Harebrained solutions for the energy problem

Thinking out of the box

Surfing the Internet, one frequently comes upon articles on new inventions for harvesting energy and solving the energy problem. Last week, we reported on the concept of 'solar highways'. That idea is certainly not the craziest one to come along...

Harvesting small natural phenomena

A first category of crazy solutions are those aiming at harvesting energy out of natural phenomena that at first sight appear too small or too local to be of interest. Trendhunter Magazine has an article on a system using piezoelectric devices for catching the energy of falling raindrops. Another idea, reported by Inhabitat, is to collect the energy of lightning, not to start a camp fire like our ancestors did, but to power our homes. Even more surprising is a concept to tap electricity out of trees, reported by Humacon. When pounding a nail into a tree and connecting it with a pin in the ground through a copper wire, a weak electric current starts flowing. This current is caused by the difference in acidity between tree and ground. Crazy as it may sound, this concept has already found an application in supplying energy to environmental sensors in remote forest areas. And what about the idea of harvesting electricity out of our own breath (article on Live Science)?

Challenging the laws of physics

A second category of crazy inventions are the ones that try to challenge the known laws of physics. Certainly belonging to this category is a system to create room temperature superconductivity, reported by Next Energy News.

Clean Break reports on an invention to create 'free' energy by harnessing electromagnetic fields. As is often the case with these kinds of topics, a lively discussion between believers and non-believers is going on in the comments pages beneath the article.

Energy from outer space

A third category of harebrained energy systems are the ones that are related to outer space. Extraterrestrial solutions to earthly problems have been triggering our collective imagination since the birth of science fiction. This is nothing new when it comes to solving today’s energy problem. One can find ample articles on the concept of constructing photovoltaic power stations in space and beaming the harvested electrical energy to the earth. Take for example a look at Energy Outlook, The Financial Times, PC World, or SEED Magazine, or watch a movie on You Tube on Space Based Solar Power.

Other reports suggest that the quest for energy might lead to a new race to the moon (article in MIT Technology Review). The reason is that the He3 atom, which is very rare on earth but abundant on the moon, is thought by some to be a suitable alternative material for nuclear fusion, enabling a reaction without generating radioactivity. The idea is already being pushed by several politicians, although some specialists in the nuclear domain declare it to be nonsense. Only time will tell.

Crazy ideas may become ordinary one day

It is unlikely that the ideas mentioned above are going to change the energy debate from one day to the next. Most probably, the large majority of them will always remain unfeasible. And no doubt several of the potential results which are presented are seriously stretching the truth. But as already suggested in the article on solar roads last week, providing harebrained solutions with small amounts of funding for building demonstration plants or prototypes is never a bad idea. You never know what will come out of it one day; history teaches us to be cautious with negative predictions. The first photovoltaic cell was built by Charles Fritz back in 1883 (!), and only had an efficiency of 1%. I can imagine people of that time found that idea just as crazy and useless as we judge many inventions of today.