Alternative energy sources for the future.?

Question

What are they and how would they work???
What would they be in order of cheapest to most expensive???
Also, please explain each of them. :)

And what type of energy source could we be using in the future to run our cars, trucks, aircraft etc etc???

Answer 1

If I were in charge, It would be as simple as this. there would be powerplants that ran on prison power. You take all the child molesters, rapists, and murderers and put them in there own giant hamster wheel. The hamster wheels all operate ther own little generator, that powers a transformer, that turns the low voltage into high voltage and passes it over transmission lines to sub-stations. If the inmate refuses to walk run or jog, just shock him into complience. The utility bills that we know pay, would pay for upkeep and keeping the prisoners fed, instead of our tax dollars. This frees up money for tax breaks. When the inmate dies, his body is taken to an alternate power plant were it is burned. The smoke and steam from all the burning prisoner bodies will turn a turbine that powers a large generator. With future advances in electric cars and power cells, we would be able to drive across country at the maximum speed limits on one fully charged battery, charged of course by the electricity produced by prison power. Believe it or not, I wrote a paper on this in a criminal justice class and got an A.

Answer 2

Responder d benton_smith's answer is technically correct but economically impractical. The costs of the physical plant to use solar, tidal, or wind sources make their use uneconomic at present. Example: it now costs about $10 a watt to install a solar electric plant; each watt of capacity can generate an absolute maximum of 2000 watt-hours per year, which at current prices is worth perhaps 25 cents -- clearly, not worth it. (Get the cost down to a buck a watt, and then you'd have a deal.)
The problem with biofuels is not so much the capital cost as the operating cost. It takes roughly a gallon of petroleum fuel (120,000 BTU) to make and get to market a gallon of ethanol (85,000 BTU). Not a winner.
It may be possible to build a car that gets 100 miles to the gallon (Amory Lovins has done some interesting work here -- see www.rmi.org), but it is not now feasible, and it is not obvious that you would care to ride in one. And replacing the existing fleet is a multi-trillion dollar deal.
So, where do we go from here? Nuclear energy is the best bet. But it won't happen soon; there is still a lot of coal in the ground which can be mined cheaply. And reserves of tar sands and shale oil are sufficient to supply the transportation fleet for centuries (although not cheaply). There is no credible replacement for hydrocarbon fuels for vehicular use (hydrogen has big problems, of which the worst is that it isn't cheap), so any future source of cheap primary energy could well be used to synthesize such fuels starting from water and carbon-containing compounds (ideally, carbon dioxide).

Answer 3

Well apart from solar energy which is still being perfected (current solar panels are not efficient enough to properly power any type of vehicle) there are wind power and nuclear energy. The first seems an unlikely option for a car or a plane but could work for ships and boats. Think about it: installing a wind powered power plant on a cargo ship that could generate and then store power to be used instead of petrol. The second could actually be the solution for the upcoming oil crisis. If radiation leaks could be completely reduced and car sized nuclear engines could be built than the sky would be the limit because nuclear power plants need very little material to generate large amounts of energy.

Answer 4

Sorry I haven't given this a lot of deep thought, but here are a few ideas right of the top of me brain:

Easiest first. 50 to 100 percent of the heating, cooling and water heating needs of a small, well designed house can be provided by low tech solar, especially if the occupants are healthy and dress properly for the season.

Their domestic electrical needs can be provided by remarkably small photo voltaic panels, small wind turbines, and their own muscles. The only reason wind and photovoltaic panels are not more commonly used is because a lifetime of habitual wastefulness enabled by unrealistically cheap energy has produced in us an extremely skewed and out-of-proportion notion of how much electricity we actually need in order to live well and comfortably.

Think in terms of efficiency and suddenly the viability of innumerable alternative energy sources becomes apparent. For example: an LED (light emitting diode) flashlight produces all the illumination really needed for many tasks, like reading a book or finding the way to the kitchen for a midnight snack, and one can produce enough juice to run it from the body motion of making the trip.

If automobiles got 100 miles per gallon of fuel (entirely possible,) then fuel could cost 4 times what we now pay... in other words, $10 to $15 per gallon... without having much negative impact on our personal finances nor on the corporate finances of the energy giants who just can't seem to live with themselves unless they're squeezing out the last drop of our life's blood through the narrow aperture of our back pocket.

At that price a large number of completely renewable energy sources become economically/ environmentally/ technically and (most importantly) physically feasible. Moreover, since we only need one fourth as many gallons, such heretofore silly solutions (like ethanol from agricultural waste or synthetic diesel from coal) become practical. Combine the increased fuel economy with reducing ones driving by half, and the world could breath a lot easier and a lot longer.

