I don't know what you want

First, use wind energy.

After all, the fossil energy (oil) on the earth is limited. For the sustainable development of mankind, we must find other alternative energy sources, and wind energy is a good choice. There are four rows of experimental turbines on the plateau south of Boulder, Colorado, USA. These machines are more spectacular against the backdrop of the snow-covered Rocky Mountains. 150 feet of blades turn slowly under the breeze. Sadie Butterfield, chief engineer of the Renewable Energy Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy, said, "If you want to choose a commercial turbine farm, you will never take a fancy to this place. But it is a perfect wind energy proving ground. Because here we can get wind energy conditions with wind speed of 100 mph. We can quickly know which design should be eliminated through experiments under such conditions. " 199 1 year, a government survey on wind energy came to the conclusion that Kansas, North Dakota and Texas are rich in wind energy resources, and only these three States can meet the energy demand of the whole United States. Today, it seems that this report is somewhat underestimated. In the past 20 years, the price of wind energy has dropped by 85%, which is largely due to the continuous improvement of turbine efficiency. The government has also formulated many laws and regulations to encourage people to buy electricity generated by wind power generation. It is conceivable that in the near future, the use of wind power will become the general trend.

Second, cancel the power grid.

The existing power transmission system transmits power from the energy center to users through wires. This has a big disadvantage, that is, a lot of electricity will be lost during transmission. So a better power supply system is "distributed power generation". You can use wind and solar energy to generate electricity near your home and work place to achieve self-sufficiency. For example, geothermal systems can be used to heat and cool buildings, and solar cells on the roof can be used to provide electricity. Excess electricity can also be sent to the local power supply system and sold at retail prices, which can gain some benefits. These measures are simple and feasible, far better than building power plants and importing foreign energy. It is estimated that the cost of solar power generation equipment needed for such a small power plant can be recovered within four years. Since there are so many advantages, why not?

Three-hybrid fuel vehicle

The United States Army announced that it would develop a Hummer vehicle using a new hybrid fuel, which indicated that the era of hybrid vehicles had arrived. Hybrid fuel vehicles improve energy efficiency through internal combustion and electric drive. Nowadays, the hybrid car is no longer just a sample for people to visit in the exhibition hall, it has completely entered the practical stage. This will greatly reduce the use of gasoline, and the tail gas emitted by cars will also be greatly reduced. Plug-in hybrid cars can be charged in their own garage at night, and the electricity bill is low at night, saving a lot of money. Daniel Carmen, director of the Renewable Energy Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, said: "If all cars in the United States are replaced by this hybrid car overnight, the oil consumption will drop by 70-90%, and the era of importing oil in the United States will be completely over. In the next few years, American oil will be completely self-sufficient. "

4. Make ethanol with better quality.

This year, American automakers will produce 6.5438+0 million flexible fuel vehicles, and the number of ethanol gas stations will increase by one third to about 654.38+0,000. At present, most of the ethanol produced in the United States is fermented from corn kernels, which consumes a considerable amount of fossil fuels. Daniel Carmen regards this corn ethanol as a transitional fuel. He said: "If we want to replace oil with ethanol and prevent further global warming, we need to launch a large-scale innovation campaign from corn ethanol to fiber ethanol. There are many choices of raw materials for cellulosic ethanol. Switchgrass, sawdust, corn cob, corn stalk and other agricultural wastes can all be used as raw materials for producing cellulosic ethanol. The cost of enzymes used to make ethanol is high now, but this problem is not difficult to solve. " Microorganisms in the hindgut of termites can convert plant cellulose into carbohydrates. Eddie Rubin, director of the Joint Genome Research Institute of the US Department of Energy, said: "We are determining the DNA sequence of those microorganisms, and in the future we can make new organisms through bioengineering to secrete these enzymes." In this way, we can use insect body fluids to drive our cars forward and get rid of excessive dependence on fossil energy.

Step 5 use solar energy

At the beginning of next year, dozens of huge concave mirror will appear on a desert farm in the northeast of Los Angeles. Each concave mirror is 37 feet in diameter. These concave mirror can automatically track the sun through electronic control and reflect the sunlight to the heat collector. The collector uses these concentrated sunlight to heat hydrogen to 1300 degrees Fahrenheit, and the Stirling engine drives the generator to generate electricity. When the world's largest solar farm is completed, there will be about 20,000 concave mirror in the 4,500-acre Mogavo Desert to collect solar energy, and the electricity generated by this energy will be able to supply electricity to 287,000 families. The solar energy that reaches the earth every hour can meet the power demand of the whole world for a whole year. We have known how to use solar energy to heat space and water for a long time, but it is very difficult to convert sunlight into electricity.

