Abstract
The World faces many problems, Water, Food, Population and Conflict. Among many of the problems chiefly being Energy. Finding new ways to power the world is a prime concern. This paper will go into the ways and possibly the solutions to the World’s Energy Crisis’.
Michael Adeniken
PART I: How did we arrive at this Energy World Crisis’
In today’s society, energy is one of the most crucial parts of human life. We use energy in everything from the devices used to keep us entertained to the technologies used to make our food. There are no denying power sources are in short supply. Power sources involving fossil fuels are the reason, the main reason human find themselves in their current predicament. Back in the 1700’s Humans started using the steam engine, thus accelerating the need for fossil fuels. The thinking and mindset of today is the only day, led to two hundred years of plateaus. Where the only advancement came from coal, natural gas, oil, and then later nuclear reactors. That thinking in and of itself is not inherently bad, but it can be destructive when important issues like this one are not given the proper future-proofing it deserves. When it comes down to it, no one person is at fault. Human society dictates these situations, time and time again in human history. We as a species lack the natural sense to look ahead more than our own lives. This is due purely to our biology. Humans and every other organic life form have a set life term. Whether that be a couple of years or one hundred. That simple biological fault gives us the just cause to not think twice about our individual future and most importantly other’s futures beyond that set term. Let’s take a look at the eventuality that brings us here to this moment. Electricity. The result of now, three hundred years of energy advancement. Electricity, the way for us to transfer the energy that we generate from fossil fuels and the lot. We burn fossil fuels to generate heat energy, which we use to generate electricity. We also use other sources of power to generate kinetic energy, thus generating more electricity. Meaning our main sources of energy generation come from heat and motion. They are primordial concepts, heat and motion have existed and will continue to exist indefinitely. The problem comes not from those concepts, but in the way we use them. Even though we discovered electricity, we still use sources like fossil fuels to generate said electricity. We have over the last 50 years come up with other ways to generate electricity; wind, solar, and nuclear are among them. These new methods must be combined to even pale in comparison to fossil fuels. Take wind energy for instance, it is purported as a clean energy source. It requires large structures, vast open fields, and the unpredictable nature of predictable weather. Wind energy uses kinetic energy to generate electricity. Yet it doesn’t come close to fossil fuels. Now look at solar energy, another clean energy source. Solar uses heat energy, thus the name to generate electricity. It traps the heat generated by the Sun in very small areas to generate the electricity. The Sun at best is available 12-14 hours a day, meaning your output from this energy source is already mitigated by half. And once again cannot generate the same amount of electricity as fossil fuels. Lastly, let us look at nuclear energy, not always touted as a clean energy source but viewed as better in terms of environmental concerns over fossil fuels. It requires splitting atoms to then heat water, thus generating electricity. While we can generate a considerable amount of electricity with this method. It can be highly unstable when pushed to its limits and requires lots of water which brings more problem to the table. Nuclear energy is however the worthiest of the unworthy competitors. This brings us back to fossil fuels, if after all these years fossil fuels are still at the forefront, where do we go from here?
Part II: What is the Energy World Crisis’
The Energy World Crisis’ is the ever-expanding use and need for sources of energy and therefore electricity by the World. In essence, every single mode through which humans live and thrive and substantiate meaning in our lives; require energy. Just like the fact that humans must eat and drink water to survive. The systems and technologies that make human life able to thrive all require energy as well, commonly in the form of electricity. Where does that bring us? It brings us to a situation in which the world’s demand greatly outweighs the world’s supply. Why is this now the case? At the root we use an inherently inefficient and insufficient energy source to begin with. Yes, fossil fuels. Don’t take this as a complete bad-mouth of fossil fuels. In general, fossils fuels have been a godsend to the human race. Without it, technological advancement would not be possible. As those who came before me, I know it’s uses then and to some extent now. However, do not mistake my understanding for the past as complacency for the future. People mention the term non-renewable when speaking about fossil fuels, but many are misled by this, thinking fossil fuels will run out. That fact needs to be said that fossil fuels will not run out anytime soon. Scientists say we have 50 to 100 years before they run out. Fossil fuels will continue to replenish as long as there is organic life on this planet. The reason people are saying they will run out is the same reason why we find ourselves in the Energy World Crisis’. The demand of fossil fuels cannot keep up with the supply of fossils fuels. In the relating case of fossil fuels, we have our most relied upon energy source, and our most detrimental useful energy source. Can we even slow down the Crisis’ or was it inevitable? The ever-increasing use of electricity and the things that use electricity says we cannot slow down. And the fact that human society was bound to advance means inevitability was surely to find us. Look at this analogy, to explain things further. Electric cars are becoming more and more of a mainstay in the modern society. Electric cars use electricity to power their engines, instead of gasoline/petrol. As we know one of the main way’s we generate electricity is with fossil fuels. This means the only thing electric cars do is prevent double dipping. Do you see where the concern lies? You try and phase out petrol/gasoline cars with electric cars that require petrol/gasoline as a preemptive energy source. But do understand this isn’t a 1:1 ratio, having 10 electric cars to 10 gas/petrol cars is more beneficial. Just the same, having however many gas/petrol cars are out on the road does not outweigh having the same number of electric cars out on the road. Energy, energy, energy will it ever stop, no. The Energy World Crisis’ is here and will not go away until we solve it.
