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SOLEMIO
Renewable Energy Products
Farms in the sky
Can agriculture keep up with population growth?
“By the year 2030, hundreds of millions of
people in developing countries will remain
hungry and many of the environmental
problems caused by agriculture will remain
serious” says UN Food and Agriculture
Organization.
Solution: farms in the sky. Fruit and vegetables
grown in skyscrapers.
Sprawling urban areas could have immediate
access to fresh produce. No transportation
costs, no wasted energy.
Can agriculture keep up with population growth?
“By the year 2030, hundreds of millions of
people in developing countries will remain
hungry and many of the environmental
problems caused by agriculture will remain
serious” says UN Food and Agriculture
Organization.
Solution: farms in the sky. Fruit and vegetables
grown in skyscrapers.
Sprawling urban areas could have immediate
access to fresh produce. No transportation
costs, no wasted energy.
Skyscraper farms can operate year-round with artificial lighting.
These green towers would convert sewage to electricity, and use solar power, reducing the
energy demand.
Because these farms would be closed environments, fresh produce could be grown organically,
without herbicides, pesticides or fertilizers, with higher yields than conventional farming.
In many countries where flat landscapes are rare, or there is no surplus land for farming, the
vertical farms concept is a tempting proposition.
These green towers would convert sewage to electricity, and use solar power, reducing the
energy demand.
Because these farms would be closed environments, fresh produce could be grown organically,
without herbicides, pesticides or fertilizers, with higher yields than conventional farming.
In many countries where flat landscapes are rare, or there is no surplus land for farming, the
vertical farms concept is a tempting proposition.
Who killed the hydrogen car?
Maybe the electric car will resuscitate, but that may be
too late. Electric cars already sound so much 20th
century.
Now is time for Odyssey 2: 2010 is around the bend,
and all we want now is a hydrogen car.
Hydrogen is 3 times more powerful than gasoline, in
terms of energy density. However, because hydrogen
takes more space to store than gasoline, it means that a
full tank of hydrogen will get you 150 km only before
refueling.
Or will be 4 times bigger and heavier.
So, let’s just make the tank bigger and we’re all set?
Not so fast. Even if know how to produce hydrogen since
the end of the 18th century, large scale hydrogen
production is not yet entirely practical: the infrastructure
is just not there.
Maybe the electric car will resuscitate, but that may be
too late. Electric cars already sound so much 20th
century.
Now is time for Odyssey 2: 2010 is around the bend,
and all we want now is a hydrogen car.
Hydrogen is 3 times more powerful than gasoline, in
terms of energy density. However, because hydrogen
takes more space to store than gasoline, it means that a
full tank of hydrogen will get you 150 km only before
refueling.
Or will be 4 times bigger and heavier.
So, let’s just make the tank bigger and we’re all set?
Not so fast. Even if know how to produce hydrogen since
the end of the 18th century, large scale hydrogen
production is not yet entirely practical: the infrastructure
is just not there.
Some said the real obstacles are now mostly political – not technical.
Who would profit from having hydrogen cars on the roads?
Mother nature? Certainly.
The consumers? Rightly so.
The big oil companies? Not so sure.
It will probably up to the car manufacturers and the governments to push the oil industry to provide
hydrogen on a mass production scale.
Nevertheless, General Motors and Honda promised the first hydrogen cars for 2015~20. Mercedes
even promised one for 2010… although it will be available for lease only.
Yep, they won’t let you buy it.
Wait, a revolutionary car available only for lease? Start to sound a lot like General Motors EV 1
story…
To infinity and beyond:
Solar energy from Space
New energies are all the rage now and many of
us are ready to dismiss solar energy as a
mature technology that has not yet lived up to
our expectations.
It’s clean, but not as free as it looks.
In many countries, solar energy is subsidized,
and costs of photovoltaic systems have been a
major brake on the adoption of solar power.
But solar energy is still the only clean and
infinite energy source.
The new future of solar power lies in solar
plants. Huge, giant solar plants, in the world’s
desert areas like Sahara.
If used for solar power, only 10% of the Sahara
surface would be enough to supply all the world’
s electricity needs for one year.
These giant solar plants would not use sunlight
as such but rather thermal power, which uses
the sun’s heat to deliver electricity.
Solar energy from Space
New energies are all the rage now and many of
us are ready to dismiss solar energy as a
mature technology that has not yet lived up to
our expectations.
It’s clean, but not as free as it looks.
In many countries, solar energy is subsidized,
and costs of photovoltaic systems have been a
major brake on the adoption of solar power.
But solar energy is still the only clean and
infinite energy source.
The new future of solar power lies in solar
plants. Huge, giant solar plants, in the world’s
desert areas like Sahara.
If used for solar power, only 10% of the Sahara
surface would be enough to supply all the world’
s electricity needs for one year.
These giant solar plants would not use sunlight
as such but rather thermal power, which uses
the sun’s heat to deliver electricity.
Unfortunately, the day/night cycle, non-ideal
sun angles, weathering, and cloud cover
reduce power output , therefore leading to
the main obstacle to make this solution
viable : costly power storage.
If even our deserts are not up to the task,
where to go then?
Space, of course. Up there, the sun shines
constantly, 24h a day, in greater intensity
than on Earth.
There is an awful lot of energy out there.
“Space-based Solar Power” project,
financed by the US, would be a large-scale
solar panel array that will harvest solar
power, and beam it down from space via
micro waves.
Admittedly, several major engineering
challenges will need to be overcome to
make SBSP a reality: launching hundreds of
components to make what would be a miles-
long solar platform.
Still, as a clean and infinite energy source,
the sun is still our best bet.
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