Green Energy

William K. Wandler

The green energy movement has never been more prominent than it is today. People are calling for a change, for a shift in how we utilize our resources and how we produce the energy we take so much for granted in our daily lives. Our natural preserves of fossil fuels are running out, and at a much faster rate than most would think. Many simply shut their eyes to this issue, preferring to hide from it rather than take action. They would rather deny the problem than face the staggering consequences that will meet us should we continue to live as we do today. The time has come for words to become actions, ideas to become physical, and dreams to become reality. The answers to this increasingly vital question are much closer than one might think, however. In fact they have been known to humanity since the times of Ancient Greece. Then, they were known as the four fundamental elements. Now, they are taken for granted. Their names? The forces of nature, the voices of earth; none other than Wind, Water, Earth, and Fire.

Wind. It moves the clouds, and in turn the rain that waters the worlds crops. It erodes and shapes the landscape, from the mountain tops of the himalayas to the great plains of the mid-western United States. It transfers the pollen of flowers and seeds of trees to new fields and enables them to grow and adapt. It is always blowing somewhere in the world, never ceasing it’s tireless efforts. When properly utilized, a wind turbine can produce 2500kw of energy per day.This is compared to 2450 per ton of coal, which takes a considerably longer time to burn, and once it’s been burned, it’s gone forever. Wind energy is just as efficient as coal energy, and it’s only in the infant stage of development. Who knows how powerful and efficient this technology could become when properly researched? Not only that, but it takes up much less space. Coal factories are massive, some as big as six million square feet. These plants take up agricultural land and water (as they require massive amounts of water to keep the factory cool enough to continue running.) A wind turbine takes up a mere 100 square feet, and crops can still be grown around it. Perhaps the best thing about wind energy when compared to coal, though, is that it is 100% renewable and has absolutely no byproducts (such as C02 or methane), and therefore poses no threat to our already damaged atmosphere.

Water. It flows down streams and rivers, pools in lakes, falls from the sky, and covers 97% percent of our Earth. For years, our ancestors have used rudimentary water energy for simple tasks such as spinning the turbines of wood and grain mills. Dams such as the Hoover supply power to millions of people by making use of hydro-power. But still, the majority of water used for energy purposes is used only to cool the coal factories spewing toxic poison into our ailing atmosphere. Research is being done to try and harness and utilize the power of the tides and currents of our massive oceans, but at the moment dams and levees provide the majority of our hydro-power. Since these dams and levees can only be built on freshwater water systems, they can only utilize the capabilities of freshwater (obviously). Considering that freshwater is a mere 2.5% of the Earths water (and the majority of this is frozen in glaciers and snowcaps and mountains and therefore can’t be harnessed anyway), we are clearly nowhere near the potential of hydro-power. Reaching this potential--or at least approaching it-- would greatly reduce the energy stress Earth is facing. However, perhaps more pressing a subject than the utilization of hydropower is the need of humanity to start allocating and purifying water more effectively. Our aquifers and reserves are running out more quickly than one might expect, and the time will come soon where water is the single most valuable resource we possess. That is a topic to be discussed at another time, however, and so let us turn to the next of the four elemental forces: Earth.