Part III: How to find the solution to the World Energy Crisis’
The solution is simple, create a new energy source, so we can power the world nearly indefinitely today and tomorrow. But if it were that simple, we would have done it already. The problem in our solution lies in the term or objective of creating. Rather, we must think in terms of discovering, but even that term cannot achieve what we want. For us to discover a new energy source, we must break the laws that which nature has set. These laws are the laws of thermodynamics, or conservation of energy. Wait, it is easy to be dismissive of this statement, but think, if somehow, we could amend these rules, whole new possibilities would open up. Take another look at our friend fossil fuels. In that energy system, the fossil fuel is heated which requires a starter source, already a loss. It then heats water into steam, we are taking a loss by using water, and to condense that water back into liquid form and purifying it requires more energy, thus more losses. And finally, the steam turns a turbine connected to transformers and transmission lines. Within any energy producing system, the laws mandate a necessary loss. Most systems can make use of this loss as best as they can, as shown with heat energy. However, the output can never exceed the input, thus bringing us back to our energy supply and demand fixe. Let’s dive deeper into this. The conservation of energy is our main focal point, but we cannot talk about that law without mentioning conservation of mass. Which is that matter can neither be created nor destroyed, only change form or function. Since that law remains constant and true, our output/input hypothesis remains valid. Then how do we get around that principle; we must think about it a different way. We are not after creation, that is most above the paygrade of the human species. What we are after is complete elimination of losses. The operation of a system in which 100% of what you put in, gets 100% outputted, then 100% reused until natural degradation occurs. Let’s look at an example, take human respiration. Humans breath air to survive. When human’s breath air, they breath 78% nitrogen, 20% oxygen, 2% other gases. Now think in terms of the system we’re trying to discover, when human’s breath that initial amount of air. Human’s would use the necessary amount of oxygen to survive. Then split the CO2 molecule into carbon and oxygen. That oxygen is used as required, when the oxygen cannot be used anymore. The body starts nucleogenesis with the remaining carbon atoms. When the carbon cannot be used anymore. The nitrogen atoms will undergo the same process until it cannot be used anymore. Now this is just an approximation but think, taking in a minute’s worth of air can yield years’ worth of air supply. Take that and apply it to a community, where one person breathes, and the entire community can survive. Now you might be thinking, isn’t that just nuclear energy, doesn’t the sun and us to a lesser degree do that. Yes and no. I did just describe nuclear fusion to some degree, but the nuclear energy that humans produce is like reading a blank book with no title, and no words on the pages. You know that it’s a book; that’s it. Meanwhile, the sun’s writing 100,000-word epics every 1/100,000th of a second. The scale and complexity are not comparable. The concept of Nuclear fusion is just easier to comprehend; let’s look at another example. Car’s, the engine takes in gasoline/petrol in order to work. Petrol/gasoline is most hydrocarbons, you mix that with air and you’re able to step on that accelerator. Now the byproducts include CO2 and H2O. Now apply our same system method and you can synthesize hydrocarbons and reuse the remaining air until natural degradation. Then think, one tank of gas that last 400 miles can last 400,000 miles. Why, because this system eliminates losses. From here on out, we’re are venturing into undiscovered territory. The very ideas and discoveries are radical and controversial. Just think, something as simple as burning a piece of paper and being able to turn ash back into the piece of paper. That is how radical we are about to get.
