Other methods that could become or are already regarded as economical
alternatives to fossil fuels include energy from tide and from waves, Hydrogen,
geothermal, ethanol biofuels, algae, biogas and biomass briquettes. These are
all likely to be a part of the kaleidoscope of alternatives that are being
developed as an alternative to fossil fuels because they are being made worth
the commitment of funds to their development by subsidies and support from
politicians, scientists and from potential customers in the recognition of the
potential problems from global warming.
Energy from the power of water movement is obtained by
collecting the energy derived from water as it moves in the form of waves, tide
and current. Taking them one at a time: -
Wave power is the capture of energy produced by ocean
waves. This sounds highly feasible and
there is a 3 mw farm being operated in Scotland as part of a £13m package to
develop marine power. There is also a
wave hub that has been built off the northern coast of Cornwall that is thought
to be capable of producing 20mw of capacity and is sufficient to power 7,500
homes. There are others around the world
in Portugal, Australia and America.
There is thought to be huge potential for this source of power but such
installations could be a shipping hazard, could disrupt the fish and fishing
and could damage the coastline.
Tidal power is also thought to have huge potential with this
form of generating power being capable of producing 20% of Britain’s needs.
Barrages which collect the tidal movement and use it to drive generators
producing electricity were the original plan but these need to be built in
estuaries and problems of impact on the environment are huge such as sewage
collecting as the tide does not clear it and mud flats remaining covered and
the impact that could have on wild life.
Other solutions being examined include marine turbines built out at sea.
Hydrogen fuel can be used in car engines and can be
converted into electricity with the use of electrochemical cells. It does not exist in its pure form and needs
to be created from water using electricity created using wind or other
alternative method. The hydrogen can
then be stored and re-converted into electricity at a later stage. As such it could be used to overcome the
problem of erratic production of electricity from such sources as wind. The excess power could be stored as hydrogen
fed into the grid and re-converted to electricity when needed. Companies like ITM Power are heavily involved
in developing a viable product for this.
Geothermal power is generated from the heat generated within
the Earth’s crust and can be found in hot springs. Water from hot springs has been used for
bathing and for space heating since the Romans. It is used in many countries to
produce electricity. It is a cost effective way of producing electricity but is
limited to areas where there are tectonic plate boundaries. Production elsewhere would be very expensive
because of the cost of drilling for it.
Ethanol is most often used to power engines and is produced
from agricultural products. It is widely
used in Brazil and the US in a blend with gasoline. Most car engines in the US can use the
blended fuel and it is mandatory to do so in Brazil. The concern that arises from this form of
energy is that it is using product that would otherwise be used as food and
pushing up its cost. A potentially exciting alternative is to use algae as this
would avoid the problems of using agricultural products, uses saline and
non-potable water. It also produces ten
to fifty times more oil per acre than does agricultural product. Harvesting algae is challenging because of
its small size and processing it is energy intensive but technology is
advancing fast.
Biogas is produced, as well as digestate, from food waste,
slurry, crops and manure. It is created by anaerobic digestion of these natural
wastes and the biogas is then used to create power and heat and biomethane
which can be added to the gas grid. It also produces digestate which can be
used as a fertiliser. This is not a new technology and has been used in the UK
since the late 1800s with more and more plants being built in the UK to divert
waste from landfill sites. These plants are operated by the water companies in
the UK.
Biomass briquettes tend to be used in the developing world
as a substitute for coal and are made of green organic materials. They burn longer when in the form of
briquettes and do not have the same level of carbon as does fossil fuel.
Each of these alternative forms of power generation have
their detractors because of the difficulties and problems associated with their
production. Their use does, however,
reduce the level of carbon released into the atmosphere and, in some cases, is
the cheapest way for developing economies to replace direct fossil fuel use. They are affected by the economics of their production
and do require support from governments and communities so that in a recession
new projects will find it more difficult to find approval. Some will not find sufficient favour to
survive and there will be substitutes such as algae for agricultural products. The use of hydrogen has a growing band of
supporters and could have global usage both for engine fuel and for storing
excess electricity for later release.
Proposals around tidal and wave power will probably be limited to
specific areas such as the major oceans of the Pacific and Atlantic and to
suitable estuaries. Each can play a part
in developing our options to replace fossil fuel. We will have to face higher energy costs as a
result but that is a price the planet has begun to accept.
There are a number of small companies in this field that are
already moving into profit and others that are not far from doing so. There are also collectives (investment trusts,
unit trusts and ETFs) that specialise in investing into the small and unquoted
companies that make up the majority of this sector.
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