geothermal energy- this is the energy of heat that is released from the inner zones of the Earth over hundreds of millions of years. According to geological and geophysical studies, the temperature in the Earth's core reaches 3,000-6,000 °C, gradually decreasing in the direction from the center of the planet to its surface. The eruption of thousands of volcanoes, the movement of blocks of the earth's crust, earthquakes testify to the action of the powerful internal energy of the Earth. Scientists believe that the thermal field of our planet is due to radioactive decay in its depths, as well as the gravitational separation of the core matter.
The main sources of heating the bowels of the planet are uranium, thorium and radioactive potassium. The processes of radioactive decay on the continents occur mainly in the granitic layer of the earth's crust at a depth of 20-30 km or more, in the oceans - in the upper mantle. It is assumed that at the bottom of the earth's crust at a depth of 10-15 km, the probable temperature value on the continents is 600-800 ° C, and in the oceans - 150-200 ° C.
A person can use geothermal energy only where it manifests itself close to the Earth's surface, i.e. in areas of volcanic and seismic activity. Now geothermal energy is effectively used by such countries as the USA, Italy, Iceland, Mexico, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, the Philippines, Hungary, El Salvador. Here, the internal heat of the earth rises to the very surface in the form of hot water and steam with a temperature of up to 300 ° C and often breaks out as the heat of gushing sources (geysers), for example, the famous geysers of Yellowstone Park in the USA, geysers of Kamchatka, Iceland.
Geothermal energy sources divided into dry hot steam, wet hot steam and hot water. The well, which is an important source of energy for the electric railway in Italy (near Larderello), has been powered by dry hot steam since 1904. Two other well-known places in the world with hot dry steam are the Matsukawa field in Japan and the geyser field near San Francisco, where geothermal energy has also been used effectively for a long time. Most of all in the world of wet hot steam is located in New Zealand (Wairakei), geothermal fields of slightly less power - in Mexico, Japan, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Russia.
Thus, four main types of geothermal energy resources can be distinguished:
surface heat of the earth used by heat pumps;
energy resources of steam, hot and warm water near the earth's surface, which are now used in the production of electrical energy;
heat concentrated deep below the surface of the earth (perhaps in the absence of water);
magma energy and heat that accumulates under volcanoes.
Geothermal heat reserves (~ 8 * 1030J) are 35 billion times the annual global energy consumption. Only 1% of the geothermal energy of the earth's crust (depth of 10 km) can provide an amount of energy that is 500 times greater than all the world's oil and gas reserves. However, today only a small part of these resources can be used, and this is due primarily to economic reasons. The beginning of the industrial development of geothermal resources (energy of hot deep waters and steam) was laid in 1916, when the first geothermal power plant with a capacity of 7.5 MW was put into operation in Italy. Over the past time, considerable experience has been accumulated in the field of practical development of geothermal energy resources. The total installed capacity of operating geothermal power plants (GeoTPP) was: 1975 - 1,278 MW, in 1990 - 7,300 MW. The United States, the Philippines, Mexico, Italy, and Japan have achieved the greatest progress in this matter.
The technical and economic parameters of the GeoTPP vary over a fairly wide range and depend on the geological characteristics of the area (depth of occurrence, parameters of the working fluid, its composition, etc.). For the majority of commissioned GeoTPPs, the cost of electricity is similar to the cost of electricity produced at coal-fired TPPs, and amounts to 1200 ... 2000 US dollars / MW.
In Iceland, 80% of residential buildings are heated with hot water extracted from geothermal wells under the city of Reykjavik. In the western United States, about 180 homes and farms are heated by geothermal hot water. According to experts, between 1993 and 2000, global electricity generation from geothermal energy more than doubled. There are so many reserves of geothermal heat in the United States that it could theoretically provide 30 times more energy than the state currently consumes.
In the future, it is possible to use the heat of magma in those areas where it is located close to the Earth's surface, as well as the dry heat of heated crystalline rocks. In the latter case, wells are drilled for several kilometers, cold water is pumped down, and hot water is returned back.
