grid to be use later. Win-win for all!
11 Bugs with Solar Power!!?
Harvesting energy from the sun has been a very impressive way to bring electricity to our homes, solar panels have become more efficient than plants at converting light into energy. But in the animal world there is a bug who is, like plants and solar panels, capable of doing the same! The oriental hornet has a yellow stripe on its abdomen that transforms the sun rays into energy. It’s been observed that the hornets become more active if the sun is out. They are able to use the sun as a power house of energy. The stronger the sun the faster and more active the oriental hornets get.
10 Nuclear Plant & Its Wildlife Sanctuary!
We may think that renewable means green and overall better for the environment. The reality may be other. According to research, the safer form of energy per megawatt of electricity is generated by nuclear plants. Apparently, there are far less accidents and dangers with nuclear energy than with solar and wind powers. In Florida, besides shopping and beaches, one of the main attractions is the manatees, nuclear plants have become home for many manatees who find refuge in the warmer waters during the winter months. Ecologists suggest that if nuclear plants close down, the manatee population will drastically decline since they have been enjoying the warmer waters for generations and not migrating as they used to.
9 The Dark Future!
If you could come from the future and talk to your past self, what would you say? In 1917 the inventor of the phone, metal detector and more Alexander Graham Bell gave his prediction of the future. As if able to see what laid ahead for our planet, He said that “the unchecked burning of fossil fuels would have a sort of greenhouse effect” on the planet. He suggested the use of alternative forms of power such as solar energy. If you could invent a time machine, what year would you visit?
8 Power Plants In The 1900’s, What If...
If you lived in the early 1900s in Egypt, how would you irrigate your crops near the Nile River? The conventional methods would have included water channels for irrigation or animal power to move the water. but how about a solar powered plant? US inventor Frank Shuman created the first practical thermal solar power plant using polished steel to focus the light and transform it into electricity. Him and his team wanted to test it in a sunny area and what better place than Maadi, Egypt! Today, a suburb of Cairo. We all would have heard of its success if not for ww1 breaking. In 1913, the power plant had to be shut down due to conflicts in the area. Maadi became a dangerous place and cheap crude oil became a more attractive energy source...
7 Alternative Energy: Hurts Animals
Solar panels and wind turbines are wonderful so you can have your hot coffee in the morning, but they both have a dark side. The heat coming off the panels facing the sun is so high that it ignites birds flying above them... Wind turbines are just as responsible for the environmental damage. As the turbines rotate, the air pressure around drops to the point that without impact, many birds as well as bats’ lungs overinflate suffocating the animals until they drop to the ground. Although the benefits to humans are great, the environmental impact is devastating. But not all is lost, in 2011 an 89 year old man patented an animal friendly turbine!
6 Unplugged Hawaii
Hawaii is a paradise destination, known for its beaches and whales that have their babies there. But Hawaii is not only a power house of beauty and nature but the first ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) plant is now functioning since 2015. Although it’s really small and still basically seen as a prototype. The small plant can light up to 120 homes for a year by drawing warmer ocean water to generate electricity. as one expert at the university of Hawaii says, its tiny system that by itself it’s not significant but its significance lies in the ability to demonstrate the process! It’s a simple system to understand yet very challenging to implement.
5 What Are You Doing About The Environment?
Recycling and turning your lights of to save electricity may not be enough. Engineers are getting creative saving the planet. Geoengineering studies, how to counteract the effects of climate change by using plants that absorb the co2 and release clean air, like filters, an example being a vertical forest or green rooftops in larger cities, designing machines that take sea water and release it into the atmosphere to create clouds to reduce the warming effects of the sun and lots more. It all sounds wonderful but according to top researchers, the ecosystem is too fragile for us to be playing with it so further research is needed to really be effective at helping our planet.
4 Surprising Uses Of Alternative Energy
Technology has gone so far that there are entire cities being build that will completely rely on renewable energy, with zero carbon, zero waste, basically, fully sustainable! Interestingly this city is in the UAE where crude oil is one of the main sources of economic wealth. Remote areas are not far behind using alternative energy, in Kenia, there are transporting medicine in small fridges via camels traveling the desert. The camels carry the solar panels that keep the refrigerators ready with these mobile clinics. And people use solar panels as hats to charge their phones! In a larger scale, the largest solar powered hospital is not found in UAE, its in Haiti and produces more that 100% of its energy.
3 The Solar Power River
One of the marvels of engineering is the Narmada canal in India. In order to optimize the canals, and prevent evaporation of millions of gallons of water a year, solar panels are installed over the thousands of miles of the Narmada canal network. Not only is water being conserved but the structure of the canal is perfect for the solar panels to be placed on top of.
2 Powering The Moon
Even thought it has been a long time, the opportunities to explore the moon are making it a desirable place to visit. Specially if we run out of space to place our solar panels here on earth. A Japanese company wants to build solar power cells on the moon and send the harnessed energy back to earth from the moon. Thanks to the advances in technology there are many more choices including harvesting sun light in outer space using NASA’S SunTower generator prototypes that fly in space as it harvests the solar rays to be sent to earth. These future space-based solar power generators can revolutionize the way we harness energy and solve the global energy crisis.
1 The Tesla Island
At least once you’ve probably wondered what would I be like to live on a remote island. Bringing food supplies, drinking water, and diesel fuel in by boats to run the generators and really, be at the mercy of the weather. But what would it look like if tesla ran the island? In 2016, tesla acquired Solarcity and to celebrate the combined efforts, In American Samoa the island of Ta’u now runs almost entirely on solar power. No need to wait for fuel to supply the needs of the island. Since its always sunny in Tau, what better place to show what solar power can do?
