Big Sci-Fi Ideas for New Energy Power Sources
Filed Under: Environmental News, Green Technology on August 28, 2009
These aren’t Star Trek or even Asimov(ian?) ideas, but are relatively real world ones. They’re still science fiction, however, because they don’t exist and may not ever exist. Some of them are kind of “out there,” especially if you factor in economics.
Regardless, they are ideas that break some boundaries and are kind of cool, so I thought I’d show you what some of the brighter dreamers are coming up with for energy production.
Energy Islands – OTEC - Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion is not a new concept and has been used several times for various things. Submarines, for instance, use them as part of their total operations.
Just like the ground on dry land, oceans get colder the deeper you go. Eventually, of course, it heats back up again as pressures begin giving off heat energy. Unless you’re Jules Vern, then it gives way to a hollow planet with a bunch of dinosaurs and stuff in it.
Anyway, the idea here is to build floating islands on the ocean that capture the heat energy from the warm surface water of the tropics and using it to heat low-boiling point fluids to create steam. That, of course, turns a turbine and drives a generator, creating electricity. The process is repeated when colder, deep water is pumped up to rapidly cool the steam back into liquid. Then the process repeats.
Other things on the surface of the islands, and possibly surrounding them, would include floating wind farms and surface solar panels, of course. The islands would be built to be totally self-sufficient for the few inhabitants needed to keep the processes running.
I would expand on this idea by creating “resorts” out of the islands (or at least parts of them) for eco-tourists and such to visit. Not only does this give them an income stream to pay for more improvements, but it takes tourists from natural places where they dump garbage and leave footprints. I could see ocean-going vessels porting here to recharge batteries while their passengers debark for a couple of days’ fun.
Just a thought.
Stratospherical, Stacked Wind Turbines - These are sort of like unmanned airplanes or helicopters that rise in a “stack” above the collection point for the power being produced. Think of it as a vertical wind farm.
The idea is that winds at higher altitudes are stronger and more consistent than those closer to the surface of the planet. At 30,000 feet, where your jet liner flies, for instance, winds are generally 20 times greater and generally much steadier in their current.
Using that information, a group called Sky WindPower wants to capture that steady source of energy by sending helicopter-like aircraft straight up from the ground. The wind not only keeps the aircraft aloft, but the excess energy from their turbines is turned into electricity and “piped” back to the ground by their cabled tether to the ground. A string of these is called a “laddermill.”
These aircraft would be sent up in “stacks” and combine the floating characteristics of a kite with the down-drag of an airplane, which causes the aircraft to move in a sort of loop, generating power as it does so.
The premise is based on the estimate that if only 1% of the total high-altitude currents were captured, the entire world’s energy needs would be fulfilled for the foreseeable future.
Kinetic Energy Capture - I’m using this is a kind of catch-all, since there are dozens of ideas in this category. Everything from parking lots that catch the kinetic energy from cars as they drive through to sidewalks that do so for pedestrians has been proposed. One company was working on freeway off-ramps (no link) that capture the deceleration energy from exiting vehicles to make power. I’ve linked to the above-mentioned techs where they’re mentioned so you can read about them. This is actually halfway viable in most respects, so it will be interested how it works out.
That’s the roundup of interesting new techs I’ve seen talked about lately. Fun!