The main sources of thermal energy of the Earth are [ , ]:
To date, only the first four sources have been quantified. In our country, the main merit in this belongs to O.G. Sorokhtin and S.A. Ushakov. The following data is mainly based on the calculations of these scientists.
Heat of the Earth's gravitational differentiation
One of the most important regularities in the development of the Earth is differentiation its substance, which continues at the present time. This differentiation resulted in the formation core and crust, change in the composition of the primary robes, while the separation of an initially homogeneous substance into fractions of different densities is accompanied by the release thermal energy, and the maximum heat release occurs when the terrestrial matter is divided into dense and heavy core and residual lighter silicate shell earth mantle. At present, most of this heat is generated at the border mantle - core.
Earth's Gravitational Differentiation Energies for the entire time of its existence stood out - 1.46 * 10 38 erg (1.46 * 10 31 J). Given energy for the most part first goes into kinetic energy convective currents of the mantle substance, and then in warm; another part of it is spent on additional compression of the earth's interior, arising due to the concentration of dense phases in the central part of the Earth. From 1.46*10 38 erg energy of the Earth's gravitational differentiation went to its additional compression 0.23*10 38 erg (0.23*10 31 J), and in the form of heat released 1.23*10 38 erg (1.23*10 31 J). The magnitude of this thermal component significantly exceeds the total release in the Earth of all other types of energy. The time distribution of the total value and rate of release of the thermal component of gravitational energy is shown in Fig. 3.6 .
Rice. 3.6.
The current level of heat generation during the gravitational differentiation of the Earth - 3*10 20 erg/s (3*10 13W), which depends on the value of the modern heat flux passing through the surface of the planet in ( 4.2-4.3) * 10 20 erg / s ((4.2-4.3)*10 13W), is ~ 70%
.
radiogenic heat
Caused by the radioactive decay of unstable isotopes. The most energy-intensive and long-lived ( with a half-life commensurate with the age of the Earth) are isotopes 238 U, 235 U, 232Th and 40K. Most of them are concentrated in continental crust. Modern level of generation radiogenic heat:
- by American geophysicist V.Vakye - 1.14*10 20 erg/s (1.14*10 13W) ,
- according to Russian geophysicists O.G. Sorokhtin and S.A. Ushakov - 1.26*10 20 erg/s(1.26*10 13W) .
From the value of the modern heat flow, this is ~ 27-30%.
Of the total heat of radioactive decay in 1.26*10 20 erg/s (1.26*10 13W) in the earth's crust stands out - 0.91*10 20 erg/s, and in the mantle - 0.35*10 20 erg/s. It follows from this that the proportion of mantle radiogenic heat does not exceed 10% of the total modern heat loss of the Earth, and it cannot be the main source of energy for active tectono-magmatic processes, the depth of which can reach 2900 km; and the radiogenic heat released in the crust is relatively quickly lost through the earth's surface and practically does not participate in the heating of the deep interior of the planet.
In past geological epochs, the amount of radiogenic heat released in the mantle must have been higher. Its estimates at the time of the formation of the Earth ( 4.6 billion years ago) give - 6.95*10 20 erg/s. Since that time, there has been a steady decrease in the rate of release of radiogenic energy (Fig. 3.7 ).
For all the time in the Earth stood out ~4.27*10 37 erg(4.27*10 30 J) the thermal energy of radioactive decay, which is almost three times lower than the total value of the heat of gravitational differentiation.
Heat of tidal friction
It stands out during the gravitational interaction of the Earth, primarily with the Moon, as the nearest large cosmic body. Due to mutual gravitational attraction, tidal deformations occur in their bodies - swelling or humps. The tidal humps of the planets, by their additional attraction, influence their movement. Thus, the attraction of both tidal humps of the Earth creates a pair of forces acting both on the Earth itself and on the Moon. However, the influence of the near, moon-facing swelling is somewhat stronger than that of the far one. Due to the fact that the angular velocity of rotation of the modern Earth ( 7.27*10 -5 s -1) exceeds the orbital velocity of the Moon ( 2.66*10 -6 s -1), and the substance of the planets is not ideally elastic, then the tidal humps of the Earth are, as it were, carried away by its forward rotation and are noticeably ahead of the movement of the Moon. This leads to the fact that the maximum tides of the Earth always occur on its surface somewhat later than the moment climax Moon, and an additional moment of forces acts on the Earth and the Moon (Fig. 3.8 ) .
