Fuel of the Future

New technologies are being developed for alternative fuels, and not only scientists envisage in supplementing, replacing or eliminating our dependency to fossil fuels (Coal, Crude Oil & Natural Gas) for several reasons. The carbon dioxide (CO2) emission from refining and consumption of fossil fuels causes pollution and adverse damage to our environment. Fossil fuels are not renewable energy sources and have geopolitical influence that become operationally expensive and scarce in supply.

Human Society has an obligation to preserve the environment for future generations but we must augment our increasing energy needs while moving to reduce petroluem dependence. Biofuels derived from Biomass conversion had threaten to push up food prices. Yet, Among the Fuels of the Future are Methanol, Ethanol, Biobutanol, Hydrogen, and Natural Gas. These fuels more particularly hydrogen when completely burn down doesn't produce greenhouse-enhancing carbon dioxide but producing them does have an environmental impact. Bioremediation is any process that uses microorganisms or their enzymes to return the environment altered by contaminants to its original condition.

Nuclear Energy, still an extremely controversial source of fuel of the future, although it has stable long term costs and an effective power generation output compared to the billions tons of greenhouse gases and pollutants from fossil fuel. The three main disadvantages of nuclear power are waste disposal, energy security, and nuclear disasters, which make nuclear energy much less viable. There were several waste disposal propositions have been made but burying underground on isolated mountains is the temporary solution like Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository in Nevada, USA. There are may be very efficient nuclear energy sources of the future such as frozen Deuterium in laser driven nuclear fusion and Antimatter that are still at the development steps on the road to commercial use.

'Extreme Engineering': Researchers use bacteria to reduce uranium to safe levels published by Stanford University News Service and further tests were conducted at IFRC field sites that show promising results. Geobacter sulfurreducens are comma shaped gram-negative, anaerobic bacteria that are one of the predominant metal-reducing bacteria, discovered in a sample of soil contaminated by hydrocarbons in Norman, Oklahoma. This bacteria can be used to generate electricity when attached to electrodes and it produces nanowires that transfer electrons, the metallic-like wires are key to bioenergy applications of Geobacter, such as the conversion of wastes and biomass to methane and generating electricity from wastes in microbial fuel cells.

See similar topic @ WordPress and erosets

See Notes on fb