Sterling Solar concave mirror can convert 30% of solar energy into electric energy, which is the most efficient technology in the world. Scientists hope that this conversion rate can be increased to 50% through technical improvement. Other energy entrepreneurs have bigger ideas. Scientists of NASA have always dreamed that one day they can use solar energy to generate electricity in space and then transmit energy to their homes through microwaves. With the continuous progress of science, this idea will come true one day.

6. Making hydrogen energy.

Hydrogen has great potential, but it is not easy to convert other substances into hydrogen. There is no pure hydrogen fuel in nature. Today, the cheapest way to produce hydrogen is through oil or natural gas, but it cannot avoid producing carbon dioxide. The efficiency of hydrogen fuel cells is more than twice that of internal combustion engines. In Iceland, abundant renewable energy makes the hydrogen economy possible. In the United States, one day excess wind energy can be used to produce hydrogen fuel. Researchers can also use genetic engineering to create organisms that can directly convert the sun into hydrogen.

Use wave power generation.

The coastline of the United States contains huge energy, about one-eighth of which can be developed and utilized without polluting the environment. The total amount of available energy is equivalent to the total power generation of all our hydropower stations. In the field of available energy, Europe has always been at the forefront of the world. This summer, in Portugal, workers are installing a coastal wave energy converter. This snake-shaped steel pipe is semi-submerged in water, usually above the water surface, and extends to the sea for 3 miles. By 2008, this device will be able to supply power to about 15000 households. The advantage of wave energy is that its energy density is 10 to 40 times that of wind energy. At present, tidal turbine technology is developing rapidly, which undoubtedly paves the way for the utilization of wave energy. This summer, six turbines under the East River in new york will start to generate electricity driven by the tidal current of the river. The slowly rotating propeller will generate 525,000 kWh of energy in the first year. The test in1August shows that laying enough turbines will be able to supply electricity to 8000 households. Although its current power generation capacity is limited, it represents a development direction of future energy, which is exciting. This will be the first tidal turbine farm with power generation capacity in the world, and this prototype will provide us with a stable pollution-free energy. George Haagman, an oceanographer in Virginia, USA, said: "We can call it lunar energy. The wind sometimes disappears, but from now until the next 1000 year, the moon and tides will always exist."

Looking underground for energy.

Carl Gewell, executive director of the American Geothermal Energy Association, said, "The hot water rising from an abandoned oil well in western Texas contains 5,000 megawatts of geothermal energy. Now, this energy is being wasted because it is not used. Now our ability to use this energy far exceeds our actual use of this technology. " Geothermal energy can be used to generate electricity or heat buildings. Hawaii, Alaska and western states are rich in geothermal energy.

Geothermal reservoirs with water temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit can be used for power generation. Some companies are developing low-temperature hot springs in Texas, Arkansas, Georgia and West Virginia, which will double the geothermal power generation capacity in the United States in the next four to five years.

9. Develop waste gas.

We have been burning biomass since the Paleolithic, when people used burning wood to heat caves and barbecue the meat of large animals. Today, the vast majority of biomass energy still comes from wood, but what we need to do now is how to use these agricultural wastes and herbs to generate electricity. These substances, like fossil fuels, produce carbon dioxide when burned. But how can the carbon dioxide released by biomass combustion be balanced by absorbing carbon dioxide during its growth? Of all the new technologies, gasification is perhaps the most potential one. The gasification system converts agricultural wastes or any kind of biomass into mixed gas of hydrogen and carbon dioxide through extremely high heat in a low oxygen environment. This gas can be burned in a boiler or replaced by natural gas in a turbine. These gases can be used to drive a steam turbine for secondary power generation, and the excess heat generated in the whole process can also be used to provide heat for buildings and the whole town.

Ten major energy-saving measures start with me.

Back in the 1970s, the so-called energy saving was to turn off the lights. Paul Shukiel, the author of Family Energy Diet, said that in today's advanced technology, we can make full use of technological advantages by saving energy. At present, the average energy consumption per 1 dollar of economic output in the United States is 47% lower than that of 30 years ago. Unfortunately, because the efficiency of power transmission needs to be improved, a lot of energy is wasted before it reaches every home and office. In this regard, consumers can do nothing, but they can start from me and consciously save energy in their own homes or offices. The cleanest and cheapest energy is no energy.