Modern energy. Energy problem and ways to solve it. Prospects for alternative energy. Problems and prospects of nuclear power plants
modern life it is impossible to imagine without electricity and heat. The material comfort that surrounds us today, as well as the further development of human thought, are firmly connected with the invention of electricity and the use of energy.
Since ancient times, people have needed strength, more precisely, engines that would give them greater human strength in order to build houses, farm, and develop new territories.
The first accumulators of the pyramids
in the pyramids ancient egypt scientists have found vessels resembling batteries. In 1937, during excavations near Baghdad, German archaeologist Wilhelm Koenig discovered earthenware jars with copper cylinders inside. These cylinders were fixed at the bottom of clay vessels with a layer of resin.
For the first time, the phenomena that today are called electrical were noticed in ancient China, India, and later in ancient Greece. The ancient Greek philosopher Thales of Miletus in the 6th century BC noted the ability of amber, rubbed with fur or wool, to attract pieces of paper, fluffs and other light bodies. From the Greek name for amber - "electron" - this phenomenon began to be called electrification.
Today it will not be difficult for us to unravel the “mystery” of amber rubbed with wool. Indeed, why is amber electrified? It turns out that when wool is rubbed against amber, an excess of electrons appears on its surface, and a negative electric charge arises. We, as it were, “take away” electrons from wool atoms and transfer them to the surface of amber. The electric field created by these electrons attracts the paper. If glass is taken instead of amber, then another picture is observed here. Rubbing glass with silk, we "remove" electrons from its surface. As a result, there is a lack of electrons on the glass, and it becomes positively charged. Subsequently, in order to distinguish between these charges, they began to be conventionally designated by signs that have survived to this day, minus and plus.
Having described the amazing properties of amber in poetic legends, the ancient Greeks did not continue to study it. Mankind had to wait many centuries for the next breakthrough in the conquest of free energy. But when it was nevertheless completed, the world literally changed. Back in the 3rd millennium BC. people used sails for boats, but only in the 7th century. AD invented the windmill with wings. The history of wind turbines began. Water wheels were used on the Nile, Efrat, Yangtze to lift water, their slaves rotated. Water wheels and windmills were the main types of engines until the 17th century.
The Age of Discovery
The history of attempts to use steam records the names of many scientists and inventors. So Leonardo da Vinci left 5000 pages of scientific and technical descriptions, drawings, sketches of various devices.
Gianbattista della Porta investigated the formation of steam from water, which was important for further use steam in steam engines, investigated the properties of the magnet.
In 1600, the court physician of the English Queen Elizabeth, William Gilbert, studied everything that was known to the ancient peoples about the properties of amber, and he himself conducted experiments with amber and magnets.
Who Invented Electricity?
The term "electricity" was introduced by the English naturalist, physician to Queen Elizabeth William Gilbert. He first used this word in his treatise On the Magnet, Magnetic Bodies, and the Great Magnet, the Earth, in 1600. The scientist explained the action of the magnetic compass, and also gave descriptions of some experiments with electrified bodies.
In general, not much practical knowledge about electricity was accumulated during the 16th-17th centuries, but all the discoveries were harbingers of truly great changes. It was a time when experiments with electricity were made not only by scientists, but also by pharmacists, doctors, and even monarchs.
One of the experiments of the French physicist and inventor Denis Papin was the creation of a vacuum in a closed cylinder. In the mid-1670s, in Paris, he worked with the Dutch physicist Christian Huygens on a machine that forced air out of a cylinder by exploding gunpowder in it.
In 1680, Denis Papin came to England and created a version of the same cylinder, in which he obtained a more complete vacuum using boiling water, which condensed in the cylinder. Thus, he was able to lift a weight attached to the piston by a rope thrown over a pulley.
The system worked like a demo, but to repeat the process, the entire apparatus had to be dismantled and reassembled. Papen quickly realized that in order to automate the cycle, the steam had to be produced separately in a boiler. A French scientist invented a steam boiler with a lever safety valve.
In 1774, Watt James, as a result of a series of experiments, created a unique steam engine. To ensure the operation of the engine, he used a centrifugal regulator connected to a damper on the outlet steam line. Watt studied in detail the work of steam in a cylinder, first designing an indicator for this purpose.
In 1782 Watt received an English patent for an expansion steam engine. He also introduced the first unit of power - horsepower (later another unit of power - watt) was named after him. Watt's steam engine, due to its efficiency, became widespread and played a huge role in the transition to machine production.
The Italian anatomist Luigi Galvani published his Treatise on the Powers of Electricity in Muscular Movement in 1791.
This discovery after 121 years gave impetus to the study of the human body with the help of bioelectric currents. Diseased organs were found in the study of their electrical signals. The work of any organ (heart, brain) is accompanied by biological electrical signals that have their own form for each organ. If the organ is not in order, the signals change their shape, and when comparing “healthy” and “sick” signals, the causes of the disease are found.
