Towards the Green Flames
In the past 1 yr or more I have come across many blogs and news articles on global warming, renewable energy and eco-friendly processes.
I am a frequent visitor to http://earth2tech.com/ and http://www.sciam.com/energy. It is impressive to see so much work going on in building alternate fuels. Other news stories discuss eco-tourism, energy-efficient buildings, waste-management and other concepts which require a ‘hyphen’. Even Goa government has plans for green-tourism.
For once humans have learnt to care for their environment.
Some two years back bio-diesel was seen as a green alternative to fossil fuel. But we have learnt that the process of creating this alternative inturn add substantial amount of CO2, and requires large energy input to grow the crops. One documentary on Net-Geo showed how vast forests were depleted in Indonesia to produce palm-oil to be supplied to Europe and America for bio-diesel production.
Fuel-cell powered cars are not currently viable as the hydrogen required is not freely available and the process of producing hydrogen is mentioned to be highly polluting. Additionally the cost of these vehicles is very high.
Electric vehicles get a thumb-down for their low speeds and battery charging times.
Hybrid vehicles are not really an alternative looking a decade into the future, as one of the engines is a conventional hydrocarbon powered ICE.
An electric engine cannot be said to be 100% pollution free. The electricity could be coming from burning coal. Hydro-electricity is clean but the dams built require thousands of tonnes of cement, and often thousands of hectares of forest and farm land get submerged under the dam water.
Solar power by far appears as the cleanest and safest. Either sunlight is used to generate electricity by solar-cells or solar heat is concentrated [using parabolic-reflectors/mirrors] and used in power stations. The energy conversion ratio in solar-cells still remains low, and there are only 2 major solar power stations in operation.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6616651.stm
Wind power is another clean alternative. But there are social issues with setting up large wind-mills. The following link lists some successful and failed projects.
http://ecoworldly.com/2008/08/20/13-magnificent-renewable-energy-successes-and-failures/
We realise that humans can’t do without constructing buildings, machines, roads; and industrialization. These are essential for sustaining the basic quality of life, leave aside improving it. But these are the activities whose execution is threatening the existence of life itself.
I would base my writing on known facts and common sense [with the order not being important]. Some of the ideas proposed below could be superficial or good ones which could have been written about elsewhere.
The CO2 emitted from industries, which constitutes about 17% of total green house emissions, could be used to produce substances which can be a replacement to cement. Producing cement is highly polluting - makes up 3% of the CO2 emitted from burning of fossil fuels, and an energy consuming process.
Methane is a green house gas. Now imagine a sphere of sponge like material floating in the sky a few hundred meters above the ground. The material will be such that it absorbs few tonnes of methane. This could be extracted as fuel. Same treatment can be given to Nitrous Oxide and CFCs.
The disposed plastics, which are ubiquitous, could be converted to a substance to be used in building roads and in civil constructions.
Human and animal waste should be probed to extract chemicals which could be used in making, say, paints and medicines.
Hydrogen for fuel cell could come from the bacterial decomposition of industrial waste.
The salinity difference between sea water and river water at the conjunction could be exploited to generate electric current. Similar with the salinity difference at different depths in the sea. I learnt in high school that electrons flow whenever there is a difference in potential.
The aluminium panels covering facades of building absorb heat during day. This heat could be used to generate electric current through thermoelectric effect. Alternatively the heat could be used directly to heat water for domestic use. This will also reduce the heating of the building resulting in decrease in cooling needs.
High speed trains which can cover upto 300 kms/hr could be put into service to reduce dependencies on airplanes for long distance travel [Anyone saying a ‘no’ to a 3 hrs Bangalore-Mumbai train trip?]. Trains are far less polluting than airplanes, and consume less fuel per-passenger per-mile.
http://www.seat61.com/CO2flights.htm
A flat device at deep sea bottom could convert the potential energy due to the weight of the water into some usable form. Imagine the vastness of the seas; this could be an inexhaustible energy source.