Think of our planet as an onion;it is composed of layers. The top is beautiful and diverse world that is visible every day: the luscious green forests, the sapphire blue oceans,the khaki and scarlet deserts, the sparkling white frozen tundras and the ancient grays of the mountains. Beneath this layer there is rock,layers and layers of sediment and minerals that have been pushed and pressured together over time. This is the mantle, the solid layer upon which the rest of the world may rest peacefully--at least until the seismic activities of earthquakes stir things up a it.Beneath this crusty mantle lies the Earth’s core. The core of our earth is comprised of two parts: the liquid outer part (with temperatures peaking at about 8000 degrees fahrenheit), and the solid inner part (with temperatures reaching 9806 degrees fahrenheit, close to that of the surface of the sun.) This heat stores and releases extremely high levels of energy when it cools and heats. The taming and application of this heat as energy is a process and method called GeoThermal Energy. By digging deep enough into the mantle, we are able to access and use this heat and it’s energy. Unfortunately, digging that deep is very dangerous, and even more expensive, and so the method has not really caught fire with investors yet. If the price threshold could be overcome, the potential of GeoThermal energy is massive. Far above this molten hell of magma and lava, lie the fields and pastures of agriculture; a solution closer and more accessible than perhaps any of the rest that we will discuss. Though our race has recently made the monumental milestone of being more than 50% urbanized (more than 50% of our population now lives in cities rather than in rural areas), a massive portion of our population still makes their living as farmers. These farmers have great potential in the energy industry, and all that would be necessary on their parts would be a change of crop. Bio-Fuels, such as ethanol, have a massive potential, and, more importantly, are capable of ready use and effectiveness immediately. It’s all about growing the right kind however. Although advertisements and propaganda may want you to believe that the corn based ethanol of the United States is a Godsend, it really isn’t. You see, corn-based ethanol simply isn’t efficient enough to be logical. In fact, it costs, on average, more fuel and energy to produce and transport that it actually outputs. Basically, it costsmore energy than it makes. That’s bad. Sugarcane based ethanol, however, is good. Brazil, the leading producer of sugarcane based ethanol, produces ethanol with an energy efficiency rating that is up to 8x the production cost. It produces 8x as much energy as it uses during the entire growing, transportation, and distribution process! It is up to the agricultaral people to make this movement though. Only they can make the decision.  We turn now to a distant solar body, and our final of the four elementary forces: Sol, our own sun.

The sun is 92,960,000 miles away from us here on earth. Despite that,it takes a mere 8 minutes for a ray of light from our massive celestial to reach our homes. These light rays bring life to the flora and fauna of the planet. They heat the air that in turn moves (hot air rising) to create wind. They keep our planet so that--much like the baby bear’s bowl of porridge in Goldilocks--our temperature is just right to sustain life by passing through our one-way window of an atmosphere. The power of the sun is enormous,with the daunting process of nuclear fusion occurring constantly in its core releasing more energy than humanity could possibly use in a billion years. The first life forms to realize this massive potential may surprise you. They cannot walk, nor speak, nor hear, nor by any human measure even think, yet they utilize solar power every day. “They”, are plants. Photosynthesis, used by plant life for billions of years, is solar power. It is what gives plants life. However, despite their greatest and most valiant efforts, the photosynthesis of flora and fauna still vastly underutilizes the potential of the sun’s light. In fact, the majority of plants (excluding sugarcane) have only a .1% energy efficiency rating. In other words, plants use only .1% of the available energy in a solar light ray. Saying that photosynthesis is rather inefficient is being ridiculously generous. Even sugarcane,which has the highest efficiency level of any plant (prehistoric or modern) still has a maximum efficiency of only 8%. Alas, we as humanity,we the self proclaimed kings of this world, can do little better. Even our most advanced, most complex, most expensive photovoltaic solar cells absorb less than 45% of the energy available in each light ray. The current issue with solar energy is that we are not quite technologically capable (though we are moving steadily closer) of maximizing it’s potential, and we are not in a plausible state economically to undergo a dramatic shift towards solar energy. Also, as one would probably guess, solar energy cells and panels are only at peak effectiveness in areas that are absolutely bombarded by the sun’s rays, such as desserts and the open ocean. There is only so much dessert space available, and floating solar panels are extremely difficult and expensive to maintain at the moment, not to mention vulnerable to the violence that the open sea is capable of. Solar light, however, if properly used has more potential than all of the other three of the fundamental elements combined.

It will take them all, however, to begin to undo the wrong we have done to our Mother Earth. Slowly, but surely, we must begin, collectively as a species and race, to make strides--albeit baby steps at first--towards a cleaner energy solution. Alone, most of these energy solutions are weak, but together they are strong. A weapon is only as strong as it’s wielder, however, and so this is my call to arms to the human race. How much longer will you sit idly and allow your destructive and selfish reliance on fossil fuels eat away at the armor of your home--your planet? How long will you sit and deny that there is any problem at all, even though it screams and bellows for attention directly beneath your upturned noses? How deep will you continue to excavate this hole, this grave, that humanity has been digging itself into? It is not too late, a ladder can still be forged, and an escape made. The hole may be filled and new grass may be grown upon it, but it will take the hands of millions to build the ladder out, and the hands of millions more to plant the seeds. It will take time. It will take blood, sweat, and tears. But it can be done. Our society needs to make a dramatic shift of focus from fossil fuels to greener technologies and energy sources. After all, we are a resourceful species. Why not make use of the tools provided for us so willingly by nature?