Future energy

Dr. Mai Thanh Triet

It is estimated that about 80 years from now, the energy sources we are using will be exhausted because people have been making the most of their use, and with the level of exponentiality faster than the regeneration of nature. Therefore, from now on if not prepared to study or search for new energy resources, the world will gradually come to self-destruction.

Classic sources of energy

Hydropower has been around for more than 70 years, and has been a source of hope for humankind for a long time. From the beginning and based on the thinking of scientists at that time, hydropower is a clean and perfect power source because it does not create environmental pollution. Therefore, hydropower dams are continuously built up from advanced countries to developing countries. But in the past 20 years, the scientific community has correctly identified environmental disasters caused by hydropower. That is:

- Hydropower has completely upset the ecosystem of a large area around the reservoir as well as upstream and downstream of the dam.

- Hydropower reduces or destroys biodiversity of the whole region.

- The economic efficiency of hydropower is completely reversed because the cost needed to reconstruct the natural environment has been lost to higher profits due to the supply of electricity.

For atomic energy sources, the level of safety in operation is still a big question mark, harming human resources and the environment in the event of an accident that has caused many countries to hesitate when deciding to build more. factory . In addition, this energy emits a lot of carbon dioxide (carbon dioxide) affecting the ozone layer of the atmosphere and especially atomic waste is still an unresolved problem of the human species.

Only the energy left from the wind and sunlight is relatively safe. In addition, in the battle for human survival, in addition to wind power, there is also a search for alternative sources of petroleum, which is the source of methanol, ethanol and household waste and Industry.

These are clean energy sources that just solve and replace natural energy resources that are about to be exhausted, and especially to protect the natural environment, and at the same time solve some of the human-caused environmental pollution.

The above-mentioned energies greatly affect the greenhouse effect and global warming. Therefore, for nearly 30 years, people have been trying to find other sources of energy in which raw materials are used as natural energy sources such as wind, sunlight, tides and waves, even waste from industrial production, household waste, and human and animal waste .

And energy in the future

Biomass (biomass), also known as microbial energy (biogas): this is a special type of renewable energy because this type of energy can produce directly to gas and gasoline for systems Traffic such as vehicles, trains, even materials for aircraft. There are two types of biomass energy: ethanol and biodiesel.

Ethanol or alcohol is due to fermentation of high carbohydrate types such as starch, sugar and cellulose fibers. Ethanol is an essential chemical to blend into gasoline to reduce the amount of carbon monoxide (CO) released into the air. Currently the amount of alcohol can be mixed into gasoline up to 85% by volume. Biodiesel is also due to a mixture of alcohol and vegetable or animal oils. This mixture can reduce 20% of CO compared to using classic diesel.

However, most biomass electromagnetic plants in the world apply direct burning method. And biomass energy from animal waste that produces heat after burning and heat will run through a turbine and generator to transform into electricity.

In the future, cars will run on clean hydrogen fuel.(Photo: Pbs.org)

And the energy from the earth's heat or geothermal heat has been studied through many technologies to develop this kind of energy to turn into electricity, or to heat up technological processes that require high temperatures. This is also a kind of renewable energy from nature. The United States is testing this type of energy in Nevada, and there have been many encouraging results.

Hydrogen energy : Hydrogen is an element that accounts for the highest proportion of all other elements on Earth. But hydrogen is not present in the form of atoms or molecules but in the form of compounds with other elements such as water including two hydrogen and one oxygen. So once the hydrogen is separated, it will turn into a great source of heat energy and a clean energy. Hydrogen can be separated by electrolysis of water (H ₂ O). In nature, some moss and bacteria, through the conjugation of sunlight, can release hydrogen. This is a type of energy that does not pollute the air. The US National Space Research Agency since 1970 has used hydrogen as the main material for missiles to transport spacecraft into space.

Ocean energy : The ocean is also a kind of renewable energy and can produce two types of energy: heat from the sun's heat, and the energy from tides and waves. The ocean covers more than 70% of the Earth's area, so this is the most important source of sunlight. The heat of the sun warms the surface of the ocean, and this warmth is many times higher than the warmth of the deep ocean. The temperature difference between these two currents will produce heat. Since then the resulting heat will transform into electricity according to three different technologies: closed cycle technology, open cycle technology, and hybrid technology. The principle of a closed cycle is to evaporate seawater at low temperatures through the presence of ammonia. The open cycle is to evaporate seawater under low pressure. The combined cycle is the combination of the above two methods. Sea vapor will pass through a turbine and turn into electricity.

Faced with the anticipation of an energy crisis in the future, countries around the world are racing against time to find new types of renewable energy, in order to satisfy the process of globalization through the Decree. Kyoto letter 1997 on air pollution and greenhouse effect. The UK has planned to invest US $ 100 million in ocean energy research and hopes that this energy can provide 10% of the nation's total energy use in 2010, and up to 15% for 2015.