I have my own schedule.
You see, my father is a paediatrician with working hours.
With a house three cities away from school and a history of
getting lost regardless of easy to follow directions, I am pretty much stranded
in a faraway place, every morning I get dropped off to school.
My pick up hours are 3pm and 9pm, if it was in between 3 and
9, well... let’s just say I had no choice but to patiently wait until my dad arrives.
So it wasn’t that rare of a sight to see me aimlessly
wandering around the university late at night relishing in the cold evening
air.
During one of those
nights however, unlike most nights, a stranger said ‘hello’.
It was during the second semester of my second year,
relatively close to summer vacation.
I had tired myself out from walking and decided to rest on a
bench in the school’s plaza.
The school had almost emptied out.
Shamelessly, I occupied one whole bench to rest my legs, my
head supported by a lamp post with another bench on its side.
One of my most favourite
things about the school was the neon blue clock face that always shone proudly
on the old main building’s facade.
With nothing much to do I positioned my head to the side and
watched the slow moving hand tick away, wasting my time as It did.
“Hello” a voice greeted, so very close to my ear, like a
knife cutting through the silence with an edge.
I turned from my position and saw a man in a red jersey
shirt beaming me a friendly smile.
“Been here for quite a while now, thought I should say hello”
“Hello” I greeted back, adding a small bow in courtesy.
He was a lean looking man whose age one could only guess to
be around 20 to 25, a very unimpressive fellow with a pleasant smile.
“By your uniform I s’pose you’re good in art?” He began
lamely, trying to start a conversation.
After a while, words began to form, and sentences flowed
like a river, pouring in rapid currents.
We talked about anything and everything, easily.
The dim lamp light obscuring our faces, like talking to
someone very far away.
I learned his name, major, and year level.
He was an electrical engineering student a year from
graduation.
He began talking about courses and professors, before
finally bringing up his thesis.
“We can do our thesis in groups” he explained.
“We plan on creating energy efficient Railway stations by
installing revolving doors that can charge energy! It’ll be great!”
I made a humming noise to show that I was listening.
Contemplating the simplicity of the idea.
The proposal was very elementary it was shocking, producing
energy through friction? That must have been said and done a million times
already.
But who’s to say I guess.
Before I knew it, our conversation turned into a mini
lecture, animatedly he explained the different types of wiring, using jargon
that went through one ear and out the other.
Until everything came down to energy once again.
I never thought that conversation would ever do me any good,
until I heard these words a year later:
The term "alternative" presupposes a set of undesirable energy technologies against which "alternative energies" are contrasted. As such, the list of energy technologies excluded is an indicator of which problems the alternative technologies are intended to address.
Common Types of Alternative Energy
Solar energy
Is generating of electricity from the sun. It is split up into two types, thermal and electric energy. These two subgroups mean that they heat up homes (and water) and generate electricity respectively.
Wind energy
Is generating of electricity from the wind.
Geothermal energy
Is using hot water or steam from the Earth’s interior for heating buildings or electricity generation.
Bio fuel and Ethanol
Are plant-derived substitutes of gasoline for powering vehicles.
Hydrogen
Is used as clean fuel for airplanes, spaceships, and some cars.
“Alternate Energy Resources”
Common Types of Alternative Energy
Solar energy
Is generating of electricity from the sun. It is split up into two types, thermal and electric energy. These two subgroups mean that they heat up homes (and water) and generate electricity respectively.
Wind energy
Is generating of electricity from the wind.
Geothermal energy
Is using hot water or steam from the Earth’s interior for heating buildings or electricity generation.
Bio fuel and Ethanol
Are plant-derived substitutes of gasoline for powering vehicles.
Hydrogen
Is used as clean fuel for airplanes, spaceships, and some cars.
New Concepts for Alternative Energy
Algae fuel
Is a bio fuel which is derived from algae. During photosynthesis, algae and other photosynthetic organisms capture carbon dioxide and sunlight and convert it into oxygen and biomass. The benefits of algal bio fuel are that it can be produced industrially, thereby obviating the use of arable land and food crops (such as soy, palm, and canola), and that it has a very high oil yield as compared to all other sources of bio fuel.
Biomass briquettes
Are being developed in the developing world as an alternative to charcoal. The technique involves the conversion of almost any plant matter into compressed briquettes that typically have about 70% the calorific value of charcoal. There are relatively few examples of large scale briquette production. One exception is in North Kivu, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where forest clearance for charcoal production is considered to be the biggest threat to Mountain Gorilla habitat. The staff of Virunga National Park have successfully trained and equipped over 3500 people to produce biomass briquettes, thereby replacing charcoal produced illegally inside the national park, and creating significant employment for people living in extreme poverty in conflict affected areas.
Biogas
Digestion deals with harnessing the methane gas that is released when waste breaks down. This gas can be retrieved from garbage or sewage systems. Biogas digesters are used to process methane gas by having bacteria break down biomass in an anaerobic environment. The methane gas that is collected and refined can be used as an energy source for various products.
Biological Hydrogen Production
Hydrogen gas is a completely clean burning fuel; its only by-product is water. It also contains relatively high amount of energy compared with other fuels due to its chemical structure.
