Putting the science in fiction - Dan Koboldt, Chuck Wendig 2018
The future of energy
Earth and other planets. Yes, Pluto counts!
By K.E. Lanning
Energy is an essential part of our lives and, like the food we eat, it is entangled in our economy, politics, and our culture. The definition of energy is: power derived from the utilization of physical or chemical resources, especially to provide light and heat or to work machines.
Primary sources of energy
Currently, we have several primary sources of energy: fossil fuels, crop-based fuels, biofuels, nuclear fission and fusion, geothermal sources, hydropower, and solar and wind power. Let’s go through each one of these briefly.
Fossil Fuels
Fossil fuels are organic sources that Mother Nature has cooked and processed for us to harvest: coal, oil, and natural gas. These fossil fuels are tapped by mining for coal or via drilling, either vertically or using the new technology of horizontal drilling for oil and gas. Fossil fuels have become environmentally and politically unpopular with concerns over pollution and climate change. The recent rise in popularity of wood heaters has exacerbated air pollution in cities, like London, that had previously moved away from coal stoves to reduce pollution.
Crop-Based Fuels
Crops grown for fuels, such as sugar cane or corn, must have energy expended on them to plant, harvest, and process them into an energy source. These crops also take precious land and water from food production and potentially create instability in our food prices, due to the gyrations of the energy market. Utilizing crops as fuel is more of an issue for various pollution concerns than drilling for fossil fuels.
Biofuels
Biofuels, which utilize waste turned into fuel, are excellent for “killing two birds with one stone” by burning cooking oils or other carbon waste products instead of dumping them into landfills. However, negatives of these carbon-based energy sources are potential pollution from spills or waste, and air pollution of many forms from burning these carbon-based fuels.
Nuclear Fission and Fusion
There are two types of nuclear energy: fission and fusion, which are opposite processes. Nuclear fission splits large uranium atoms, which releases energy in the form of heat. It’s the form of nuclear energy source in current power plants, and it produces clean power. However, there are two huge caveats to this energy source: First, if an event occurs and the reaction can’t be controlled, there is a real potential for runaway reactions with catastrophic results to life. Second, massive amounts of nuclear waste are produced as a byproduct and are being stored at nuclear plants with no long-term storage plans—this waste takes thousands of years to decay to safe levels of radiation.
Nuclear fusion uses the same process as our sun to produce energy, by fusing two hydrogen atoms to create a helium atom, which releases an enormous amount of power. Fusion energy is the ultimate solar power but is still in a development stage. The technological issue to nuclear fusion as an energy source has been the challenge of creating pressures and temperatures within a container that can maintain an environment for fusion to occur. The positive of this difficulty is that there aren’t issues of runaway reactions because the reaction will die unless all systems are functioning. Only minor radioactive waste occurs from fusion and the time of decay to safe levels is fifty years.
Multiple countries and companies are racing to achieve the goal of a nuclear fusion power plant. Over the past decade, breakthroughs have been achieved via supercomputers, which allow scientists to model the complexities of fusion reactors. Fusion will be a Prometheus moment for humankind—solving our pollution issues with plenty of energy for our future needs.
Geothermal Sources
Geothermal energy emanates from the molten core of the Earth. It is clean and sustainable, but as a major energy source, it tends to be limited to areas near tectonic plate boundaries, where the geothermal gradient is most divergent, meaning you don’t have to go very deep into the Earth to find a very different temperature from the surface level.
A heat pump uses underground pipes to tap into the differential temperature between the underground and the air, but it is a much smaller scale device simply for heating and cooling of buildings.
Hydropower
Hydropower is an ancient and nonpolluting power source that’s limited to areas of major rivers. From the industrial age to now, hydroelectric dams provide a massive amount of electricity, but they alter fish migration and drainage, affecting the environment. “Run-of-the-river” hydroelectricity captures kinetic energy without the use of dams, but is a relatively small source of energy. Wave and tidal power are just in the initial stages of research at this point, and localized to shorelines.
Solar and Wind Power
Solar and wind are renewable sources of small magnitude energy, but they’re not continuous.
These lesser magnitude energy sources are well matched to accomplish smaller needs: houses, buildings, and vehicles. A renewable energy company, RidgeBlade, has designed smaller scale turbines built into the ridgeline of a roof—a perfect match for powering a home. Economically, solar panels are competitive with traditional power sources, and the next generation of solar power is on its way. Every inch of a man-made object could absorb energy: windows, walls, and roofs. Perhaps one day you will drive down a sunny road and charge your electric car. However, with these intermittent low-magnitude energy sources, battery backup systems are a must for truly getting off a power grid.
Wind and solar as stand-alone power sources can, however, have negative impacts. Solar and wind farms impose themselves into the landscape and environment for minimal capture of power for large energy needs, so may not be an optimal use of land. Solar fields can negatively affect the surrounding plant, insect, and animal life. Wind turbines can augment main power sources, but are intermittent and can be an environmental issue. The large concrete foundations of wind turbines impact the land even after the turbine itself is taken away. In an environment such as a mountain ridgeline, this would forever alter the drainage—and scar the landscape.
The future of energy
If we want clean air and water, we have to attack the energy problem on several fronts. For our large energy needs we must develop nuclear fusion or some source that has similar attributes. Every aspect of our lives must be analyzed for maximum capture of sustainable energy, coupled with efficient use of those varied sources. In addition, renewable sources would allow power availability during outages of a regional power grid. We must upgrade our power grid for maximum efficiency and possibly utilize underground routing to circumvent inadvertent damage to power lines. But as a part of the plan, we must wean ourselves away from burning carbon as a power source.
Recently, I visited an exquisite and wholly sustainable building at the Brock Environmental Center in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Paraphrasing from their website, “The Brock Center exists in concert with its natural surroundings, with minimal impact on the land, air, and waterways. It has a net zero impact on the environment and is a model for green building techniques, energy efficiency, water use, beauty, and inspiration.”
Can we imagine a natural world of brilliant blue skies and clean water dotted with independent and sustainable buildings, solar-powered vehicles, and industries powered by clean nuclear fusion?
Humans now have the power of the ancient gods—the ability to create or destroy our world. We have to visualize a balance between humans and the natural world—then demand it.