The absolute values of the forces of tidal interaction in the Earth-Moon system are now relatively small and the tidal deformations of the lithosphere caused by them can reach only a few tens of centimeters, but they lead to a gradual deceleration of the Earth's rotation and, conversely, to the acceleration of the orbital motion of the Moon and its removal from the Earth. The kinetic energy of the movement of the earth's tidal humps is converted into thermal energy due to the internal friction of matter in the tidal humps.
At present, the rate of release of tidal energy by G. McDonald is ~0.25*10 20 erg/s (0.25*10 13W), while its main part (about 2/3) is presumably dissipates(dispersed) in the hydrosphere. Consequently, the fraction of tidal energy caused by the interaction of the Earth with the Moon and dissipated in the solid Earth (primarily in the asthenosphere) does not exceed 2 %
total thermal energy generated in its depths; and the fraction of solar tides does not exceed 20 %
from the influence of the lunar tides. Therefore, solid tides now play practically no role in feeding tectonic processes with energy, but in some cases they can act as "triggers", for example, earthquakes.
The magnitude of tidal energy is directly related to the distance between space objects. And if the distance between the Earth and the Sun does not assume any significant changes in the geological time scale, then in the Earth-Moon system this parameter is a variable. Regardless of ideas about, almost all researchers admit that in the early stages of the development of the Earth, the distance to the Moon was significantly less than the modern one, while in the process of planetary development, according to most scientists, it gradually increases, and according to Yu.N. Avsyuku this distance experiences long-term changes in the form of cycles "arrival - departure" of the moon. This implies that in past geological epochs the role of tidal heat in the overall heat balance of the Earth was more significant. In general, for the entire time of the development of the Earth, it has stood out ~3.3*10 37 erg (3.3*10 30 J) tidal heat energy (this is subject to the successive removal of the Moon from the Earth). The change in time of the rate of release of this heat is shown in Fig. 3.10 .
More than half of the total tidal energy was released in katarchee (hellea)) - 4.6-4.0 billion years ago, and at that time, only due to this energy, the Earth could additionally warm up by ~ 500 0 С. energy-intensive endogenous processes .
accretion heat
This is the heat stored by the Earth since its formation. In the process accretions, which lasted for several tens of millions of years, due to the collision planetesimals The earth has experienced significant heating. At the same time, there is no consensus on the magnitude of this heating. Currently, researchers are inclined to believe that in the process of accretion, the Earth experienced, if not complete, then significant partial melting, which led to the initial differentiation of the Proto-Earth into a heavy iron core and a light silicate mantle, and to the formation "magma ocean" on its surface or at shallow depths. Although, even before the 1990s, the model of a relatively cold primary Earth was considered practically universally recognized, which gradually warmed up due to the above processes, accompanied by the release of a significant amount of thermal energy.
An accurate estimate of the primary accretionary heat and its share that has survived to the present time is associated with significant difficulties. By O.G. Sorokhtin and S.A. Ushakov, who are supporters of a relatively cold primary Earth, the value of the accretion energy converted into heat is - 20.13*10 38 erg (20.13*10 31 J). This energy in the absence of heat loss would be enough for complete evaporation terrestrial matter, because temperature could rise to 30 000 0 С. But the process of accretion was relatively long, and the energy of planetesimal impacts was released only in the near-surface layers of the growing Earth and was quickly lost with thermal radiation, so the initial heating of the planet was not large. The magnitude of this thermal radiation, which goes in parallel with the formation (accretion) of the Earth, is estimated by the indicated authors as 19.4*10 38 erg (19.4*10 31 J)
.