Ultimately, as you know, all of the alternatives (aside from nuclear energy) are based in one way or another on the sun, and all of the alternatives which produce more energy than they consume in the manufacturing- distribution- operation process are viable IF used efficiently, even nuclear energy (the most expensive in several ways)

The trick is not in identifying or developing old or new alternative energy sources. The trick is in learning efficiency when all we've been taught is an orgy of waste.

I'm afraid the future is a matter or waste not want not... or else.

Answer 5

According to the latest explorations, the future fuel will be hydrogen. It is easy to produce ( by electrolysis of water) and is renewable, because it's burning produce water, from which it has been made before. Only problems are the safety of the vehicles that would use hydrogen and the sky-high price of production in safe manner.

It is a long-term plan. In short-term view, biodiesel would be the most promising fuel, for the next couple of decades. It is made out of wasted organic materials that contain oil, as well as of the exausted oil itself. Recycling of the used oils (especially edible oils) is the way the biodiesel is produced. However, it could pollute the air in some ways, so, in spite of it's low price, all efforts are aimed to the creation of system for safe use of hydrogen as a fuel of the future.

Answer 6

There are some misconceptions floating around: Fuel cells are not energy sources, they are energy converters. Likewise, batteries, hydrogen-powered engines, and so forth are not sources.

Oil, gas, and coal deposits are not original sources since they are the result of millions of years of solar energy captured and cached within the earth. But they are still sources. (Maybe not very good sources since their use increases the CO2 level in the atmosphere.)

Nuclear reactions are original sources, including the nuclear reactions taking place in the Sun. Just about every other energy source on Earth is driven by one of these. One exception I can think of is tidal energy (driven by the orbital momentum of the Earth and Moon). Another is Geothermal (driven by the heat left over from our planet's gravitational collapse from space dust).

Any of these non-carbonaceous sources can be harnessed to make hydrogen by electrolysis of water or catalytic reduction of steam. This can be used as vehicle fuel directly, or it can be combined with atmospheric CO2 to make fuel alcohol. Both of these result in no additional atmospheric CO2.

Answer 7

There are many promising alternative energy sources for the future. My favorite one is fuel cell technology. Fuel cells can vary greatly, from higher operating temperatures, to different catalysts, etc. PEM Fuel Cells, A.K.A. Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells, A.K.A. Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells, use hydrogen, one of the most abundant elements in the known universe, as fuel. PEM fuel cells use a solid polymer as an electrolyte and porous carbon electrodes containing a noble metal catalyst, usually platinum. They need only hydrogen and do not require corrosive fluids like other fuel cells. They are typically fueled with pure hydrogen supplied from storage tanks or onboard reformers. Pure hydrogen can also be "decomposed" from water using an electrolizer. PEM fuel cells operate at relatively low temperatures, around 80 degrees Celsius. Low temperature operation allows them to start quickly, which results in less wear on the system components, resulting in better durability. However, it requires that a noble metal catalyst, usually platinum, be used to separate the hydrogen's electrons and protons, adding to system cost. The platinum catalyst is extremely sensitive to CO poisoning, making it neccesary to employ an additional reactor to reduce CO levels in the fuel gas, if the hydrogen happens to be derived from an alcohol or hydrocarbon fuel. This also adds to system cost. PEM Fuel Cells are used primarily for trasportation and some stationary applications. They are clean, since they emmit only water vapor as a by-product, are silent, because they do not use an internal combustion engine, and are very light, in terms of weight. If you are interested in fuel cell technology, there are many experiments you can do. Just use a search engine, such as Yahoo!, to research further by yourself.

Answer 8

Power can be generated by ocean tides. This form of hydroelectric power can be used to run huge air compressors, which would provide air pressure that would push subways through urban tunnels. The trains would glide like pucks on an air hockey table.

Answer 9

the electricity is the top one being explored for runing cars. You would charge your car every night like a cell phone instead of taking it to the gas station... the wind/ solar power are also being suggested but they are the most expensive ones and dont work as well as gas (petroleum) and electricity

Answer 10

Pinto Beans. Hot spicy foods. Cabbage.
They all get the gas in ME!
Really, the US auto industry is moving toward H± power. It's the cleanest burning, most prevelant sourse of energy on Earth. AND, it's waste, is PURE WATER!! You NA DRINK H± after it's BURNED!!