Limitless clean energy Part 3
Tidal energy can be used in two ways. The first is based on the difference between the tide level and low tide level. In tidal power plant, the water accumulated in the lift and then passed through a conventional hydroelectric installation at low tide. However, this method can only be applied where there is a significant tidal range, a significant difference in the tidal height and tidal waves.
Another approach is to use the velocity and mass of tidal currents, in other words, the kinetic energy of sea waves. Projects on application of tidal energy and the energy of ocean currents is only developing and has not yet received wide distribution. In Norway, a working prototype tidal power plant installed energy company Hammerfest strøm (Hammerfest Strøm) Kvalsundet Strait, off the coast of the municipality of Hammerfest in 2003. The waters between Scotland and the Orkney Islands has a favorable conditions for the construction of a fleet of 40 tidal turbines, Hammerfest strøm plans since 2011 to start the flow of electricity generated by these installations, consumers 40 thousand British households.
The capture and processing of methane
São Paulo - the largest metropolis in Brazil and one of the biggest cities of the Earth. By 2012, São Paulo's plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30%. But the authorities have managed to achieve a 20 per cent reduction of emissions by using technologies to capture methane that accumulates in landfills of the city.
Methane is one of greenhouse gases. Compared to carbon dioxide, the greenhouse effect of this pollutant 22 times more intense, although of a shorter methane lifetime. Methane is formed during decomposition of various organic materials, and 60% of the total amount of this gas in the earth's atmosphere are anthropogenic emissions, in particular emissions from agricultural activities. In General, the content of the global emissions of all gases that lead to climate change, 2% are emissions of methane emanating to the atmosphere from landfills. The formation of methane in household organic waste accumulating in municipal landfills, continues for at least 30 years.
Sao Paulo is serious about this issue. Landfill cover layer of soil and a special film to prevent the release of methane into the atmosphere. Then this gas is collected and burned to generate electricity. Methane, thus, became one of the sources of electricity for a huge metropolis with a population of 19 million people.
After processing the methane from landfills can be used not only for producing electricity but also for heating and for the production of fertilizers and fuel for transportation. At the University of new Hampshire in the US, 85% of the total energy consumption for electricity and heat generated from methane, which catches on a nearby garbage landfill of Terni (Turnkey). In Iceland the fuel from methane waste at a waste recycling plant in Alsace (Alfsnes) near Reykjavik, the ride two buses, thirteen refuse trucks, two trucks and 110 private vehicles who otherwise would buy fuel with fuel derived from hydrocarbon sources. In Norway and the European Union recently, a ban on dumping organic waste in landfills.
In many developing countries, the problem of waste disposal becomes more serious as the level of living of the population. In this regard, the increasing number of quotas issued by the UN to companies engaged in the processing of landfill methane. Quota can be sold on the international market of quotas on emissions that contribute to commercial attractiveness of projects for the utilization of methane from solid waste.
Efficient energy consumption
Imagine a grid that not only delivers to your house electricity, but also helps you to reduce energy consumption, reduce electricity bills and reduce emissions in your city. What is it fiction or reality?
The concept of smart grids includes a number of different solutions, but the essence is the same: to find a new approach to electricity and energy consumption in order to increase the economical use of energy. One example of such solutions is the introduction of automatic metering and monitoring electric power consumption. The consumer gets accurate information about how much energy it consumes, at what time, and how much it costs him in the wallet.
The idea is to give the consumer the opportunity to control the energy consumption through different functions of the automatic control, which can be ordered from the supplier of electricity. Thus, we choose when we use electricity to save on bills, unable to decide whether to connect us to the supplier receiving electricity from alternative sources in General, themselves contribute to make the energy consumption more efficient.
This innovative approach is already used in some cities, as for example, in the U.S. boulder, Colorado. In May 2008 the authorities of boulder, launched the first U.S. program of "Smart grid" (Smart Grid City), in which the pilot study of alternative possibilities of energy supply. To the "smart grid" is already connected 50 thousand residents. Many have installed on the roofs of houses solar panels, others have developed machines with electric drive, and some are already enjoying the control over electricity consumption and heating through the Internet.
The program gives everyone the ability to control individual energy consumption, contributing to reducing the overall burden on the environment. These are only first steps, but behind them is a huge prospects for a new, more reasonable policies energy use in the entire country. In the end, everyone can become not only a consumer but also a kind provider that provides exactly as much energy as necessary to meet their needs.