Simply mixing fresh water and salt water can create energy. This sentence is read by most and disregarded as a lie, joke, and fantasy; but to few, educated humans it is a reality that is happening right in front of us and has enormous, worldwide potential. This hidden energy that seems so simple, but has such a promising future ahead of it is referred to as osmotic energy. Osmosis is the process by which molecules of a solvent pass through a semi permeable membrane from a less concentrated solution into a more concentrated one, and this is the process that is taken advantage of in the osmotic power process to create energy. Osmotic energy is a complex, yet simple process, it has advantages that will greatly benefit the world, it has …show more content…
It creates no emissions, thus not pollution; it doesn’t matter what the weather is, it will work; it doesn’t need any initializing energy like a fossil fuel does; it runs consistently without ever stopping, unlike solar power which requires sunlight, and sunlight is not always present; it doesn’t require costly fossil fuels to start up; and it is quite simply renewable. Aside from all of these benefits it has to the environment, it has some downsides. When water has gone through the energy making process, it is released back into the water as brackish water, which is water with high spikes in salinity. Brackish water makes wherever it goes a difficult place for marine life to live in, which leads to ecosystem decay around the osmotic power plant. Osmotic power plants are also very costly, and costly means that they cost 36 times what a regular coal-powered power plant costs. Lastly osmotic power plants are inefficient, they produce less than 1 watt per square meter, but scientists in Lyon, France have been working on more efficient Boron-Nitride membrane tubes that are nearly 100 times as efficient as the ones used today, and are a possibility in the future. Aside from these new, expensive, far off Boron Nitride tubes, Statkraft, the Norwegian company that started the first osmotic power plant, plans to have their plan running at 5 watts per square meter in the near future. The advantages of osmotic
Hydroelectric is a form of energy it is a renewable resource. Hydroelectricity is the most important and widely used renewable source of energy. Hydroelectric relies on water, which is clean and renewable energy source. Renewable energy comes from natural resources. Non-Renewable energy source includes coal, oil and natural gas. Water is renewable because water continually recycles itself. To harness energy from flowing water, the water must be controlled; a large reservoir is created, usually by damming a river to create an artificial lake or reservoir. Water is channeled through tunnels in the dam. The energy of water flowing through the dam causes the turbines to turn and make the
Advancements include such new and emerging technologies as forward osmosis, low temperature distillation, membrane distillation, pressure osmosis, biomimetic and graphene membranes” (IDA). Many claim that technology is not advanced yet and that using desalination while waiting for technology to advance is too costly and will end up causing irreversible damage; “Randy Truby, comptroller of the International Desalination Association, says that advances in manufacturing processes have allowed 450 sq ft of membrane to be crammed into each cartridge, compared with 300 sq ft when they first came on the market. But treating seawater still requires pressure of about 80 bar, 40 times more than car tyres. That is why treating seawater is more energy-intensive than brackish or wastewater, which require less force”
Our rivers are running dry faster than we expected. As we look for a solution to the scarcity of water, we are relying on the most abundant resource that is available on Earth — the ocean. To make the salty sea waters usable, scientists have developed desalination plants; a method that uses reverse osmosis and is already being implemented in places like California. However, as with any possible solution, the desalination process has its downfalls. Critics of the desalination project argue that it is more expensive than other potential methods and that the amount of energy required will only aid climate change. Those who support this method would argue that although it is currently expensive, new, cheaper filters will be developed in the
Thousands of desalinization plants (over 1800) are worldwide the process is costly and consumes quite a bit of energy too. Just 1 percent of the worlds drinking water comes from the process. Many scientist are trying to develop new ways to produce fresh water. One group is making a prototype that uses graphene oxide this filter cost 4x as much but will allow the water to pass through the filter with less pressure and will not degrade with chemicals. This eliminates the need for extra chemical processes and takes less energy to run due to a reduced need to
Although water desalination was introduced and has helped many countries in aleviating their scarce water supply, the process itself is steadily decreasing in use due to the extreme cost it takes to run each and every desalination plant in these countries. The technology, machinery, and fossil fuels being used are far to expensive to continue using desalination as a method of providing water to countries in need. For this reason it is necessary that solar energy and forward osmosis be introduced into the desalination plants for the simple reason of being able to save countries fossil fuels and money. With these two new sources of energy being implemented into the plants, the water that is filtrated through the desalination process will be more efficiently spread throughout countries that are located all throughout the solar
There are many methods of desalination, however research shows that the most popular method is called multi-stage flash distillation (MSF), which accounted for 84% of desalination as of 2004 (Heimbuch, “How Desalination Works”).Multi-stage flash distillation uses energy from heat to evaporate salt water, and separate the water from the salt. This method of desalination can be very energy intensive, but fortunately multi-stage distillation can utilize solar power, making it a more environmentally friendly method of desalination. Other methods of desalination include forward osmosis distillation, reverse osmosis distillation, and low temperature thermal desalination (LTTD). The global need for more water in combination with emerging methods such as multi-stage flash distillation that utilize solar power, has the potential to evolve into a worldwide progression towards more environmentally friendly ways of
When nature limits our accessibility to water by droughts, we face no other choice but to turn toward the oceans for water. In that case we have to desalinate ocean water in order to purify it. The two most commonly known methods for desalination used around the world are Reverse Osmosis and Vapor Compression Desalination. We may take these two advancements in technology for granted in our daily lives and overuse the constantly flowing water. We need to take into consideration the amount of energy and effort required to purify water using these two processes. As the population grows in the drought areas the need for producing desalinated water is also going to increase, as
Water desalination processes separate dissolved salts and other minerals from water. Feed water sources may include brackish, seawater, wells, surface (rivers and streams), wastewater, and industrial feed and process waters. Membrane separation requires driving forces including pressure (applied and vapor), electric potential, and concentration to overcome natural osmotic pressures and effectively force water through membrane processes. As such, the technology is energy intensive and research is continually evolving to improve efficiency and reduce energy consumption.
