I’ve spent a week of intensive study on forms of renewable energy. Haha, but I’m not a scientist. However, in my browsing, I’ve discovered some fascinating tech. These things might blow your mind, I’m warning you to take a deep breath.
Solar power only operates during the day, when it’s sunny. Expensive batteries have to supplement the system to make it work outside of these parameters.
Wind power only works when it’s windy.
Hydropower only works if you have a fast flowing river nearby.
Fossil fuel is ridiculously hard to mine, transport and harvest into energy, yet this is what the world relies on because of vested interests. Once you’ve extracted the fossil fuels, they still need to be turned into usable electricity or heat by power plants or burning. Consider how difficult this entire process is, consider how difficult it is to build and maintain, for instance, a nuclear power plant or drill for oil. OMG, just think about it.
In the quest for cheap electricity, scientists have tried and failed to build the dream - a perpetual motion machine:-
The first and most prevalent thing is that there’s no such thing as perpetual motion. Obviously, not! If there was, we’d all have free energy, right? The laws of thermodynamics aside, there are some really interesting old technologies out there that should be looked at, really. These ideas could be developed into something, if people applied their minds.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minto_wheel
Picsource
Developed by a chap named Wally Minto the concept is that an unstable, easy to boil and condense liquid is encased in a vacuum tube, which spins on an axis, in alternate configuration with its exact opposite. The wheel spins on the principle that the liquid encased in the tube at the top of the wheel will be a gas, which is light, while the liquid at the bottom will be condensed, making it heavy.
As the element is exposed to the atmosphere in combination with a source of heat, like hot water, at its base, the wheel spins - FOREVER. Making it the closest thing you’re ever going to find to perpetual motion. To me, it’s amazing that nothing has ever been done to develop this idea further, except for the drinking bird toy, which we’ve all seen at some point in our lives.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drinking_bird
Pic source
https://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1003&context=physics_students
You really need to watch the video, in which it is explained that a magnetised channel between two pieces of metal that is electrified (positive/negative) with salted water in it, will cause the water to flow, FOREVER (imagine the possibilities). Actually, all electric motors work on this principle. But…but, what’s the point, I hear you say - why use charged electrodes to drive a system, using electricity to generate work. Haha, what if I told you that there’s a device that will charge this system without electricity; it’s called a Peltier device. Peltier devices (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermoelectric_cooling) can produce an electric charge if a heat differential is presented over its two opposing surfaces. This means that we could produce flowing water, to drive a turbine and produce electricity from nothing more than compost. Imagine THAT! Obviously, this type of set up in which water flows, non-stop is also, pretty much, perpetual motion.
These are just two amazing scientific techs, that could be used with amazing results, that could lead to cheap, non-toxic power for the world.
Sources are in the main text. Pictures from Wikipedia are linked above