The waves and tides which are everlasting and continuous could be used to drive turbines.
The earth’s magnetic force could be used to do useful work or the heat beneath the earth’s crust could be unleashed for generating electricity. Tornados, and the cyclones which hit the east-cost of India every year could be harnesses for energy, possibly reducing their destructive tendency.
As we understand the green-energies won’t be here to replace the convention fossil fuels ones until a decade or two. Some countries have declared to obtain 20% of their energy from renewable sources by 2020 [UK is said to be seriously lagging behind on this resolution ready].
The times ahead may be long and difficult but promise a greener, cleaner future.
I am a frequent visitor to http://earth2tech.com/ and http://www.sciam.com/energy. It is impressive to see so much work going on in building alternate fuels. Other news stories discuss eco-tourism, energy-efficient buildings, waste-management and other concepts which require a ‘hyphen’. Even Goa government has plans for green-tourism.
For once humans have learnt to care for their environment.
Some two years back bio-diesel was seen as a green alternative to fossil fuel. But we have learnt that the process of creating this alternative inturn add substantial amount of CO2, and requires large energy input to grow the crops. One documentary on Net-Geo showed how vast forests were depleted in Indonesia to produce palm-oil to be supplied to Europe and America for bio-diesel production.
Fuel-cell powered cars are not currently viable as the hydrogen required is not freely available and the process of producing hydrogen is mentioned to be highly polluting. Additionally the cost of these vehicles is very high.
Electric vehicles get a thumb-down for their low speeds and battery charging times.
Hybrid vehicles are not really an alternative looking a decade into the future, as one of the engines is a conventional hydrocarbon powered ICE.
An electric engine cannot be said to be 100% pollution free. The electricity could be coming from burning coal. Hydro-electricity is clean but the dams built require thousands of tonnes of cement, and often thousands of hectares of forest and farm land get submerged under the dam water.
Solar power by far appears as the cleanest and safest. Either sunlight is used to generate electricity by solar-cells or solar heat is concentrated [using parabolic-reflectors/mirrors] and used in power stations. The energy conversion ratio in solar-cells still remains low, and there are only 2 major solar power stations in operation.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6616651.stm
Wind power is another clean alternative. But there are social issues with setting up large wind-mills. The following link lists some successful and failed projects.
http://ecoworldly.com/2008/08/20/13-magnificent-renewable-energy-successes-and-failures/
We realise that humans can’t do without constructing buildings, machines, roads; and industrialization. These are essential for sustaining the basic quality of life, leave aside improving it. But these are the activities whose execution is threatening the existence of life itself.
I would base my writing on known facts and common sense [with the order not being important]. Some of the ideas proposed below could be superficial or good ones which could have been written about elsewhere.
The CO2 emitted from industries, which constitutes about 17% of total green house emissions, could be used to produce substances which can be a replacement to cement. Producing cement is highly polluting - makes up 3% of the CO2 emitted from burning of fossil fuels, and an energy consuming process.
Methane is a green house gas. Now imagine a sphere of sponge like material floating in the sky a few hundred meters above the ground. The material will be such that it absorbs few tonnes of methane. This could be extracted as fuel. Same treatment can be given to Nitrous Oxide and CFCs.
The disposed plastics, which are ubiquitous, could be converted to a substance to be used in building roads and in civil constructions.
Human and animal waste should be probed to extract chemicals which could be used in making, say, paints and medicines.
Hydrogen for fuel cell could come from the bacterial decomposition of industrial waste.
The salinity difference between sea water and river water at the conjunction could be exploited to generate electric current. Similar with the salinity difference at different depths in the sea. I learnt in high school that electrons flow whenever there is a difference in potential.
The aluminium panels covering facades of building absorb heat during day. This heat could be used to generate electric current through thermoelectric effect. Alternatively the heat could be used directly to heat water for domestic use. This will also reduce the heating of the building resulting in decrease in cooling needs.