In the modern energy balance of the Earth, accretion heat most likely plays an insignificant role.
For Russia, the energy of the Earth's heat can become a constant, reliable source of providing cheap and affordable electricity and heat using new high, environmentally friendly technologies for its extraction and supply to the consumer. This is especially true at the moment
Limited resources of fossil energy raw materials
The demand for organic energy raw materials is great in industrialized and developing countries (USA, Japan, states of united Europe, China, India, etc.). At the same time, their own hydrocarbon resources in these countries are either insufficient or reserved, and a country, such as the United States, buys energy raw materials abroad or develops deposits in other countries.
In Russia, one of the richest countries in terms of energy resources, the economic needs for energy are still satisfied by the possibilities of using natural resources. However, the extraction of fossil hydrocarbons from the subsoil occurs at a very fast pace. If in the 1940s-1960s. The main oil-producing regions were the "Second Baku" in the Volga and Cis-Urals, then, starting from the 1970s, and to the present, Western Siberia has been such an area. But even here there is a significant decline in the production of fossil hydrocarbons. The era of "dry" Cenomanian gas is passing away. The previous stage of extensive development of natural gas production has come to an end. Its extraction from such giant deposits as Medvezhye, Urengoyskoye and Yamburgskoye amounted to 84, 65 and 50%, respectively. The proportion of oil reserves favorable for development also decreases over time.
Due to the active consumption of hydrocarbon fuels, onshore reserves of oil and natural gas have been significantly reduced. Now their main reserves are concentrated on the continental shelf. And although the raw material base of the oil and gas industry is still sufficient for the production of oil and gas in Russia in the required volumes, in the near future it will be provided to an increasing extent through the development of fields with complex mining and geological conditions. At the same time, the cost of hydrocarbon production will grow.
Most of the non-renewable resources extracted from the subsoil are used as fuel for power plants. First of all, this is the share of which in the fuel structure is 64%.
In Russia, 70% of electricity is generated at thermal power plants. Energy enterprises of the country annually burn about 500 million tons of c.e. tons for the purpose of generating electricity and heat, while the production of heat consumes 3-4 times more hydrocarbon fuel than the generation of electricity.
The amount of heat obtained from the combustion of these volumes of hydrocarbon raw materials is equivalent to the use of hundreds of tons of nuclear fuel - the difference is huge. However, nuclear power requires ensuring environmental safety (to prevent a repeat of Chernobyl) and protecting it from possible terrorist attacks, as well as the safe and costly decommissioning of obsolete and spent nuclear power units. The proven recoverable reserves of uranium in the world are about 3 million 400 thousand tons. For the entire previous period (until 2007), about 2 million tons were mined.
RES as the future of global energy
The increased interest in the world in recent decades in alternative renewable energy sources (RES) is caused not only by the depletion of hydrocarbon fuel reserves, but also by the need to solve environmental problems. Objective factors (fossil fuel and uranium reserves, as well as environmental changes associated with the use of traditional fire and nuclear energy) and energy development trends suggest that the transition to new methods and forms of energy generation is inevitable. Already in the first half of the XXI century. there will be a complete or almost complete transition to non-traditional energy sources.
The sooner a breakthrough is made in this direction, the less painful it will be for the whole society and the more beneficial for the country, where decisive steps will be taken in this direction.
The world economy has already set a course for the transition to a rational combination of traditional and new energy sources. Energy consumption in the world by 2000 amounted to more than 18 billion tons of fuel equivalent. tons, and energy consumption by 2025 may increase to 30–38 billion tons of fuel equivalent. tons, according to forecast data, by 2050 consumption at the level of 60 billion tons of fuel equivalent is possible. t. A characteristic trend in the development of the world economy in the period under review is a systematic decrease in the consumption of fossil fuels and a corresponding increase in the use of non-traditional energy resources. The thermal energy of the Earth occupies one of the first places among them.
