Alternative energy has become the keystone issue in environmental awareness. This alternative energy consumption in 2013 alone was 2,441 mega tons of oil equivalents (Mtoe), with developing nations such as India and China collectively representing a large chunk of the global consumption.1
Popular culture and billions in research endowments tell us that natural gas (i.e when we have consumed all of it), do not let the headlines fool you completely. It is like that new suit released from the skunk works of high end fashion, tempting at first, maybe it will catch on, and as soon as everybody is finished looking ridiculous the design crashes and burns. This is principally why nobody looks like they did in high school yearbooks, gone are the days in which sports shoes were anything but neon.
To some extent, alternative energy is very much a fashion. Nuclear power plants have many times the power output than an entire array of solar cells in the dessert, and yet solar energy has caught on more than ever. There have, however, been many other ideas for alternative energies on the table that have never caught on. Think of it as evolution of thought that selects against the weird and impractical, but what is it exactly that has gone into the backburner of alternative energy?
Tornadoes
Tornadoes are known for being engines of destruction, but Louis Michaud of Canada believes that a tornado can be an energy powerhouse for the future.2 The idea is not completely ridiculous—a quick tour of YouTube and something called the news illustrates the power of a wind vortex that can completely destroy cities. A tornado is usually created by a difference in convective airflow caused by warmer currents near the ocean and colder currents near the sky.
https://greeniacs.10web.site/GreeniacsArticles/Energy/Future-of-Wind-Energy.html”>wind based energy . The inventor, a former engineer on gas turbines, has conceptualized a tornado generator—aka the Atmospheric Vortex Engine (AVE)—as a stadium sized structure flanked by high walls with warm humid air being pumped at the center of the structure to help create a vortex that will resemble a self-contained tornado. As the winds in the vortex spin up to 200mph, a series of turbines at the base of the tornado are purported to generate as much as 200 megawatts of electricity. There is an added genius to this concept, Michaud proposes to use the waste heat from conventional power plants to power the AVE thereby further maximizing energy utilization from the same green or fossil fuel based inputs by 40%.
There are, however, a few problems. First, all of this magical energy is still very theoretical with Michaud still working on a 4-meter wide prototype near his home with no investors footing the bill at the moment. Furthermore, imagine the paranoia of living a few miles away from what is essentially a “self-contained” tornado enclosed by a few high walls. High walls were certainly not enough to stop many of the tornadoes that have caused mass destruction in the South. Additionally, if we are all prepared to throw our risk adversity to the wayside, then why not have a nuclear power plant maybe few miles of the coast of California? The yield from one nuclear power plant is several times that of Michaud’s vortex. The concept itself, however, is extremely clever but perhaps not something that will be seen in the near future.
Chocolate and Coffee
It is almost every child’s fantasy—to have the world made up of and potentially run on chocolate! Quite honestly, it would be difficult to get anywhere if the world were fueled by chocolate as the demand for fuel would almost certainly parallel a massive temptation to eat the substance. But if we have learned the alchemy of converting chocolate to fuel, what is next, the ability of converting lead into gold? More technically, chocolate can be used to generate biodiesel and power diesel-based vehicles. Through a series of reactions, left over chocolate from factories rich in fats and oils can be can be converted into a type of diesel fuel compatible with most vehicles.4 Astonishingly, in 2007 Andy Pang and John Grimshaw of England had ventured to drive a diesel truck powered by chocolate to Timbuktu from England for a journey total of 4,500 miles.5
Coffee—also a partially oily substance—has the ability to create biofuel as well. This discovery was made accidently by a professor at the University of Nevada who happened to leave his coffee on the table overnight, only to realize the next morning a ring of oil near his cup.6 In fact, after further analysis the researchers uncovered that coffee contains 10-15% of oil by weight. Who knew that a fresh cup of Joe could power more than a sleepy mind in the early hours of the day, and indeed any food item with a fair amount of oil or fat can be converted into a biofuel. This of course opens the flood gates for boutique fuel parlors, an opportunity for an adventurous crowd to quarrel over Twinkie or Oreo based biofuels in the distant future.
Foot Power
https://web.archive.org/web/20160404101222if_/http://www.youtube.com/embed/nzHP7Z46gokEnvisioned by a Dutch company as a means of providing sustainable energy to power the million watt speakers of night clubs, Energy Floors 3 take human energy to a brand new level. Imagine a dance floor, loud and alive with the thump of music and people dancing the night away. Amazingly, this up and down dancing motion across a night club can be utilized to create useful energy that can be subsequently directed back into the energy grid. As someone dances, or even walks on these modified floors, their movements drive a piston-like movement on modified floor panels that compress up and down like a spring. Imagine an entire main street lined with energy floors, and it is this potential for free energy that has driven a number of projects and events (check them out here) to adopt this energy conversion system. In fact, why limit the technology to walk ways, even roads with automobiles could generate this spring like compression force on modified energy floors to power our homes as we commute back to them. While the technology is still at its infancy for practical implementation, it does offer a view into the future of human based energy.
Urine and Excrement
Think about it, these are the most thrown away substances in the world and it seems a shame that one cannot utilize body waste for productive reasons. In fact, feces and urine are rich in biodegradable organic matter from which combustible gases can be harnessed. A waste company in Massachusetts—Park Spark—and another in California are in fact honing in on an initiative to convert dog waste into drinking water , another project in the works!
Whether it be derived from foods we love or dance parties, there is a vast array of quirky but creative means of generating renewable energies. While the appeal and practicality may not hold for their bright prospect in the present, perhaps in the future the idiosyncratic may no longer be a comical expression of human creativity but a practical reality in a global society with an ever increasing demand for energy.
