One of the nicest developments in the past few years is the growing coverage of alternative energy science by the media. While science had seemed to take a back-burner (and perhaps still does) to the ever-increasing need for kitsch news stories and celebrity updates, a more informed and aware public is coercing the media to write more stories about energy and climate. Perhaps that is the cart before the horse, but in my opinion, the media tends to follow that which the public will read.
With that in mind, I find more and more links to interesting articles about new technologies that are being developed. For example, a few months ago a short list of “Crazy energy ideas that might just work” was published on msnbc.com. I really enjoy these types of stories because they highlight the need for innovation, whether it is successful or not. Any good investment agency knows that not every idea will pan out, but that an environment that fosters innovation will bring success in the long run.
Of the ideas listed in this article, I like the energy islands the most. I think the opportunity to combine technologies to solve a number of energy problems in one scenario (such as solar electricity generation combined with solid electrolyzer & fuel cells) provides a synergy that reduces needs for energy transmission and increases overall efficiency. While this can be achieved in one large system such as the proposed islands, these combined scenarios could also be feasible on the scale of a household or a small community.
On this subject, please leave comments regarding “crazy energy ideas” that you have seen recently or are working on yourself, no matter how big or small, keeping in mind that “crazy” is only a matter of perspective. Who knows, maybe ten years from now we’ll all have artificial electricity-producing trees in our yards.
0 comments:
Post a Comment