THE
ENERGY ISLANDS
By Mansoor Ahmed Ansari
Energy is the lifeblood of our planet & an essential commodity that powers the expanding global economy. According to IEA World Statistics, in just four years
(2004-2008), the world population increased by 5%, annual CO2 emissions
increased by 10% and gross energy production increased by 10%. In the year
2011, world’s fuel consumption was around 87 million bbl per day, which is expected to increase
to 91 million bbl per day by the end of year 2012. Due to the energy demand statistics
touching new peaks, the increase in oil prices, shooting up of earth’s
temperature and due to our heavy reliance on fossil fuels, it is important to plan a shift towards the
use of renewable and eco-friendly sources of energy, such as wind, solar, thermal and tidal energy.
Now what if I tell you of place where you can make use of all of these sources of energy?? Get introduced to an astounding idea of harnessing almost all the sources of energy know to mankind today, and that to on a floating island-“The Energy Island!”
Now what if I tell you of place where you can make use of all of these sources of energy?? Get introduced to an astounding idea of harnessing almost all the sources of energy know to mankind today, and that to on a floating island-“The Energy Island!”
An Energy Island combines all the sources of energy like wind,
solar, tidal, geothermal etc (as already mentioned), on a floating island! This floating island helps
us to move it in case of emergency such as storms, tsunamis or any other
natural disaster. Tsunami that recently hit Japan (2011) caused serious damages
to its power sector, specially the nuclear power plants. The Energy Islands,
however, can change their places and save billions of dollars from sinking.
An Energy Island is hexagonal in shape and is interlocked with other
islands. These islands have housing facilities, fish
farms, greenhouses and eco-tourism complexes, in addition to the water and power
production facilities.To generate electricity through solar
energy, ‘Power Tower System’ is used. In this system sunlight
is concentrated on huge towers, through which water keeps on flowing. The
heated water is then sent to the turbines to generate electricity. This
technology is cheaper than solar panels. Wind turbines too are installed on
these energy islands, which can generate up to 3MW of electricity. Further on, since these islands float on sea, sea
currents' and wave/tidal energy are also used to generate power. Also, as oceans are vast and an excellent source of thermal energy (from sun),
by utilizing the technique of Ocean
Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC), we can meet the energy demand of entire
planet!
OTEC uses surface of oceans, which
forms 1/10,000th of earth’s total surface. In OTEC, temperature
difference between the hot water of surface and cold water of the deep sea is
used to drive the turbines for generating electricity.
Since 1880’s, a large number of
attempts have been made by different countries to design efficient energy
islands. In 1956, a French scientist made an attempt and proposed an island
capable of producing 3MW of power. This was however, rejected due to the
relatively much economical price of oil at that time. In 1981, Japan made a
successful attempt by designing a 120 KW plant for a school. After this
successful experience, USA built an OTEC plant near Hawaii and India built a 1
MW floating OTEC pilot plant near Tamil Nadu. The Indian government still continues to sponsor research.
We cannot give a single answer to today’s energy crisis. However, for a
safer future, it is essential to initiate the gradual closure of all nuclear
generation plants to replace them initially with more efficiently used fossil
fuels, and then eventually replacing these with renewable clean energy sources. In this
perspective, decentralized solar power generation, whether photo-electrical,
photo-thermal, photo-chemical or biological, combined with global energy
conservation, will play important roles in future energy scenarios.
The Energy Island is an integral part of new policy realignment
towards clean energy production and distribution, essential to a pollution free
world. This presents to many, a major challenge to mankind in the 21st
century. A pollution free world is the
only way to rediscover the essential quality of life on the beautiful planet
earth…
References:
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