Download IN SEARCH OF ALTERNATIVE SOURCES OF ENERGY

IN SEARCH OF ALTERNATIVE SOURCES OF ENERGY
Liudmyla Mordan’
Melitopol Institute of Public and Municipal Administration
Research advisor – Yulia Polikarpova
Alternative energy is a term that refers to any source of usable energy intended to replace fuel s ources without the
undesired consequences of the replaced fuels. The term "alternative" presupposes a set of undesirable energy technologies
against which "alternative energies" are contrasted. As such, the list of energy technologies excluded is an indica tor of what
problems that the alternative technologies are intended to address.
The objective of the research is to define the main alternative sources of energy.
The main advantages relating to the use of natural and renewable energy sources are: the sun , wind, tides, and
geothermal activity are all renewable; they are cheaper; the remaining oil, gas and coal supplies last longer. The only
disadvantages relating to the use of clean energy sources is that the initial cost of renewable energy systems can b e expensive.
One of the sources of alternative energy is artificial photosynthesis. Since the creation of earth, green plants have
employed photosynthesis to capture energy from sunlight and convert it into electrochemical energy. Researchers in the
United States funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, discovered the key catalyst the can do the same job as
photosynthesis. They discovered that nano-sized crystals of cobalt oxide can effectively carry out the critical photosynthetic
reaction of splitting water molecules and produce liquid fuels from (carbon dioxide and water). Recently Sun Catalytix, a
company based in Cambridge, MA announced that they used only one bottle of drinking water and four hours of sunlight to
produce 30 KWh of electricity. The research led by Dan Nocera, Catalytix owner and MIT chemist. The even more exciting
news, artificial photosynthesis produces Hydrogen instead of Glucose like in green plants. This means that we can use
Hydrogen to power up many other things. In 2008, for the first time in the history of aviation, Boeing has flown a manned
airplane that was powered by a hydrogen battery.
Another source of alternative energy is rubbish and wastes. Thousands of tons of rubbish and waste products are
produced everyday on the planet. This can be a valuable resource to be used for energy production. Such projects have already
been developed and some have already become profitable. For instance, Fulcrum BioEnergy announced a plan for building
120$ million plant near Reno, Nev., to make ethanol from garbage. The plants then would use over 90,000 tons of garbage to
make 10.5 million gallons of ethanol a year. The project is expected to start in 2010.
Bacteria and microorganisms can also be very useful. A research conducted at the Univers ity of University of Sheffield
and published in the Journal of Bioinformatics, investigated the possibility of harvesting energy from bacteria. They studies a
kind of bacteria called Nostoc. Nostoc fixes nitrogen and, in doing so, releases hydrogen that ca n then potentially be used as
fuel. Fixing nitrogen is a complex process because bacterial metabolism is a huge network of chemical reactions, and even the
most sophisticated techniques can only measure a small fraction of its activity. Shang -Tian Yang, professor of chemical and
biomolecular engineering at Ohio State, used another kind of bacteria to produce energy. Yang and his colleagues developed a
mutant strain of the bacterium Clostridium beijerinckii in a bioreactor containing bundles of polyester fib ers. In that
environment, the mutant bacteria produced up to 30 grams of butanol per liter.
Geothermal energy can become a valuable source of energy in the future. This geothermal energy originates from the
original formation of the planet, from radioactive decay of minerals, and from solar energy absorbed at the surface. Oregon
Institute of Technology is planning on building a 7.6$ million geothermal power plant on campus, the plant will become the
main source of power for the school in few years; and making the school the first university to be powered completely by
geothermal energy.
Wind energy is being effectively used in many countries of the world nowadays. Wind farms produce significant
volume of energy, but this is not the only way to use wind power. Researchers from the Delft University of Technology in The
Netherlands, have successfully demonstrated an experiment to generate electricity from high -flying kites. According to the
scientists, a single 10-square-meter high-flying kite could produce 10 kilowatts of power, which could supply electricity for
about 10 houses.
Even breath is considered as a source of energy. A new technology called “the Eco -Box”, developed by Origo
Industries will capture the CO2 exhaled by airport travelers and convert i t to fuel. The system will recycle breths through a
photo-bioreactor (PBR) to create an algae-based biofuel to power some of the airport’s ground vehicles and potentially
generate electricity.
The sun is our ultimate energy source because it drives other sources, such as wind and water. Many companies make
many things that run on Solar power, such as cell-phones, small planes, and solar panels to power several things. Solar energy
is likely to be the main source of power in the future, its free, clean and there is lots of it.
Various water resources (ocean current, waterfalls, dams) are ways to produce power. A team of scientists at Florida
Atlantic University are working on a project to generate renewab le energy using ocean currents. When the project is
completed, it is expected to supply Florida with 1/3 of its energy and power 3 -7 million homes.
A conclusion can be made that there are various sources of alternative energy, and we have to find the ways to
implement and use them in Ukraine.