High speed trains which can cover upto 300 kms/hr could be put into service to reduce dependencies on airplanes for long distance travel [Anyone saying a ‘no’ to a 3 hrs Bangalore-Mumbai train trip?]. Trains are far less polluting than airplanes, and consume less fuel per-passenger per-mile.
http://www.seat61.com/CO2flights.htm
A flat device at deep sea bottom could convert the potential energy due to the weight of the water into some usable form. Imagine the vastness of the seas; this could be an inexhaustible energy source.
The waves and tides which are everlasting and continuous could be used to drive turbines.
The earth’s magnetic force could be used to do useful work or the heat beneath the earth’s crust could be unleashed for generating electricity. Tornados, and the cyclones which hit the east-cost of India every year could be harnesses for energy, possibly reducing their destructive tendency.
As we understand the green-energies won’t be here to replace the convention fossil fuels ones until a decade or two. Some countries have declared to obtain 20% of their energy from renewable sources by 2020 [UK is said to be seriously lagging behind on this resolution ready].
The times ahead may be long and difficult but promise a greener, cleaner future.
posted by Unknown at
5:16 AM
8 Comments:
nice blog dude..i really agree with u.. even my next post s comin up on the global warming itself..
...cheers
Some really good ideas, Good one !
Sagar, great but best of the ideas are still to come...and it is easy to give idea than to implement it, feasibility takes time...any ways...atleast u have done ur part,let other do there's...nice thoughts man.....
Wah, sagar saab. This is very good article. The ideas are good. Hopefully they implement soon and give us a clean environment.
Pardon me for disagreeing with you, but there are a lot of problems with the promise of a greener and better future:
1)Wind power are bird butchers, on a really large scale
2)Solar power is really inefficient, and no one got anywhere with it. If you needed to generate enough electricity for Bangalore using Solar energy you would probably have to cover half of Maharashtra with panels, though they would prefer to cover Karnatake first
3)Electric cars have the same problem, you still need to generate enough electricity to power all those vehicles, in effect you are pushing pollution out of cities, not really reducing it.
4)Nuclear, we dont know how to get rid of the waste
Our energy needs are tripling every year, and even if all the above technologies are implemented on a large scale, it would still not be enough. A completely new energy source has to be discovered, to solve our current energy crisis
Thoughtful post Sagar. Its really good that you have given different dimensions to the clean energy. I want to mention one hidden factor which evolved from the inception of clean energy; that is is in the angle of business. Till oil becomes extinct, the vehicle manufacturers won't come up with / unveil their clean energy models. Every new thing will be handled in terms of business instead of humanity. So, there should also be an awareness drive among people on necessity of clean energy.
sagar u r ideas are good but we also need to analyze them . every idea has some advantages and disadvantages.
i would not like to discuss each idea specifically but some of u r ideas has harmful effects effects on nature. the idea u have given to produce electricity is good but it will not satisfy the need of todays home. but we need to look for more alternatives which i agree.
but overall u have bought many issues and i was happy to read them and which also made to think
thanks
Its nice one sagar. I am happy to see u touching diidferent subjects one after another.
Now about ur subject...Its a fact and time to reconsider whether really we (all human beings on earth) are progressing with technology or going away from natural beauty of life. Everywhere we are spoiling mother earth with very high speed.
Earlier we were having limited resources with us and we were still happy. Our vedas say that whenever we take the flowers or leaves from the tree, we should first pray to that tree and apologise for hurting the tree. But since it is for good cause (puja or medicine)we were taking it. We were that consious about nature that time. But now it is beyond control.
Only one thing we can do is try to protect nature from our own activities. Forget what other should do or govt should do. This every individual becomes society and all these societies make a nation and earth.
From govt side, they lack in the willpower to protect the nature. Their vision is for five years only. Even if govt ban all plastic bags and ghutka from this country, we wil definitely save our motherland to large extent.
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