Future
Energy
It's no secret that the Earth is running out of fossil fuels
and that some argue we have already passed peak oil. The major
oil companies want to extract every last drop of oil inside the
planet because that is their business model. The same is true
for coal companies and natural gas companies as well.
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Future Energy |
But, the future energy model for mankind will be different from
dependency upon fossil fuels with other energy sources leading
the way. Alternative energy in the future will become mainstreamed
with oil, coal and natural gas fading off into the sunset.
Two of the largest suppliers of energy outside of the Earth's
atmosphere will be major players in the future energy supplies
for mankind. Energy from the sun is almost limitless during the
daytime and the moon has a significant gravitational energy that
influences the tides.
So, looking into the future a bit, solar energy, wind energy
(really a part of solar) and wave energy from large bodies of
water will play a significant role. Right now, as human beings
we don't do nearly enough to capture, contain and store the energy
resources that surround us constantly.
Forget about the typical renewable energy sources for a moment
of wind, solar, geothermal, hydro and bio-energy. Let's talk instead
about some of the most powerful forces of nature of which only
a miniscule percentage is being captured.
Future energy development will be focused on capturing the forces
of Mother Nature such as hurricane winds and storm surges, tornado
energy, lightning strikes, the jet stream, volcanic energy, earthquakes,
floods, wildfires and even avalanches and landslides.
In the near future, as is the case right now, we will not be
able to control Mother Nature and the storms she brings upon us.
But, as we build bigger and more robust devices for capturing
and storing "storm energy" (which will be at first considered
alternative energy), this will help to ease the increased power
demands of the Earth's growing population.
For a moment consider the use of ultra-robust wind turbines in
hurricane alley that store the wind energy at its peak. The same
can be said for off-shore and on-shore wave energy mechanisms
that capture and safely store the energy from the most violent
storms and storm surges.
Also consider high flying "electricity balloons" that
capture inter-cloud lightning strikes during monsoon season.
Now to switch gears a moment lets talk about some other
future energy sources that are now considered "not
for prime time" but have been under development for
a while.
Future Nuclear Fusion
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Future energy from nuclear fusion,
gravity and anti-gravity, magnets and electromagnets,
plasma and zero point energy are just a few of the
promising technologies of today that will be major
players tomorrow.
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Of the sources I've just listed, fusion may just be the
game changer in future energy development. When the ITER
project finally proves that more energy can be created than
consumed and done in a safe manner, then this will spawn
the commercialism of the Age of Fusion.
Of course the Age of Fusion may also loosely parallel the Age
of Traditional Renewable Energy and the Age of Storm Energy Capture.
Even though future energy will involve advanced methods of conservation,
this will ultimately be a losing battle. Conservation will slow
down the need for more energy temporarily only for the so-called
dam to burst at one point and with an explosive needs for more
energy to support human life on Earth plus our adventures to low
earth orbit and beyond.
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