Part IV: Discovering the solution to the World’s Energy Crisis’
Now coming up the hypothesis and then theory is easier said. However, we’re in the business of done and getting results. Where do we start, well we start anywhere we can? We know our method, 100% in, 100% out, 100% reused with natural degradation. Now we must discover our system through which our method can operate. Let’s start with magnets; we use magnets for lot of things including generating electricity. We know that magnets can repel and attract other magnets; let’s build on that. If we place two magnets that repel each other at the right distance, they will continue to repel each other. We can place these two magnets in a closed circular path on some surface. Kinetic motion is now being generated, thus electricity. This is nothing new. We know that the magnets will demagnetize, we can’t sustain the magnets kinetic energy long due to friction and other forces acting on the magnets. And our electrical capture device will require energy as well. Let’s keep working at it. We know that if you are falling indefinitely, you will reach a constant velocity. You won’t simply stop because you’ve falling too far, or too long. In other words, objects can remain at rest or motion constant unless a force acts on it; Newton’s first law. This means we can keep our magnets in constant motion, assuming we remove the surface and take care of every direction (X, Y, Z). We could then produce a constant amount of energy until demagnetization. We still need an electrical capture device that allows for 100% reuse. We could assume in addition to the kinetic energy, the magnets would also produce heat energy. We could have a split capture device. One part that captures the kinetic motion from the magnets and one part that capture the heat energy from everything in the system. The heat capture device could work by diffusion. Starting at cold temperature and then moving to a hotter temperature by way of the heat energy it receives. A device like that would need some sort of inverter to work efficiently. You would need two active diffusers and one passive diffuser, coupled with one inverter. One of the active diffusers goes from cold to hot, then the inverter switches to the other ready diffuser. While the second active diffuser is working, the inverter is changing the first active diffuser back to cold temperature. All the while the passive diffuser is there to power the inverter and scoop up any left-over energy. But the energy needed to power the inverter and passive diffuser are miniscule, making the cycles easily sustainable. That means after all that the only thing we are concerned about is degradation. This is the simplest system we can discover, almost like discovering the steam engine that powered locomotive trains, crude but effective at the time. Let’s not spend too time on the prototype or precursor, let’s look to the eventual successor. We need something that can minimize degradation and secondary and tertiary parts. A simple fall back solution is nuclear fusion, but the conditions to create something like that will come with time. Even though, being able to illicit a high enough temperature, and being able to create the right amount of pressure, and then contain it all; all the while eliminating losses. That is achieving pure nuclear fusion, like the sun. But we want something new, something that hasn’t been discovered yet. Let’s go back to the diffuser part of our system. What we want from that is something that moves low concentration to high concentration. This can be achieved with some sort of heatsink. We would need a material that would be immersed in a liquid substance. When the material and the substance receive heat energy the substance transfers the energy to the material. Once the material reaches capacity. The inverter removes the liquid substance, allowing the material to cool down and start the cycle over again. Now let’s return to nuclear fusion, maybe solving nuclear fusion will help us discover something new. Fusion needs three things, Temperature, Pressure, and Containment; two of which require energy. We need a material that can heat up on its own, with minimally only a starter source. We also need that material to exert immense pressure on itself internally. As for containment, we can come up with a solution that fits the materials needs. This material, or substance, or element is what we’re searching for. If we can discover this, then it will make our jobs easier. The one thing that seems in clear sight is our crude prototype: the magnet diffuser. You place magnets in a confined space free of any surface and possibly minimal air resistance, enough to create terminal velocity. You then collect and capture the kinetic and heat energy through diffuser and enjoy sustainable electricity until the magnets demagnetize or other parts fail.
Part V: What Will Happen If We Don’t Find A Solution
Quite simply our problems get worse. We rely so much on energy and will continue to rely on it more and more. It is in our best interest to find a solution more quickly than humanly possible. If we wait for the natural progression of human nature, we will be further and further behind. Another world problem is water. Water itself deserves a paper in its own right. But water will soon require more energy to purify it. We are running out of freshwater every day. As for the easier things to identify like some of the modern technologies. Something like data centers that run the internet. For a data center, massive amounts of storage, coupled with copious amounts of space and cooling technologies. Everything requires energy.
Article by Michael Adeniken
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