We all know that energy use is a major concern for humanity going forward. Thanks to skyrocketing prices, dwindling supplies and environmental concerns, everyone is focused on the challenges of reducing our energy consumption, increasing efficiency, etc. On a wider level, our energy needs are only going to increase as our societies advance, as our populations continue to grow, and as our expansion beyond this planet becomes a necessity. We don’t yet have all the answers, but as our oil supplies continue to be consumed, I trust in the ingenuity of mankind to find new, innovative ways to acquire energy.
We’ll start on the smaller scale front first: what better way to power the various electrical devices you carry (and all your future electronic implantsJ) than to generate electricity from walking. Fitting in nicely with our previous discussions on repairing the body, researchers in California “have created an artificial muscle that heals itself and generates electricity”.
This next invention addresses two important issues at once: it’s a bike which purifies water as you pedal. Obtaining safe drinking water is sadly still a major difficulty in many parts of the world, and at least this invention offers another possibility for those afflicted. Speaking of water, another intriguing method has been found to tap into a natural energy source: harvesting energy from rain drops. This won’t produce massive amounts of energy, but it will be sufficient to power low-consumption devices.
On the exploration front, scientists have created a new submersible robot “that runs on energy absorbed from the heat of the sea”, allowing it to stay at sea at least twice as long as previous autonomous submersibles. Meanwhile, the ESA has released estimates that Titan’s surface contains more liquid hydrocarbons than all the known oil and gas reserves on Earth. I guarantee we’ll be there harvesting it in the next 200-250 years. We’re going to need all that energy to explore further into the stars. The key is finding enough energy to get us there (the old chicken and egg problem).
One way to power our future spaceships (as well as providing power here on earth) is fusion. While we are still a couple decades away from being able to properly make use of fusion, research continues to advance in this field, and I point you to the work being done at MIT’s fusion lab for a fascinating read.
Finally, we wrap things up today with a story announced just this week: a new venture seeks to develop power plant which will use plasma to vaporize trash and produce enough energy to power 50,000 homes. The article is vague on whether such a method would be cost-effective, but it potentially offers a new way to tap into cleaner energy. That’s always a worthwhile area of research in my book.
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