Currently, the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation has adopted a program for the development of non-traditional energy, including 30 large projects for the use of heat pump units (HPU), the principle of which is based on the consumption of low-potential thermal energy of the Earth.
Low-potential energy of the Earth's heat and heat pumps
The sources of low-potential energy of the Earth's heat are solar radiation and thermal radiation of the heated bowels of our planet. At present, the use of such energy is one of the most dynamically developing areas of energy based on renewable energy sources.
The heat of the Earth can be used in various types of buildings and structures for heating, hot water supply, air conditioning (cooling), as well as for heating tracks in the winter season, preventing icing, heating fields in outdoor stadiums, etc. In the English-language technical literature of the system utilizing the Earth's heat in heating and air conditioning systems are referred to as GHP - "geothermal heat pumps" (geothermal heat pumps). The climatic characteristics of the countries of Central and Northern Europe, which, together with the United States and Canada, are the main areas for the use of low-grade heat of the Earth, determine this mainly for heating purposes; cooling of the air, even in summer, is relatively rarely required. Therefore, unlike in the USA, heat pumps in European countries operate mainly in heating mode. In the US, they are more often used in air heating systems combined with ventilation, which allows both heating and cooling of the outside air. In European countries, heat pumps are usually used in water heating systems. Since their efficiency increases as the temperature difference between the evaporator and condenser decreases, underfloor heating systems are often used for heating buildings, in which a coolant of a relatively low temperature (35–40 ° C) circulates.
Types of systems for the use of low-potential energy of the Earth's heat
In the general case, two types of systems for using the low-potential energy of the Earth's heat can be distinguished:
- open systems: as a source of low-grade thermal energy, groundwater is used, which is supplied directly to heat pumps;
- closed systems: heat exchangers are located in the soil massif; when a coolant with a temperature lower than the ground circulates through them, thermal energy is “taken off” from the ground and transferred to the heat pump evaporator (or when a coolant with a higher temperature relative to the ground is used, it is cooled).
The disadvantages of open systems are that wells require maintenance. In addition, the use of such systems is not possible in all areas. The main requirements for soil and groundwater are as follows:
- sufficient water permeability of the soil, allowing replenishment of water reserves;
– good groundwater chemistry (e.g. low iron content) to avoid pipe scale and corrosion problems.
Closed systems for the use of low-potential energy of the Earth's heat
Closed systems are horizontal and vertical (Figure 1).
Rice. 1. Scheme of a geothermal heat pump installation with: a - horizontal
and b - vertical ground heat exchangers.
Horizontal ground heat exchanger
In the countries of Western and Central Europe, horizontal ground heat exchangers are usually separate pipes laid relatively tightly and connected to each other in series or in parallel (Fig. 2).
Rice. 2. Horizontal ground heat exchangers with: a - sequential and
b - parallel connection.
To save the area of the site where the heat is removed, improved types of heat exchangers have been developed, for example, heat exchangers in the form of a spiral (Fig. 3), located horizontally or vertically. This form of heat exchangers is common in the USA.
With the development and formation of society, mankind began to look for more and more modern and at the same time economical ways to obtain energy. For this, various stations are being built today, but at the same time, the energy contained in the bowels of the earth is widely used. What is she like? Let's try to figure it out.
geothermal energy
Already from the name it is clear that it represents the heat of the earth's interior. Under the earth's crust is a layer of magma, which is a fiery-liquid silicate melt. According to research data, the energy potential of this heat is much higher than the energy of the world's natural gas reserves, as well as oil. Magma comes to the surface - lava. Moreover, the greatest activity is observed in those layers of the earth on which the boundaries of tectonic plates are located, as well as where the earth's crust is characterized by thinness. The geothermal energy of the earth is obtained as follows: the lava and water resources of the planet are in contact, as a result of which the water begins to heat up sharply. This leads to the eruption of the geyser, the formation of the so-called hot lakes and undercurrents. That is, precisely those phenomena of nature, the properties of which are actively used as energies.
