The energy demands are changing continually, and the world is running out of
conventional energy sources. In addition to that, these traditional ways of energy
production are harming the environment in more than one way. Hence, there is an
intense requirement for new sustainable energy methods, which can replace the older
ones. This way, we will be able to create more energy, along with saving the
environment.
Though a small amount of energy demand gets fulfilled with renewable
sources, there is still a lot of improvement required in the stats. That brings us to some
innovative technologies that scientists are working on to produce sustainable energy.
We have collected here five such innovations. But before we move on to them, we will
see how sustainable energies will change everyone’s lives in the coming future.
Table of Contents
Need For Sustainable Energy
People know that conventional energy sources are harmful to the environment and that
they are vanishing soon. However, it is not the only reason why the world is moving
towards renewable energies. Here are some of the significant benefits that the world will
experience by transforming its energy sources.
● Public Health Improvement: The current most common sources of energy
production are coal and natural gas. The plant, where they produce the energy,
emits harmful gases that pollute air and water. That leads to several health
problems for the general public. By replacing these conventional methods with
the new sustainable energy sources, this problem can be resolved.
● Employment Opportunities: The places where renewable energies have
already replaced traditional sources show a significant increase in employment
opportunities. This is because the installment of these new sources and their
management requires a lot of labor. So overall state of the place can be changed
just by switching to renewable energy sources.
● More Reliability: Conventional energy source plants are situated in one place.
So if the plant fails, the whole region is held back from getting energy. On the
other hand, sustainable energy methods are distributed and modular. The
distributive property helps in avoiding massive failures due to changes at one
location. And the modularity helps in keeping the system running even if one of
the devices fails. Therefore, the new sources are way more reliable than the
older ones.
The list does not end here because there are several other benefits that sustainable
energy provides. Now let’s move on to some innovations in the sector.
Emerging Sustainable Energy Technologies
With the benefits that sustainable energy provides, it is clear that it is the next big thing.
So the scientists are finding reliable ways of incorporating these energies to fit in the
energy demands. The top five emerging technologies for the same are:
1. Wearables
Almost everyone uses wearables nowadays. Let it be a fitness tracker or a smartwatch,
these tiny items make everyone’s life easy. The only problem they hold is of recharging.
They have limited battery life, which needs to be charged every time the battery runs
out. In order to solve this charge cycle problem, North Carolina State University’s
research team came up with the idea of self-charging wearables.
These wearables trap the person’s body heat and pass it through a thermoelectric
generator. The generator then converts the heat into electricity, and the device keeps
working. Many researchers have come up with the idea of body heat electricity
generation. But none of them were able to generate as much energy as these
wearables.
2. Bionic Mushrooms
The idea of bionic mushrooms came from Stevens Institute of Technology, New Jersey.
Though the theory is still in its early phase, it has the potential to rise in the future. But
the interesting fact here is how did the research team generate electricity by living
mushrooms. The procedure they obeyed consisted of the following steps:
● They inserted a mixture of electronic ink and bio-ink into a 3D-printer.
● Then they covered the cap of a living mushroom with branched patterns, by
using the printer.
● The ink’s spiral pattern was then exposed to light, which caused the bacteria to
photosynthesis.
● With that procedure, the team managed to produce electrons. Further, they
formed a conductive network and created electricity.
They were able to produce a small amount of sustainable energy. But with further
progress, this idea can become a massive success.
3. Wattway
A French civil engineering company, Colas came up with the idea of Wattway. Wattway
is a pavement material, which can be used on roads to enable them to harvest solar
energy. The best part about Wattway is that it does not require to tear up the road’s surface. With their experiments, the team found that 20m² Wattway panels produce
enough energy to run a single house.
In the experiment, the material was directly applied to the existing road in Georgia. The
team covered a large area of 29km. The ease of installment and efficiency shows a
promising future for this technology.
4. Pavegen
The idea of Pavegen was inspired by a problem faced by children in Brazil’s Rio de
Janeiro. They were not able to play their favorite game, football, after dark. So Laurence
Kemball-Cook, a British engineer, thought of solving the problem. He converted the
kinetic energy used to play the game, into electric one through the surface tiles of the
place.
After successfully lightening up the field, Cook’s company Pavegen delivered these
kinetic tiles for over 150 projects all over the world. All of these projects include places
where there is a maximum movement of people, like train stations or shopping centers.
5. Kitenergy
Wind turbines are not a new name in the sustainable energy technologies world. It is an
excellent way of producing energy through wind movement. However, it does hold the
problem of investment. People who set up wind turbines need to invest a lot of money in
not just installing it but also in its maintenance. That reduces the merits of this method.
In order to solve the problem, researchers bought the idea of Kitenergy into existence.
This method utilizes a kite that is liked to the ground using two ropes. Through the
rotating mechanism, the energy is transferred to generators on the ground, which
converts it into electricity. Kitenergy is way more efficient than wind turbines, and that is
why it has a promising future.
Conclusion
Sustainable energy is the future of the world because of the rate at which conventional
sources are depleting. Now, it has become crucial to incorporate these energy methods.
And with these kinds of innovative technologies, sustainable energy production can be
made convenient and efficient.
