The power of the sun ... Future vision of the solar power plant, located in the Sahara Desert which will power most of Europe.
Alternative Energy Sources with Little to No Emissions
By Lee D.
There are many types of alternative energy sources being experimented with throughout the world. Solar power, fusion power, osmotic power, geothermal energy, and wind power are just a few.
With the cost of fossil fuels rising, and new laws being enforced due to energy and environmental concerns, renewable energy has become a major topic across the planet.
Osmotic Power
Recently in Norway, the world’s first osmotic power plant was put into action. The plant uses a system of pumps to separate seawater from its salinity. With the flow of the water and salt being separated a tremendous pressure is created, which turns a turbine to create power.
The plant only produced 4 kilowatts of energy, about enough to a prototype.
Solar Power
Large scale solar power is being introduced to the world of renewable energy. So far there have been solar panels on houses, in office buildings, and on cars, producing enough energy to keep them running.
But solar power is not just limited to these simple uses.
The largest solar power plant in the world is coming to the Mojave Desert in California. It is a $2-3 billion dollar operation designed to produce 500 megawatts, with the possibility of adding additional power plants in the area to provide around 800 megawatts. That’s enough energy for over 375,000 California residents.
California isn’t the only place where desert solar power is being considered. In Africa, the Sahara Desert is now being considered as the location for another super solar power plant. If only 0.3 per cent of the desert land was used, it could power the whole continent of Europe.
The plant would create a whopping 100 gigawatts of electricity, and would be 80 times larger than the solar power plant being erected in the Mojave Desert in California.
The Sahara project is still in the developing stages and construction will not begin for another 10-15 years but it is definitely possible.
Fusion Power
When it comes to renewable resources, the most abundant element in the universe is hydrogen, which is obtained from fusion power. After decades of research, scientists at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, seem to be making the dream a reality.
Housed in the NIF are a number of optical and electronic devices designed to split the world’s most powerful laser in 192 ways, combining the energy of the beams to reach a whopping 1.8 mega joules.
Nuclear Fusion also known as Fusion Power works when the nuclei of atoms are pushed together at such a force that they fuse, forming a heavier particle. A self-sustaining reaction occurs while more atomic nuclei collide releasing monstrous amounts of energy.
The NIF is as big as three football fields, and contains a laser which will aim the 192 beams at a target the size of a peppercorn to trigger a sustainable fusion reaction. The plan is to have the operation up and running in October of this year.
The biggest problem with containing nuclear fusion is how to produce temperatures and pressures within a specific space for a long enough time.
The space needed to produce nuclear fusion will need to withstand temperatures around 100 million centigrade, which is hotter than the center of the sun.
Renewable energy may not be critically needed at the moment, but once fossil fuels run out and there is no other choice, renewable energy sources must be ready to bring the world into a new era of greener days.