Artificial geothermal sources
The energy contained in the bowels of the earth must be used wisely. For example, there is an idea to create underground boilers. To do this, you need to drill two wells of sufficient depth, which will be connected at the bottom. That is, it turns out that in almost any corner of the land it is possible to obtain geothermal energy in an industrial way: cold water will be pumped into the reservoir through one well, and hot water or steam will be extracted through the second. Artificial heat sources will be beneficial and rational if the resulting heat will provide more energy. The steam can be sent to turbine generators that will generate electricity.
Of course, the extracted heat is only a fraction of what is available in the total reserves. But it should be remembered that the deep heat will be constantly replenished due to the processes of compression of rocks, stratification of the bowels. According to experts, the earth's crust accumulates heat, the total amount of which is 5,000 times greater than the calorific value of all fossil interiors of the earth as a whole. It turns out that the operating time of such artificially created geothermal stations can be unlimited.
Source Features
The sources that make it possible to obtain geothermal energy are almost impossible to fully use. They exist in more than 60 countries of the world, with the largest number of terrestrial volcanoes on the territory of the Pacific volcanic ring of fire. But in practice, it turns out that geothermal sources in different regions of the world are completely different in their properties, namely, average temperature, salinity, gas composition, acidity, and so on.
Geysers are sources of energy on Earth, the peculiarities of which are that they spew boiling water at certain intervals. After the eruption, the pool becomes free of water, at its bottom you can see a channel that goes deep into the ground. Geysers are used as energy sources in regions such as Kamchatka, Iceland, New Zealand and North America, and single geysers are found in several other areas.
Where does energy come from?
Uncooled magma is located very close to the earth's surface. Gases and vapors are released from it, which rise and pass through the cracks. Mixing with groundwater, they cause them to heat up, they themselves turn into hot water, in which many substances are dissolved. Such water is released to the surface of the earth in the form of various geothermal sources: hot springs, mineral springs, geysers, and so on. According to scientists, the hot bowels of the earth are caves or chambers connected by passages, cracks and channels. They are just filled with groundwater, and very close to them are magma chambers. In this natural way, the thermal energy of the earth is formed.
Earth's electric field
There is another alternative energy source in nature, which is renewable, environmentally friendly, and easy to use. True, so far this source has only been studied and not applied in practice. So, the potential energy of the Earth lies in its electric field. It is possible to obtain energy in this way based on the study of the basic laws of electrostatics and the features of the Earth's electric field. In fact, our planet from an electrical point of view is a spherical capacitor charged up to 300,000 volts. Its inner sphere has a negative charge, and the outer one - the ionosphere - is positive. is an insulator. Through it there is a constant flow of ionic and convective currents, which reach strengths of many thousands of amperes. However, the potential difference between the plates does not decrease in this case.
This suggests that in nature there is a generator, the role of which is to constantly replenish the leakage of charges from the capacitor plates. The role of such a generator is played by the Earth's magnetic field, which rotates together with our planet in the flow of the solar wind. The energy of the Earth's magnetic field can be obtained just by connecting an energy consumer to this generator. To do this, you need to install a reliable ground.
Renewable sources
As the population of our planet is steadily growing, we need more and more energy to provide for the population. The energy contained in the bowels of the earth can be very different. For example, there are renewable sources: wind, solar and water energy. They are environmentally friendly, and therefore you can use them without fear of harming the environment.
water energy
This method has been used for many centuries. Today, a huge number of dams and reservoirs have been built, in which water is used to generate electrical energy. The essence of this mechanism is simple: under the influence of the flow of the river, the wheels of the turbines rotate, respectively, the energy of the water is converted into electrical energy.
Today, there are a large number of hydroelectric power plants that convert the energy of the flow of water into electricity. The peculiarity of this method is that it is renewable, respectively, such designs have a low cost. That is why, despite the fact that the construction of hydroelectric power plants takes quite a long time, and the process itself is very costly, nevertheless, these facilities significantly outperform electric-intensive industries.
