Environmental Engineers Try to Capture Renewable Energy

Environmental Engineers try to capture energy in the sense of discovering ways to harness this energy whether it be solar, wind, tidal, biomass or geothermal. The use of fossil fuels for all of our needs is on the brink of running out and once this happens, it will not be a promising future. For fossil fuels such as oil to be produced it takes millions of years to happen and we need the energy now. Therefore fossil fuels are a finite resource meaning we cannot get more of it, this is why we need to switch to renewable energies like solar and wind. The sun will always produce solar waves and the wind will always blow. These are renewable energies because no matter how much of it we use we will never run out.

The only problem is finding efficient ways of capturing these energies and converting them to electricity. For solar they use photovolatic cells known as PV cells. For tidal power such as Annapolis Royal as the tides come in they turn turbines producing energy and as the tides come out the same thing happens just like a dam. With geothermal they are using the Earth's core heat to produce steam, which turns the turbine to produce energy. Biomass has different functions depending on the environment it is in.

Photovolatic cells for energy has been used for many years but not to the extent that is now required mostly because it is more expensive than traditional methods. One option to lower costs is to make the cells out of cheaper material but this can lower the conversion efficiency. So we have to increase the efficiency of the cells. Cells with high efficiency can be used in solar generators where the light that the sun provides can be collected over a larger area and is then converted into a small photovolatic cell. Thermophovoltaic systems are also used where the cells are lit up by high intensity light that comes from a very strong source such as the combustion of fuel. The cells used by solar energy are much more popular as they do not require any of our resources.

Tidal energy generators use systems that extract energy from the energies of the tides, oceans and offshore winds. The system works with electrolyzer and fuel cell technology. Also hydrogen can be produced as an end product.

Geothermal energy transfers the heat or cooling from the ground into the building above. The earth in cooling mode will absorb the heat of the fluid, which is cool. When the earth is in warming mode the fluid will absorb the heat of the earth.

Biomass is when biomass material which is grown nearby to the furnace and the oils from the plants or the plants themselves are burned by a generator and converted into heat.

The world is in desperate need of alternative sources of energy. Our natural resources will be what in turn allow us to live our lives using energy the way we do. Energy conservation is very important, as what we have, needs to last while Environmental Engineers work to develop more economical and plausible alternatives. As long as we are always aware that, we need to do what we can, time will not be our enemy and alternatives will be found and used.

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