News about Solar, Wind and alternative green power technologies

The sun provides an incredible amount of energy, yet barely exploited. Just to make it clear, plants (biomass) use barely a thousandth of the energy emitted to them by the sun. In this sense, solar power can be considered as being limitless for plants.

When talking about energy people seldom make the interconnection between a source of energy to another one. –e.g. Sun to wind and biomass-.The sun is the source of energy to most renewable energy harnessed on earth. Nuclear and geothermal energy are the exceptions. They do not use the energy from the sun. Otherwise, most of the other sources do use it, for instance, wind is formed through atmospheric pressure (temperature of air). Plants grow through a process called photosynthesis. Wave energy is influenced by weather (wind and sun). In other words, they are all associated to sun energy.

Common Used Solar Power Systems
1. Thermal Power Plants (more than 1, 000 Degree Celsius)
Thermal power plants make use of concentrated solar power that is mirrored to a specific point to produce a steam effect, initiating a turbine. Energy is thereby produced.

2. Solar Collectors (Home Use)
Solar collectors such as a solar water heater are becoming pervasive technology used nowadays. It is a convenient mean to reduce electricity consumption and therefore, eliminate some dollars spent each month on the electricity bill.

3. Photovoltaic
This is the most widely accepted way to harness energy from the sun directly. Moreover, solar panels are holding promises for the future as production cost of photovoltaic is gradually reaching reasonable levels. Moreover, he technology is thanks to its convenience (off-grid) being used in poor countries to supply the deprived with some basic energy supply.

Pierre Joliot, Professor at the prestigious Collège de France and former chair of cellular bioenergetics has made intense research on energy conversion. He has examined the biology of plants; how the photosynthesis mechanism functions. The following analysis is based from Pierre Joliot’s perspective on photosynthesis.

Renewable Energy: Photosynthesis

Photosynthesis can be considered as a hidden agenda to the public. In simple terms, photosynthetic is a mechanism that changes solar energy into chemical energy. The photosynthesis process is an indispensable process, apart from its synthesized organic cycle, it does also regenerate oxygen (recycle carbon dioxide). Recycling oxygen is a fundamental aspect to assure life on our planet.

What about Improving the Photosynthesis Process

Science is focusing on using green energy; we are talking about bio-fuel. Bio-fuel is derived from biomass, which has been produced from photosynthesis. Yet, plants do typically only store 1% of sun’s energy in their organic components. In considering the process of sowing and harvesting the balance of energy collected can likely go into the negative side. More energy might be wasted collecting the biomass than what is reaped from it.

Moreover, large areas of lands are also required to make biomass profitable. Evitable, this puts a lot of strain on food supply and debates on starvation turns into an alarming issue. The only viable solution to tackel the dual dilemma of inefficiency and food shortage is to increase the efficiency of collecting food and to use food crop waste to produce energy. Today, this is exactly what is being done. The majority of biomass productions is generated from food or crop wastage.

More Solutions: Artificial Photosynthesis

Science is considering artificial photosynthesis as a plausible solution. Artificial photosynthesis is a possible competitive alternative to photovoltaic energy. The photosynthetic mechanism is a process that has evolved over billions of years. It is similar to other evolutionary aspects of biological processes such as humans. Artificial photosynthesis is not about imitating the creation of Mother Nature. It is more about communication and re-engineers certain components of the process. This could ensuring better absorption capacity of the energy provided by the sun.

Nevertheless, to be realistic artificial photosynthesis is far more complex than photovoltaic technology. This brings us to the conclusion that photovoltaic is more likely to become more efficient, cheaper and used in the modern world. However, research in the photochemical conversion of solar energy should indeed continue to assure a bouquet of alternatives for the future.

Source: Alternatives Areva