Working with Nature to Green the Environment

The forces of nature, such as water, wind, and the Sun, have been used in many efforts to develop alternative energy sources, but there are considerations for these natural recurring forces that are being eyed for development. Solar collectors, until recently, have been costly in the form of photovoltaic cells, and the Sun's energy is also used for thermal collectors. Research continues to find ways to covert the Sun's energy into power more efficiently.

Solar collectors are in use in a variety of ways, but the largest area of sunshine is not located in the world's deserts. The ocean is the largest solar thermal collector and, according to the United States Department of Energy, it absorbs enough energy from the sun to produce the same amount of thermal energy that is produced by 250 billion barrels of oil every day.

By using the water's temperature, hot on the surface and cold underneath, the difference can create currents used to turn turbines to power generators to produce electricity. The challenge is that current technology doesn't have the mechanisms available to produce the power efficiently enough to be cost-effective.

The oceans are also looked at for the energy expended by waves that researches claim could be used to turn turbines to generate electricity. Off-shore swells and tide changes are potential sources of power for turbines and a couple of projects are in the process of being tested. In New York City, for example, six turbines powered by the tide are being tested, and a new project in Portugal is reliant on waves to provide enough power for about 1,500 homes.

But it isn't just finding new sources of producing electricity that is under development. It is estimated at by the year 2030 over 8,000 tons of carbon dioxide will be emitted into the atmosphere. While steps are being taken to curb this amount many experts agree that it may be impossible to stop it completely. As a result they are looking at finding alternative methods to deal with carbon dioxide.

One suggestion is to inject it into deep underground wells, such as in oil wells that have been abandoned or in saline reservoirs, once it has been separated from other gases. Currently, the cost of separating it is too high to be realistic and it is still unproven that the carbon dioxide will remain in the ground once it is injected. As a short-term measure to keep the gas out of the atmosphere there are still too many unknowns to make it a viable option.