Hydroelectric power plant is one of the major power plants all over the world in order to create electricity. It is also one of the best renewable energy sources on the planet earth. In ranking, Canada is the third largest country to produce hydroelectricity power. The efficiency of this power source is 90% and this is very impressive as the percentage of efficiency is very high. Hydro power plants generate 24% of the world’s electricity. More than 1 billion people are associated with hydro power plants as they use the power supply from hydro power plants.
Freshwater is the most essential renewable resource for life, food production and industrial development. It is expected in the future soon the clean water resources will be deducted by one-third. The difficulty to purify water and the high cost to transport aggravates the problem of water deficits. Therefore, the exploitation of seawater and brackish-water desalination has drawn unprecedented attention. Desalination is a possibility choice to produce drinking water from Saline water, although most desalination processes are energy-consuming and expensive. The main desalination technologies currently used are reverse osmosis, electrodialysis, and distillation. A drawback of the conventional desalination technologies is the intensive consumption of energy. Whereas, energy consumption has increased with an enormous trend In the last decades. Fossil fuels are a common type of non-renewable which include a huge portion of energy consumption. Despite of being nonrenewable, fossil fuels also negatively affect the human life by the emission of carbon dioxide. This limitation turn energy crisis eyes into renewable energy sources such as solar energy or energy produced from wind and water. As a result, one of the lately suggested alternative energy sources is fuel cell (FC). FC has several advantages over other types of energy generators such as zero pollution and higher efficiency.
The main focus of this chapter is hydroelectric power provided by the Columbia River, and the subsequent switch to nuclear power. The development of hydroelectric power requires the building of many dams, which at the time was commissioned by the BPA also known as the Bonneville Power Administration. The importance of the building of such dams goes far beyond the power they produced. An important attitude White is trying to give off is that by centralizing power under an administration, the importance of the people doing the work is diminished. Another point that he emphasizes is that the river never failed he states, “we have not killed the river; we have disappointed ourselves” (p.60). This idea will be discussed further in the paper. All
Desalination technology provides freshwater for regions with water scarcity problems and can prevent from over-using natural water resources. However, operating the plants may have some environmental, social, and economic issues.
Using tactics such as reverse osmosis and distillation you can make saltwater into clean drinking water. By pushing water through small filters you can remove the salt from the water giving you fresh drinking water. Many states and countries are also using renewable energy to help save energy while creating fresh water. “Israel invested in a large desalination plant in 2005 and will be producing enough water to supply half the country by the end of 2015” ( ¨ Is Desalination the answer to the global water crisis?¨) These large plants are expensive but are worth it to provide clean water. Though an expensive solution, over time we will be able to harness its true power and be able to provide a clean solution to the water
Fresh water is needed to sustain life for humans, animals, and plant life. Desalination plants should be built to aid in providing this necessary resource. According to the article entitled “A Source of Freshwater” the process of water desalination has been around since the time of Aristotle in 320 BCE. Also, desalination plants are inexpensive. Next, the plant will make up to 56 million gallons of fresh water each day. There for, 14% of people will lack fresh water by 2025. Finally desalination is the solution for the future. Some may say that the plants are too costly to build or bad for the environment, but it is well worth the costs and steps could be taken to protect ensure safety. In conclusion, water desalination plants should be built
The modern techniques in water desalination include nuclear cleaning, change of state distillation, and reverse osmosis. This paper focuses on the most energy efficient technology available for each method, as this diminishes cost.