The pollution of the planet and its continuous degradation is causing disasters. Fossil fuels are running out and leaving behind strong negative effects on the atmosphere, waters and soils. Because we cannot continue to rely solely on fossil fuels, we need alternative energies. Renewable energies are taking more and more relevance in our economy. However, this post is not about renewable energies, but about other alternative energies.
Do you want to know the different types of alternative energy that are being studied and how they would work?
Reasons to seek alternative energies
Each time the time we have is shorter. Fossil fuels reach their limit and they pose new requirements. We must think that serious consequences such as climate change at a global level are being suffered at the cost of excess pollution. This pollution could be reduced if renewable energies were further improved and developed.
Until today we have seen how renewables have been making a dent in international markets. They have more and more capacity and their design is more sophisticated. However, we also need oa source of alternative energy that does not harm the environment.
Alternative energy is considered as that which is capable of generating energy without polluting the environment. In addition, if it takes advantage of natural energy or waste (as in the case of biomass) it will be more efficient.
Surely you are already familiar with renewable energies such as solar, wind, hydroelectric, tidal, geothermal, wave energy, etc. However, they are not the only alternative energy sources that we can find in the world. In nature there are sources of energy beyond what we know or are used to exploiting. Next we will see a list of alternative energies.
Saltwater
It is known as salt water energy or marine energy. It's about getting energy from the osmosis of sea water. It is an energy source that promises in the future as renewable energy. It has not yet been fully exploited since a large amount of energy must be invested in desalinating the water.
In this case, what is sought to generate energy is the opposite: adding salt to the water. When we add salt to fresh water through a process known as electrodialysis, energy is generated. This alternative source has not yet been exploited for various reasons. One of them is the shortage of fresh water on the planet. There are many places in the world that lack fresh water. Therefore, you cannot be salinizing fresh water and making it useless to create energy. If the osmosis process to desalinate water was not so energy-intensive, it would surely have been tried by now.
Helioculture
Helioculture is a rather curious type of alternative energy. It has already been used by the Joule Biotechnologies company. This energy is achieved by creating a hydrocarbon fuel. It is achieved by mixing brackish water, photosynthetic organisms, nutrients, carbon dioxide, and sunlight.
What is achieved after mixing all this is a fuel directly that does not need to be refined. The natural process of photosynthesis is used to produce fuel ready for use.
Piezoelectricity
The more people we are in the world, the more movements there are on a daily basis. We are more than 7.500 million people continuously on the move. To generate energy, we can take advantage of these human movements and displacements. Piezoelectricity is the ability of some materials to generate a kind of electric field in response to some mechanical stress.
If tiles made of materials with piezoelectric properties were built, they could be incorporated into the most traveled routes. In this way, with the rubbing of the sole of the shoes We could generate power while walking. We would be like little walking power plants.
Marine thermal energy
Marine thermal energy is that which is produced by a hydro-energetic conversion system that uses the difference in temperatures that exist between shallower waters and those that are deeper to power a heat engine.
If you could build marine platforms or some kind of infrastructure in the sea you could take advantage of the thermal layers that are concentrated in the depths of the ocean.
Burning rocks
This type of energy is a little better known. It is about using energy from hot rocks. It is geothermal energy which is extracted by pumping salty and cold water towards rocks that have a high temperature due to the heat input from the earth's mantle. When water is heated, the water vapor that is generated in the process is used to generate electricity in a steam turbine.
One of the advantages of this type of energy is that it can be perfectly controlled.
Evaporation energy
Scientists have managed to develop a synthetic sheet capable of producing electricity thanks to evaporating water. To do this, air bubbles are pumped into the leaves and electricity is created. due to the difference in properties between the water and the leaf.
Vortex vibrations
This alternative energy captures energy from slower currents in the water. As the currents flow, it is captured through a network of rollers. The rollers are located an alternate way to push and pull an object up or down. You can also do it to the sides in such a way that it creates mechanical energy.
Like fish swimming back and forth, energy is generated here by this movement.
Extraterrestrial solar energy
The sun not only illuminates us inside the Earth, but it also illuminates it outside. Outside the Earth, solar panels would not be affected by the day and night cycles. Nor would they be affected by the climate or the filters that clouds or atmospheric gases make. The idea would be to build solar panels capable of orbiting the Earth to continuously receive solar energy.
Alternative energies are increasingly necessary and we can accompany you to renewables. In this way we could have a planet that works with natural, non-polluting or finite energy.