2H2 + O2 → 2H2O + High Energy
High Energy + 2H2O → 2H2 + O2
This requires a high-energy input, making commercial hydrogen very inefficient. Use of a biological vector as a means to split water, and therefore produce hydrogen gas, would allow for the only energy input to be solar radiation. Biological vectors can include bacteria or more commonly algae. This process is known as biological hydrogen production. It requires the use of single celled organisms to create hydrogen gas through fermentation. Without the presence of oxygen, also known as an anaerobic environment, regular cellular respiration cannot take place and a process known as fermentation takes over. A major by-product of this process is hydrogen gas. If we could implement this on a large scale, then we could take sunlight, nutrients and water and create hydrogen gas to be used as a dense source of energy. Large-scale production has proven difficult. It was not until 1999 that we were able to even induce these anaerobic conditions by sulphur deprivation. Since the fermentation process is an evolutionary back up, turned on during stress, the cells would die after a few days. In 2000, a two-stage process was developed to take the cells in and out of anaerobic conditions and therefore keep them alive. For the last ten years, finding a way to do this on a large-scale has been the main goal of research. Careful work is being done to ensure an efficient process before large-scale production, however once a mechanism is developed, this type of production could solve our energy needs.
Floating Wind Farms
Are similar to a regular wind farm, but the difference is that they float in the middle of the ocean. Offshore wind farms can be placed in water up to 40 metres (130 ft) deep, whereas floating wind turbines can float in water up to 700 metres (2,300 ft) deep. The advantage of having a floating wind farm is to be able to harness the winds from the open ocean. Without any obstructions such as hills, trees and buildings, winds from the open ocean can reach up to speeds twice as fast as coastal areas.
Algae fuel
Is a bio fuel which is derived from algae. During photosynthesis, algae and other photosynthetic organisms capture carbon dioxide and sunlight and convert it into oxygen and biomass. The benefits of algal bio fuel are that it can be produced industrially, thereby obviating the use of arable land and food crops (such as soy, palm, and canola), and that it has a very high oil yield as compared to all other sources of bio fuel.
Biomass briquettes
Are being developed in the developing world as an alternative to charcoal. The technique involves the conversion of almost any plant matter into compressed briquettes that typically have about 70% the calorific value of charcoal. There are relatively few examples of large scale briquette production. One exception is in North Kivu, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where forest clearance for charcoal production is considered to be the biggest threat to Mountain Gorilla habitat. The staff of Virunga National Park have successfully trained and equipped over 3500 people to produce biomass briquettes, thereby replacing charcoal produced illegally inside the national park, and creating significant employment for people living in extreme poverty in conflict affected areas.
Biogas
Digestion deals with harnessing the methane gas that is released when waste breaks down. This gas can be retrieved from garbage or sewage systems. Biogas digesters are used to process methane gas by having bacteria break down biomass in an anaerobic environment. The methane gas that is collected and refined can be used as an energy source for various products.
Biological Hydrogen Production
Hydrogen gas is a completely clean burning fuel; its only by-product is water. It also contains relatively high amount of energy compared with other fuels due to its chemical structure.
2H2 + O2 → 2H2O + High Energy
High Energy + 2H2O → 2H2 + O2
This requires a high-energy input, making commercial hydrogen very inefficient. Use of a biological vector as a means to split water, and therefore produce hydrogen gas, would allow for the only energy input to be solar radiation. Biological vectors can include bacteria or more commonly algae. This process is known as biological hydrogen production. It requires the use of single celled organisms to create hydrogen gas through fermentation. Without the presence of oxygen, also known as an anaerobic environment, regular cellular respiration cannot take place and a process known as fermentation takes over. A major by-product of this process is hydrogen gas. If we could implement this on a large scale, then we could take sunlight, nutrients and water and create hydrogen gas to be used as a dense source of energy. Large-scale production has proven difficult. It was not until 1999 that we were able to even induce these anaerobic conditions by sulphur deprivation. Since the fermentation process is an evolutionary back up, turned on during stress, the cells would die after a few days. In 2000, a two-stage process was developed to take the cells in and out of anaerobic conditions and therefore keep them alive. For the last ten years, finding a way to do this on a large-scale has been the main goal of research. Careful work is being done to ensure an efficient process before large-scale production, however once a mechanism is developed, this type of production could solve our energy needs.
Floating Wind Farms
Are similar to a regular wind farm, but the difference is that they float in the middle of the ocean. Offshore wind farms can be placed in water up to 40 metres (130 ft) deep, whereas floating wind turbines can float in water up to 700 metres (2,300 ft) deep. The advantage of having a floating wind farm is to be able to harness the winds from the open ocean. Without any obstructions such as hills, trees and buildings, winds from the open ocean can reach up to speeds twice as fast as coastal areas.
Back then, impatience got the best of me and I closed my
ears off, nodding absentmindedly.
“There you are! Why are you waiting here of all places? We’re
going home” My dad called, walking towards us in big steps.
“Your dad?”
“Yes” I answered glancing at the clock to see the small
hand, right at that moment, strike 9.
“It was very nice talking to you” I said, hurriedly slinging
my bag over one shoulder.
“Yeah, it was nice talking to you too”
He said, giving a wave and a smile as he swung his legs back
and forth where he sat.
“See ya!”
I never met him again.
No matter how much I rattle my brain, I can’t seem to recall
his name.
Neither do I remember his face.
All I can remember is taking my Earth and Life Science Quiz,
and cursing my luck for letting his words pass me like the wind.
“Revolving doors huh?”
I breathed, scribbling down anything and everything I could think of.
Anything at all that seemed like the answer to number 1.
Reference:
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I like the last part. xD
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