Sustainability and Energy BULLTEK Informative

Energy and the Route to Reverting Environmental Damages

World-wide, our already population of 7+ billion is 55% "urbanites", by the time we reach 9 billion we will be 70 to 80 percent urbanites--we will live in a world of urban agglomerates. It is expected that the world population increases to 9 billion by aprox. 2070 and population age will increase - 2.1 children per couple is needed to replace one generation (after another) and many countries already have rates below this figure.

Even with gains in efficiency, energy use will grow and the consumption per square meter in the cities will soar. Cities then must be fuelled safely, healthier, and with little or no impact to the environment... Yes, it is a reality that we can produce clean energy by combining Nuclear and Solar energy in the process of splitting the H₂atom resulting in a process that can revert much of the greenhouse effect.

Natural Gas, at the beginning of the millennium is recognised as an energy alternative that is viable for continue advancement as an energy source. However, it is not a natural renewable source of energy. The solution for XXI century energy, as seen by our technological horizon is the splitting of H₂.

And on the way from millions of years before the portal to this millennium a series of event presents us with an evolution of energy.

Energy has been a source of innovation even before we even entered into the global habitat. Please notice that the events herein briefly discussed are interwoven between need, innovation and creativity... As known, mitochondria and chloroplasts worked in the presence and absence of sunlight thus "work" occurs (different activities). Then after our arrival (mankind) to the global scene we managed to capture fire. And fire brought on solutions to unknown problems. It provided us with light during darkness, heat during cold and it extended the range of edibles. A larger "repertoire" of edibles (food) did not increase until after a few million years... or to significantly say 10,000 years ago with the advent of organised cultivation, call farming.

And 1086 through 1700 mills proliferated in Europe and 100,000 interrupted streams.

Heat efficiency did not improved until the paradigm was broken after 700 years when Benjamin Franklin invented a "smart" stove—a manageable and efficient heat producing stove. At the time and even after Franklin's "smart" stove we have relied on carbon, and it did not change for approximately 750,000 (whilst some paradigm change other are kept, even within the same realm) years. Carbon (wood) effectively burns approx. 10 carbons for each hydrogen atom—carbon becomes CO₂, and hydrogen becomes H₂ 0... Carbon is the dirty element and hydrogen the clean side of the equation.

As the clean side of the formula, hydrogen has been favoured over carbon for over a century.

Logistically coal, oil, gas and electricity have their challenges. Oil over coal had the advantage that it can flow—coal had to be trained, trucked... Thus oil can be canned in reservoir as large as transatlantic tankers such as the infamous Exxon Valdez.

If flowing is key then gas is king through a system of pipes right onto our kitchens. It provides an excellent hierarchy of storage from its geological formation reservoir until shortly before use (the JIT concept!). Can also be the process to improve its burning performance, while it burns cleaner than its previous counterparts oil, coal and carbon. Note: Coal is all destine to disappear within or before 50 years.

The challenge of the Greenhouse effect resulting in global warming is accelerated by the consequences and usage of various energy sources previously noted herein.

With no exception, gas is also a source of greenhouse gas emission, cleaner, still each unit of energy produced by oil yields ¹/₃ more CO₂ than gas, and coal ²/₃ more. Thus and understandable the decarbonization that we sought is yet to occur, and can only be possible as seen today with the splitting of Hydrogen (H₂).

H₂ yields water vapour and energy, and both can be environmentally friendly (reused). The energy to "cook" H₂ must not be a carbon slaved, it will defy the purpose. Thus as energy alternatives solar and photo voltaic routes come about and as with better performance with the current nuclear energy technology which is better suited for the task. Nuclear energy, overnight, can produce energy from splitting H₂.

Thus the evolution has gone in transitions from Coal to Oil to Gas... And now... to Hydrogen. The challenges are there, and it is as simple as imaginative....

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