What type of energy is being developed to replace fossil fuels?

Answer 1

The only sources of energy are:-

1) Sunlight - falling on the Earth's surface each day (plants are best at using this) and it is this energy which is our food and wood fires etc. We can turn parts of plants into direct (e.g. bio-diesel) replacements for fossil fuels. However, there is no way that bio-fuels can be produced in enough quantities to replace fossil fuels and producing them at all damages more of the wild environment and leaves people will less food.

2) Wind and Waves - actually wind causes the waves and it is Sunlight (heat) that drives the wind - we can and are making more use of energy from wind and waves to help us reduce use of fossil fuels.

3) Hydroelectric energy - we are already using this energy source where practical and again it must be appreciated that the source of this energy is the Sun's heat.

4) Geothermal Energy - the inside of the Earth is hot and in some rare locations (e.g. Iceland) this heat can be harvested and used. Geothermal energy is not a viable replacement for fossil fuels.

5) Tidal energy - this energy is the kinetic energy stored in Earth's spinning on its axis. The Moon pulls up a tidal wave twice a day and it is certainly possible to make more use of tidal energy by building barrages across estuaries and installing power turbines. The problem is the impact on the estuarine biome and silting up. Installing turbines in tidal channels is also possible but salt water is very corrosive and encrusting biological growth on these turbines seems to make this option difficult to do.

6) Fossil Fuels - these are stores ancient Sunlight energy gathered by plants and in animals that died millions of years ago. Geological processes trapped their dead bodies in the rocks and time and pressures have turned these into coal, oil and gas. They are very rich in energy (they have a high energy density) and our civilization has flourished by using them - the environmental cost of this is air pollution and an increase of CO2 in the air causing global warming.

7) Nuclear energy fission - nuclear power stations that use fissionable materials can be built to generate much more of our energy needs than at present. However nuclear power stations cost a lot to build and even more to decommission and if there is an accident vast numbers of people can be made ill (although to be fair the CO2 pollution caused by burning may prove worse).

8) Nuclear energy fusion - we are attempting to develop an industrially viable fusion reactor but at the moment this has not been possible. If we success then this may indeed prove to be a true replacement for fossil fuels. [Cold fusion - this relates to the above and scientifically what was reported has not bee reproduced by other people, so this looks like it was a hoax].

9) Satellite energy stations - the idea here is to put up spacecraft to gather extra sunlight and beam the gathered energy back to earth. The trouble is that space is a very harsh environment and the energy beams needed to get the electricity back to earth would be very very dangerous....all the proposals made so far do not appear viable.

Therefore as you can see there are no realistic alternatives to fossil fuels. This is worrying because if you look at things using an analogy of a man earning a living thus:-

a) Man gets paid a wage for working (= daily sunlight - wind, tide and hydro)

b) Man has inherited a fortune from a relative (= fossil fuels)

c) Man has property, a house and some land (= nuclear, geothermal)

Then this man can have a great time living it up and spending his fortune and mortgaging his property but when this is used up has to go back to living on his wages with a bump.

This analogy mirrors mankind's activity since the industrial revolution. Will our much vaunted civilization and charter of human rights stand up to the coming crash.

One more thought, all the world is talking about fossil fuels being responsible for Global Warming, and while this is indirectly true, the root cause is people using them - the problem is too many people for the world to support. While visiting China last year, I realized that China was the only country in the world actually addressing this with its on birth per person policy.

Answer 2

Renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, hydroelectric, and geothermal power are being developed to replace fossil fuels. These sources are sustainable, environmentally friendly, and help reduce the dependence on non-renewable resources.