Solar energy: modern and promising
Solar energy is obtained using solar panels, but modern technologies allow the use of new methods for this. The largest system in the world is built in the California desert. It fully provides energy for 2,000 homes. The design works as follows: the sun's rays are reflected from the mirrors, which are sent to the central boiler with water. It boils and turns into steam, which turns the turbine. It, in turn, is connected to an electric generator. The wind can also be used as the energy that the Earth gives us. The wind blows the sails, turns the windmills. And now with its help you can create devices that will generate electrical energy. By rotating the blades of the windmill, it drives the turbine shaft, which, in turn, is connected to an electric generator.
Internal energy of the Earth
It appeared as a result of several processes, the main of which are accretion and radioactivity. According to scientists, the formation of the Earth and its mass took place over several million years, and this happened due to the formation of planetesimals. They stuck together, respectively, the mass of the Earth became more and more. After our planet began to have a modern mass, but was still devoid of an atmosphere, meteoric and asteroid bodies fell on it without hindrance. This process is just called accretion, and it led to the fact that significant gravitational energy was released. And the larger bodies hit the planet, the greater the amount of energy contained in the bowels of the Earth was released.
This gravitational differentiation led to the fact that substances began to separate: heavy substances simply sank, while light and volatile substances floated up. Differentiation also affected the additional release of gravitational energy.
Atomic Energy
The use of earth energy can occur in different ways. For example, with the help of the construction of nuclear power plants, when thermal energy is released due to the decay of the smallest particles of atomic matter. The main fuel is uranium, which is contained in the earth's crust. Many believe that this method of obtaining energy is the most promising, but its use is associated with a number of problems. First, uranium emits radiation that kills all living organisms. In addition, if this substance enters the soil or atmosphere, then a real man-made disaster will occur. We are experiencing the sad consequences of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant to this day. The danger lies in the fact that radioactive waste can threaten all living things for a very, very long time, for millennia.
New time - new ideas
Of course, people do not stop there, and every year more and more attempts are made to find new ways to get energy. If the energy of the earth's heat is obtained quite simply, then some methods are not so simple. For example, as an energy source, it is quite possible to use biological gas, which is obtained during the decay of waste. It can be used for heating houses and heating water.
Increasingly, they are being built when dams and turbines are installed across the mouths of reservoirs, which are driven by ebbs and flows, respectively, electricity is obtained.
Burning garbage, we get energy
Another method that is already being used in Japan is the creation of incinerators. Today they are built in England, Italy, Denmark, Germany, France, the Netherlands and the USA, but only in Japan these enterprises began to be used not only for their intended purpose, but also for generating electricity. At local factories, 2/3 of all garbage is burned, while the factories are equipped with steam turbines. Accordingly, they supply heat and electricity to nearby areas. At the same time, in terms of costs, building such an enterprise is much more profitable than building a thermal power plant.
More tempting is the prospect of using the Earth's heat where volcanoes are concentrated. In this case, it will not be necessary to drill the Earth too deeply, since already at a depth of 300-500 meters the temperature will be at least twice as high as the boiling point of water.
There is also such a way to generate electricity, as Hydrogen - the simplest and lightest chemical element - can be considered an ideal fuel, because it is where there is water. If you burn hydrogen, you can get water, which decomposes into oxygen and hydrogen. The hydrogen flame itself is harmless, that is, there will be no harm to the environment. The peculiarity of this element is that it has a high calorific value.
What's in the future?
Of course, the energy of the Earth's magnetic field or that which is obtained at nuclear power plants cannot fully satisfy all the needs of mankind, which are growing every year. However, experts say that there is no reason to worry, since the planet's fuel resources are still enough. Moreover, more and more new sources are being used, environmentally friendly and renewable.
The problem of environmental pollution remains, and it is growing catastrophically fast. The amount of harmful emissions goes off scale, respectively, the air we breathe is harmful, the water has dangerous impurities, and the soil is gradually depleted. That is why it is so important to start studying such a phenomenon as energy in the bowels of the Earth in a timely manner in order to look for ways to reduce the need for fossil fuels and make more active use of non-traditional energy sources.
