Power everywhere 2.0
We need energy & oil for mobility and our growing numbers of gadgets. The previous post gave an impression of the current energy system powering our society: The energy system is mainly based on fossil fuels coordinated by powerful central companies and governments. It leaves behind unwanted side products like greenhouse gasses or radioactive waste and is in limited supply.
Storage and transportation of energy is also a problem. A lot of it is lost just by transporting it over large powergrids. We also need to constantly generate new energy while adapting it to the needs of the people or else the system collapses. Batteries like in our gadgets as powersources for unregular powerdemand are not practicle on the larger scale.
Hydrogen
Luckily change is nearby because a very well known gas finally becomes save enough to use as an energy storage medium. This new medium is hydrogen (H2). Hydrogen can be generated by running an electric current through water (H2O) so it is seperated in Oxygen (O2) and Hydrogen (H2). Hydrogen can be stored in gaseous form which by burning can be returned to H2O. No carbon (C) atoms are present so no CO2, the main greenhouse gas, is formed. The energy stored in this form makes it usable for transportation, heating and as a fuel for cars.
We can now store and transport energy savely. No longer are we dependent on the limited supply of millions of years old oil.
Sunshine
But hydrogen is only the transport medium. There would be no change if we kept using fossil fuels to generate the energy to store inside the H2. Luckily sustainable sources are developed throughout the years but none had really gone mainstream.
But one powersource is really nearby to retake its central role. It is already responsible for the energy of all life by feeding the plants which are eaten by animals. And over centuries the remains of the plants and animals create oil and gas with pressure below the surface. But can we also use the sun for our own energy needs as it shines everywhere on the planet. In a half hour enough sunlight reaches the earth to power the entire world for a year!!!
In the past we tried with solarcells but they just were not sufficient. It took 20 years of use to get back its value at purchase. But now solar technology evolves very fast. Solarcells can repay their creation costs in a few years and still function for decades of energy. With some recent crossover discoveries from the plasma TV sector they can be more easily massproduced. Calculations show that with modern solar cells placed within a part of the sahara we could power the complete planet.
A whole new solar revolution is near and some say it is going to be bigger than the computer revolution.
Power to the People
At the moment everything is centralized by a few powerful institutions and governments.
With sun everybody with a roof can produce energy and distribute it to all neighbours. But also wind and sea/wave power are rapidly evolving as viable choices for poor sunshine locations. And with hydrogen as a way to store the power we have a whole new system.
No big company that runs with money/value of millions of years of nature, no government is needed to tax energy, no polution is generated, everything is simpler and better.
The power is of the people. The power balance will change.
More reading material (sources)
- Wikipedia EN – hydrogen economy
- Tegenlicht: Here comes the sun (Dutch but with english links on the right)
- Tegenlicht: Waterstofrevolutie (Dutch)
- Apple patent: Solar cells in the screens of gadgets.
Creative Commons photo of Mr Sun and Mini sun by Warm ‘n Fuzzy
Bram Hilgersom Said,
December 23, 2008 @ 12:34
I totally agree with you Jurriaan, we need to switch to other energy sources but we must not follow the way of the big companys again like “we” did with petrol.
Green is a hype right now and everybody wants his share but green on the outside isn’t always green on the inside. Take the toyota prius for instance, that should be a green car with the hybride power plain but producing a prius leaves more toxic gazes than producing a Hummer.
Same story with the hyped Vesla witch carries batteries that are highly toxic and without careful deconstruction will do more harm than a petrol car.
I think the next stap in the car scene will be hydrogen and I think we all will supply our own houses with energy instead of the large power plants. Theres a new Honda on the market in Silicon Valley witch runs on hydrogen and comes with his own hydrogen-generator, that generator can also power your house if you would like to (no dream this is really on the market).
Bright covered a story las year about a french guy that produces cars that run on compressed air, they generate enough energy to supply there own compressor. These cars have a full energy cycle onboard, how great is that!
Anyway good post, keeps us thinking Jurriaan!
Jurriaan Mous Said,
December 23, 2008 @ 16:38
Indeed, what looks green is not always as green as it seems. With biofuel so much land needs to be converted to monoculture and croptoxins that its green effect can also be questions.
I think the best conclussion about the next car fuel is not near yet. The Tesla CEO was right that we don’t have an infrastructure for hydrogen yet and it costs lot of energy to convert power to hydrogen and back to power again. It is better to store it as power. But if the batteries are indeed toxic and heavy. I think hydrogen is better in powercapacity vs weight. Ah well we will see.
Hmm, compressed air cars. It sounds like perpetual motion which is not possible(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perpetual_motion) Always more energy is lost than generated so we need some refueling in some way.
Thanks, I will do.