Renewable Energy Shortfall
Originally Published January 16th, 2008 by Richard Okelberry
Around the world communities are struggling with the idea of incorporating renewable energy sources into the energy packages that they purchase for their citizens. Pressure to convert to “clean” energy is being applied from both worried citizens and activists. Because many concerned people are now willing to pay a little more for their power, switching to clean wind or solar energy instead of coal or nuke power may seem like a no-brainer. Some states even allow citizens to mark a box on their power bill requesting that only renewable power be bought on their behalf. Unfortunately, these states have neglected the fact that if everyone in that state where to check the “Clean Energy Only” box on their statement the entire state would go black every calm evening.
- Possible energy storage system for Green Energies.
A farce is being perpetrated on the populous concerning “clean energy” because it fails to address the fact that energy on the scale needed to run even a small town, cannot be stored for any period of time. Most people think that the power company simply stores up electricity in big batteries for later use. On the contrary, power must be produced on-demand. This mean, when Joe Blow environmentalist plugs in his electric car at night, he is sending a signal to the power station to throw some more coal on the fire because, “I want to drive my non-polluting car in the morning.”
The inability to store generated power has always been a problem. Fortunately, there may be a solution to this problem in the near future. Hydrogen has long been touted as the fuel of the future but few have explored the fact that it may be the perfect storage vessel for unused or surplus energy. In essence, we could divert any extra or unused solar or wind power into a hydrogen storage system. While the laws of thermodynamics tell us that there would be some power loss from separating hydrogen and oxygen from water, there would still be a net gain because we would be capturing at least some of the lost or unused power.
This process can best be illustrated by imagining a large wind and solar farm along a coastline (see figure.) As the power is created it is sent to a device that uses the process of Electrolysis. This is essentially the process of sending electricity through water causing the bonds between the Hydrogen and the Oxygen in the water to be broken (2H2O + ENERGY = 2H2 + O2.) Ultimately, the most difficult part of the process would have to do with storing the Hydrogen in a stable fashion. Fortunately, scientists have conquered this problem and regularly store massive amounts of hydrogen for use with the Space Shuttle. Finally, whenever there is a demand for power and renewable resources are not co-operating we simply recombine the Hydrogen and Oxygen in an exothermic reaction, thereby releasing plenty of energy to turn a generator and keep the lights on in your home.
Now for the downsides; at present, this process is terribly inefficient. However, I imagine that with even a fraction of the resources given to the ethanol industry by the government, these systems could be made both safe and efficient. Finally wind and solar power would become a true player in the world’s energy market. Until then, both will be just a pipe dream and a touch feely overpriced, inconsistent alternative to “REAL” power. Also remember that the steam released into the atmosphere is actually considered a greenhouse gas.
Tags: Hydrogen, Solar Power, Wind Power
World | rokelberry September 13, 2008