The Parabolic Solar Oven
The rising costs of non-renewable sources of energy because of its dwindling stocks has led to people looking for alternative forms of energy for their electricity, fueling and cooking needs.
One of the most preferred and convenient forms of alternative energy is solar energy, which is harnessed in many consumer products and both in homes and commercial establishments.
When you think of solar power in your equipment, the first thing that comes to mind is solar panels. However there are some products that have a more practical use when using solar energy like the parabolic solar oven.
Solar energy is one of the best ways of reducing the use of nonrenewable resources.
With solar energy, the sun’s rays are used to create electricity, heat water or other fluids, charge a battery, heat homes through glass windows and cook food.
Usually a solar oven is used for cooking food which is used instead of firewood and other fuels to cook meals. One of the more famous solar ovens is the parabolic solar oven.
Converting organic matter to hydrogen fuel with microbial electrolysis cell
With energy sources depleting by the second, researchers are always on the lookout for new and renewable sources of energy to meet the energy needs of the future.
One of the types of energy that is currently in demand is using ethanol as a fuel. However this is not that feasible as a renewable source of energy as producing economical ethanol from cellulose is expected to take a minimum of 10 more years.
This is because according to environmental engineering researchers, first cellulose has to be broken into sugars so that it is possible for bacteria to converts them into ethanol.
This is why an alternative method has been suggested where microbial fuel cells are converted into cellulose while other biodegradable organic materials are then released into hydrogen.
Never underestimate the power of tidal power
The earth is undergoing a terrible bout of global warming with the carbon that is emitted by the burning of fossil fuels to generate electricity and when used in vehicles for transportation purposes. Moreover the sources of this fossil fuel are fast diminishing with the increased need of energy with the modernization of countries.
This is the reason scientist and researchers all over the world are thinking and looking for alternative sources of energy which are also renewable and available naturally. And such a source of energy is the energy found in areas having large tidal ranges.
France has been harnessing energy found in tides of bays and estuaries since 1966. Canada and Russia have followed suit and have also managed to generate electricity from tidal waves.
Basically, it is possible to harness and generate electricity form places where there is a large tidal range.
This energy of tidal waves is harnessed by trapping the water so that it is used to turn turbines.
The energy so produced is released through tidal barrages found in either direction. However, generally implementation of tidal power technology worldwide proves to have little potential because of its environmental constraints.
Deep drilling. A form of renewable geothermal energy
Petroleum, coal, oil and charcoal are all sources of energy which will deplete one day or the other in the future. This is the reason there is a continuous and constant search for new and different forms of renewable energy. And in connection with this, researchers from UC Davis, Stanford University, UC Riverside and the University of Oregan have found a renewable energy in deep drilling.
With the Iceland Deep Drilling Project, these researchers intend to sink a deep borehole in places where deep and hot rock is circulated by seawater. The reason they intend to do this is that these sites on land, usually have fresh water circulating them with different chemistry.
In other words, it can be said that this is a dry land version of a deep sea hydrothermal vent which provides researchers with an opportunity at looking at rocks and fluid together in situ. The specialty of the deep ocean hydrothermal vents is that they all support unique communities of living beings.
Cutting the costs of solar power
Solar energy is a type of renewable energy that is today harnessed for producing electricity.
Though this is a source of energy that is free to the user; it is the costs that are associated in buying a solar power system with solar panels and solar cells is rather expensive.
This is why researchers and scientists are working at reducing the costs of buying equipment associated with the harnessing of solar power.
It is because an alternative to fossil fuel based electricity sources is required urgently that scientists aim at reducing the costs of solar power. Moreover, with the help of these alternative sources of energy, the environmental impact of electrical power generation is reduced while the supply of electricity for the future is well secured.
It is possible to reduce the cost of solar power generation with the use of low cost materials as this accelerates the take up of renewable energy technology. This in turn makes these alternate sources of energy more accessible to the people in the developing world.
Creation of a more efficient Organic Solar Cell
The diminishing amount of natural resources and the escalating costs of petroleum and oil have forced many scientists and researchers to look for more efficient energy resources.
Moreover global warming has increased with the burning of fuels for producing energy; which proves that the burning of fossil fuels is not environment friendly.
There are many renewable sources of energy around like the wind and solar energy. However it is better and more feasible for one to harness solar energy as it is possible to fit an individual unit to your home to harness solar energy or to set up a system to provide solar energy to your commercial establishment.
As solar cells are relatively expensive, researchers are working on using plastics to harvest solar energy and accordingly, a discovery has been made at the Center for Polymers and Organic Solids at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Researchers here have worked together to create a new “tandem” organic solar cell that has increased efficiency in harnessing solar energy.
Corn Waste has more potential than ethanol
Urbanization of the world has lead to an increased number of vehicles, houses and electrical appliances which in turn demands and increased amount of fuel.
Countries all over the world have managed to generate electricity using fossil fuels and other non-renewable sources of energy. However there will be a point when all these non-renewable sources of energy get exhausted.
And this is why there is a search for alternative renewable sources of energy going on.
And it was with this aim that some Environmental Engineering researchers have managed to come up with a means of generating ethanol from cellulose.
This cellulose used for generating ethanol is got from the everyday residue of corn, corn stover. Here basically, a microbial fuel cell is used for producing electricity from organic material where electricity is produced once sugar is collected.
There have been previous studies and research conducted where these fuel cells was used in the generation of electricity from glucose and from municipal wastewater. In addition to this, these cells can also generate hydrogen gas directly.
The latest study involves the use of corn stalks and leaves in the generation of electricity with the help of fuel cells.
Every year the United States produces about 250 million tons of corn stalks and leaves that constitutes a third of the waste produced in United States. 90% of this corn stover is usually left unused in the field.
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