Galvani's experiments prompted the invention of a new source of electricity by Tessin University professor Alessandro Volta. He gave Galvani's experiments with a frog and dissimilar metals a different explanation, proved that the electrical phenomena observed by Galvani can only be explained by the fact that a certain pair of dissimilar metals, separated by a layer of a special electrically conductive liquid, serves as a source of electric current flowing through closed conductors of an external circuit. This theory, developed by Volta in 1794, made it possible to create the world's first source of electric current, which was called the Voltaic column.
It was a set of plates of two metals, copper and zinc, separated by pads of felt soaked in saline or alkali. Volta created a device capable of electrifying bodies due to chemical energy and, consequently, supporting the movement of charges in a conductor, that is, an electric current. The modest Volta named his invention in honor of Galvani "galvanic element", and the electric current resulting from this element - "galvanic current".
The first laws of electrical engineering
At the beginning of the 19th century, experiments with electric current attracted the attention of scientists from different countries. In 1802, the Italian scientist Romagnosi discovered the deviation of the magnetic needle of a compass under the influence of an electric current flowing through a nearby conductor. In 1820, this phenomenon was described in detail by the Danish physicist Hans Christian Oersted in his report. A small book of only five pages, Oersted's book was published in Copenhagen in six languages in the same year and made a huge impression on Oersted's colleagues from different countries.
However, the French scientist Andre Marie Ampère was the first to correctly explain the cause of the phenomenon described by Oersted. It turned out that the current contributes to the appearance of a magnetic field in the conductor. One of the most important merits of Ampère was that he was the first to combine two previously separated phenomena - electricity and magnetism - into one theory of electromagnetism and proposed to consider them as the result of a single process of nature.
Inspired by the discoveries of Oersted and Ampère, another scientist, Englishman Michael Faraday, suggested that not only a magnetic field can affect a magnet, but vice versa - a moving magnet will affect a conductor. A series of experiments confirmed this brilliant guess - Faraday achieved that a moving magnetic field created an electric current in a conductor.
Later, this discovery served as the basis for the creation of the three main devices of electrical engineering - an electric generator, an electric transformer and an electric motor.
Initial use of electricity
At the origins of lighting with the help of electricity was Vasily Vladimirovich Petrov, professor at the Medical and Surgical Academy in St. Petersburg. Investigating the light phenomena caused by electric current, in 1802 he made his famous discovery - an electric arc, accompanied by the appearance of a bright glow and high temperature.
Sacrifice for Science
The Russian scientist Vasily Petrov, who was the first in the world to describe the phenomenon of an electric arc in 1802, did not spare himself when conducting experiments. At that time, there were no such devices as an ammeter or voltmeter, and Petrov checked the quality of the batteries by feeling the electric current in his fingers. To feel weak currents, the scientist cut off the top layer of skin from his fingertips.
Petrov's observations and analysis of the properties of an electric arc formed the basis for the creation of electric arc lamps, incandescent lamps, and much more.
In 1875, Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov created an electric candle, consisting of two carbon rods, located vertically and parallel to each other, between which kaolin (clay) insulation was laid. To make the burning longer, four candles were placed on one candlestick, which burned sequentially.
In turn, Alexander Nikolayevich Lodygin, back in 1872, proposed using an incandescent filament instead of carbon electrodes, which glowed brightly when an electric current flowed. In 1874, Lodygin received a patent for the invention of an incandescent lamp with a carbon rod and the annual Lomonosov Prize of the Academy of Sciences. The device was also patented in Belgium, France, Great Britain, Austria-Hungary.
In 1876, Pavel Yablochkov completed the design of an electric candle, begun in 1875, and on March 23 received a French patent containing a brief description of the candle in its original forms and an image of these forms. "Yablochkov's Candle" turned out to be simpler, more convenient and cheaper to operate than A. N. Lodygin's lamp. Under the name "Russian Light", Yablochkov's candles were later used for street lighting in many cities around the world. Yablochkov also proposed the first practically used AC transformers with an open magnetic system.
At the same time, in 1876, the first power plant was built in Russia at the Sormovo Machine-Building Plant, its ancestor was built in 1873 under the leadership of the Belgian-French inventor Z.T. Gram to power the lighting system of the plant, the so-called block station.
In 1879, the Russian electrical engineers Yablochkov, Lodygin, and Chikolev, together with a number of other electrical engineers and physicists, organized a Special Electrical Engineering Department within the Russian Technical Society. The task of the department was to promote the development of electrical engineering.
Already in April 1879, for the first time in Russia, electric lights illuminated the bridge - the bridge of Alexander II (now Liteiny Bridge) in St. Petersburg. With the assistance of the Department, the first in Russia installation of outdoor electric lighting (with Yablochkov arc lamps in lamps designed by the architect Kavos) was introduced on Liteiny Bridge, which marked the beginning of the creation of local lighting systems with arc lamps for some public buildings in St. Petersburg, Moscow and other large cities. Electric lighting of the bridge arranged by V.N. Chikolev, where 12 Yablochkov candles burned instead of 112 gas jets, functioned for only 227 days.
