In the modern world there are enough problems. Despite the predictions of science fiction writers, people could not defeat hunger, and infectious diseases to this day pose a mortal threat to the life and health of those living on Earth. But the main misfortune is the exhaustion of resources that give our civilization energy. A way out could be a new non-traditional source of energy. What is meant by this concept?
What it is?
Simply put, an unconventional energy source is a method of producing it that is not used on an industrial scale, is experimental, and is only preparing for wider use around the world. But the main distinguishing feature of such methods of generating energy is their complete environmental safety and renewability.
These may include wind farms, solar panels, and tidal power plants. In addition, biogas plants, as well as promising projects of thermonuclear plants (albeit with a big stretch), can be assigned to the same class.
Solar power
This non-traditional source of energy can only be called relatively “non-traditional”. The only reason is that currently the technology of using solar energy on the Earth is not very developed: the atmosphere is polluted, and photocells are still very expensive. Space is another matter. Solar panels are available on all spaceships and regularly provide their equipment with free energy.
It is not necessary to assume that this "non-traditional" source of energy has attracted the attention of people only in our time. The sun is a gratuitous source of heat since ancient times. Even the civilization of Sumer used containers on the roofs of houses in which the water was heated on hot summer days.
In principle, since then the situation has not changed much: they effectively develop this area of energy only in those countries where there are desert and hot areas. So, most of Israel and California in the United States receive energy generated through solar panels. This method has enough advantages: modern photocells are characterized by increased efficiency, so that every year the world will be able to produce an increasing amount of completely clean and safe energy.
Unfortunately, the price of the technology (which we have already talked about) is still high, and the production of batteries uses such toxic elements that it makes no sense to talk about any kind of ecology. The Japanese act a little differently, widely using non-traditional and renewable energy sources in practice.
Japanese experience
Of course, solar panels are more or less intensively used in Japan. But in recent years, they have returned to practice with a thousand-year history: tanks and black pipes are installed on the roofs of houses, the water in which is heated by sunlight. Given the difficult energy situation in this island nation, the cost savings are substantial.
At the moment, analysts believe that by 2025, solar energy will occupy socially significant positions in most countries of the world. In a word, the use of non-traditional energy sources in the next 50-70 years should become widespread.
Biogas
From time immemorial, all large human settlements have faced one common problem - waste. Entire rivers of sewage became even greater when a man tamed cattle and pigs and began to grow it in large quantities.
When there was not so much waste, they could be used to fertilize the fields. But at that moment, when the population of the same pigs began to number in the millions, it was necessary to somehow resolve the issue. The fact is that the feces of this type of animal in its fresh form are simply toxic to plants. To make them useful, you need to withstand slurry, aerate it and partially use drugs to stabilize the pH level. It is very expensive.
Biogas is the oldest trend!
Scientists quickly drew attention to the experience of Ancient China and India, where even before our era, people began to use methane obtained by decaying household waste. Then it was used most often for cooking.
Gas losses were very large, but to simplify homework it was enough. By the way, in these countries such solutions are actively used to this day. Thus, biogas as an unconventional energy source has great prospects, if we approach the issue using modern technologies.
A technology for processing wastewater from livestock enterprises was proposed, which resulted in pure methane output. The problem of its development is that such enterprises can only be created in regions with developed livestock breeding. In addition, the prospects for increasing biogas production are lower, the more antibiotics and detergents are used at agricultural enterprises: even a small amount of them inhibits fermentation, as a result of which all manure is covered with mold.
Wind generators
Remember Don Quixote with his "giants"? The idea of using wind power has long excited the minds of scientists, and therefore very soon they found a way out: windmills began to regularly provide the rapidly growing urban population with first-class flour.
Of course, when the first electric current generators appeared, the same idea again seized the minds of scientists. How not to want to use unlimited wind power to get free current?
This idea was quickly
implemented, and therefore in Japan, Denmark, Ireland and the United States there are now many areas that are supplied with electricity by 80 percent or more by using windmills. In the USA and Israel today there are already more than a dozen companies that develop and install wind generators - this is a very promising non-traditional source of energy. The definition of “unconventional” is not very appropriate here, since wind energy has a long history.
There are also enough problems in their case. Of course, electricity is free, but to install a windmill, again, you need a desert area where most of the year the wind blows. In addition, the cost of manufacturing and installing a powerful generator (with a mast height of several tens of meters) amounts to tens of thousands of dollars. Therefore, not all countries can afford “free” electricity, in which the very possibility of generating current by wind is very real.
Thermonuclear energy
This is the ultimate dream of many modern physicists. Work to curb the thermonuclear reaction began back in the 1950s, but so far the current reactor has not been received. However, the news from these fronts is quite optimistic: scientists suggest that in the next 20-30 years they will still be able to create a working prototype.
By the way, why is this area of science so important? The fact is that the fusion of two atoms of hydrogen or helium produces hundreds of thousands of times more energy than if several thousand uranium nuclei decayed! The reserves of transuranium elements are large, but they are gradually depleted. If hydrogen is used to generate energy, its reserves alone on our planet will last for hundreds of thousands of years.
Imagine a compact reactor that can operate for several decades without refueling, completely supplying a huge alien base with electricity! A thermonuclear non-traditional source of energy is a practical chance for the whole of mankind, which makes it possible to begin a wide exploration of the Cosmos.
Unfortunately, the technology has many shortcomings. Firstly, there is still not a single working prototype, and breakthroughs in this direction have been very, very long. Since then, little has been heard of any real successes.
Secondly, the fusion of light nuclei produces a huge number of light neutrons. Even rough calculations show that the elements of the reactor in just five years will become so radioactive that their materials will begin to collapse, completely degenerating. In a word, this technology is extremely imperfect, and its prospects are still foggy. However, even if even rough estimates are true, then this non-traditional alternative source of energy can certainly become a real salvation for our entire civilization.
Tidal stations
In the myths and traditions of the peoples of the world, you can find a lot of references to those divine forces that govern the tides. A tremendous force inspired man, which could set in motion such masses of water.
Of course, with the development of industry, people again turned their eyes to tidal energy, which made it possible to create power plants that largely repeated the ideas of long-tried and well-proven hydroelectric power stations. Advantages - cheap energy, the complete absence of harmful waste and the need for land flooding, as is the case with hydroelectric power plants. The disadvantage is the high cost of construction.
conclusions
As a result, we can say that non-traditional renewable energy sources can provide humanity with inexpensive and clean electricity by about 70%, but for their mass use it is necessary to reduce the cost of technology.