Yesterday, I began a discussion about new means to generate clean and renewable energy as alternatives to oil, natural gas and particularly gasoline. Biomass and some of the variations on water power have been covered. Now let’s look at some of the “neater” alternative energy proposals.

1. Wind farms. These are sprouting up all over the landscape, where average wind speeds indicate that they are a viable means to generate power on a dependable basis. T. Boone Pickens is the latest corporate heavy-hitter to give his backing to wind power as a means to solve the energy crisis. This is the frontrunner among the new technologies that are being called on to solve the problem.
2. Solar energy. This is certainly gaining a lot more interest, particularly as the technology improves. For example, flexible solar panels are more aesthetically pleasing for home use. Of course, there has to be a back-up system for when the sun turns shy (e.g., storage batteries or feeds from another power grid).
3. The use of mirrors in hot, dry, sunny regions. This is a means to greatly increase the power output from two of the other technologies mentioned already. The mirrors can either be focused on vast holding tanks to heat water and generate steam or they can direct sunlight in a more concentrated way on solar panels.
4. Geothermal. The theory behind this method is to drill two holes, separated by only a few hundred feet, deep into the ground to where the temperature is elevated. When water is allowed to run down one hole, it will be quickly turned to steam and sent back up the other hole. The steam created by this means can be employed to run a turbine.

Another interesting aspect of these alternative power sources relates to transporting the electricity thus generated to market. Today’s transmission towers, running from big stations and carrying high voltage, run on AC (alternating current) circuitry. It is thought that the amounts of power that will be generated by smaller alternative stations can be more quickly and cheaply moved by DC (direct current) means.

Finally, it needs to be said that the massive investments underway and planned in these alternative technologies will still not likely raise their portions of the total energy grid to anything like what will be required in twenty or so years, according to the U.S. Energy Information Agency, an independent research branch of the Department of Energy.

If the option of using oil as a feedstock to heat water, create steam and generate electricity is now off the table, what other options are there? Natural gas in co-generation projects is still viable. This will mean the need to build more pipelines and liquified natural gas (LNG) facilities. But there is still the carbon footprint issue.

The most hope for the future, whether alarmists like it or not, is clean-burning nuclear power. The latest design features reduce the chance of meltdown through gravity-feed cooling systems. Solve the spent-fuel storage problem and the world has a winner. By the way, from my reading so far, “fusion” does not seem to be given much credence as a likely short-term answer at this time.

Coal is the other option with enormous potential, if the hoped-for improvements in removing sulphur, carbon and other harmful emissions can really be achieved. Many of the world’s most energy-needy economies still have vast underutilized coal reserves.

Alex CarrickFind Canadian construction-related economic articles in Canadian Construction Market News and in the Economic Outlook section of Daily Commercial News.

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08/11/2008 - posted by marcus

08/09/2008 - posted by e8005

07/30/2008 - posted by marcus

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