Pirotsky tram
The electric tram car was invented by Fyodor Apollonovich Pirotsky in 1880. The first tram lines in St. Petersburg were laid only in the winter of 1885 on the ice of the Neva in the area of Mytninskaya Embankment, since only the owners of horse-drawn horses had the right to use the streets for passenger transportation.
In the 80s, the first central stations appeared, they were more expedient and more economical than block stations, since they supplied many enterprises with electricity at once.
At that time, the mass consumers of electricity were light sources - arc lamps and incandescent lamps. The first power plants in St. Petersburg were initially located on barges at the moorings of the Moika and Fontanka rivers. The power of each station was approximately 200 kW.
The world's first central station was put into operation in 1882 in New York, it had a power of 500 kW.
In Moscow, electric lighting first appeared in 1881, already in 1883, electric lamps illuminated the Kremlin. Especially for this, a mobile power station was built, which was serviced by 18 locomobiles and 40 dynamos. The first stationary city power plant appeared in Moscow in 1888.
We should not forget about non-traditional energy sources.
The predecessor of modern horizontal axis wind farms had a capacity of 100 kW and was built in 1931 in Yalta. It had a tower 30 meters high. By 1941, the unit capacity of wind farms reached 1.25 MW.
GOELRO Plan
In Russia, power plants were created at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, however, the rapid growth of the electric power industry and thermal power engineering in the 20s of the 20th century after the adoption at the suggestion of V.I. Lenin plan GOELRO (State Electrification of Russia).
On December 22, 1920, the VIII All-Russian Congress of Soviets considered and approved the State Plan for the Electrification of Russia - GOELRO, prepared by the commission, chaired by G.M. Krzhizhanovsky.
The GOELRO plan was to be implemented within ten to fifteen years, and its result was to be the creation of a "large industrial economy of the country." For the economic development of the country, this decision was of great importance. No wonder Russian power engineers celebrate their professional holiday on December 22.
The plan paid much attention to the problem of using local energy resources (peat, river water, local coal, etc.) for the production of electrical energy.
On October 8, 1922, the official launch of the Utkina Zavod station, the first peat power plant in Petrograd, took place.
First CHPP of Russia
The very first thermal power plant, built according to the GOELRO plan in 1922, was called Utkina Zavod. On the day of the launch, the participants of the solemn rally renamed it "Red October", and under this name it worked until 2010. Today it is the Pravoberezhnaya CHPP of TGC-1 PJSC.
In 1925, the Shaturskaya power plant was launched on peat, in the same year, the Kashirskaya power plant began to develop a new technology for burning coal in the form of dust near Moscow.
November 25, 1924 can be considered the day of the beginning of heating in Russia - then the first heat pipeline from HPP-3, intended for general use in house number ninety-six on the embankment of the Fontanka River, was put into operation. Power plant No. 3, which was converted for combined heat and power generation, is the first combined heat and power plant in Russia, and Leningrad is a pioneer in district heating. The centralized supply of hot water to the residential building functioned without failures, and a year later HPP-3 began to supply hot water to the former Obukhov hospital and baths located in Kazachy Lane. In November 1928, the building of the former Pavlovsky barracks, located on the Field of Mars, was connected to the thermal networks of the state power plant No. 3.
In 1926, the powerful Volkhovskaya hydroelectric power station was put into operation, the energy of which was supplied to Leningrad through a 110 kV power transmission line, 130 km long.
Nuclear power of the XX century
On December 20, 1951, a nuclear reactor produced usable amounts of electricity for the first time in history - at what is now the US Department of Energy's INEEL National Laboratory. The reactor generated enough power to light a simple string of four 100-watt light bulbs. After a second experiment the next day, the 16 participating scientists and engineers “commemorated” their historic achievement by chalking their names on the concrete wall of the generator.
Soviet scientists began to develop the first projects for peaceful use atomic energy back in the second half of the 1940s. And on June 27, 1954, the first nuclear power plant was launched in the city of Obnisk.
The launch of the first nuclear power plant marked the opening of a new direction in energy, which was recognized at the 1st International Scientific and Technical Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy (August 1955, Geneva). By the end of the 20th century, there were already more than 400 nuclear power plants in the world.
Modern energy. End of XX century
The end of the 20th century was marked by various events related both to the high pace of construction of new stations, the beginning of the development of renewable energy sources, as well as the emergence of the first problems from the huge global energy system and attempts to solve them.
Blackout
Americans call the night of July 13, 1977 "The Night of Fear." Then there was a huge accident in terms of its size and consequences on the electrical networks in New York. Due to a lightning strike on a power line, electricity was interrupted in New York for 25 hours and 9 million people were left without power. The tragedy was accompanied by a financial crisis in which the metropolis was, unusually hot weather and unprecedented rampant crime. After the power outage, the fashionable quarters of the city were attacked by gangs from poor neighborhoods. It is believed that it was after those terrible events in New York that the concept of “blackout” began to be widely used in relation to accidents in the electric power industry.
As today's society becomes increasingly dependent on electricity, power outages cause significant losses to businesses, the public and governments. During an accident, lighting devices are turned off, elevators, traffic lights, and the metro do not work. At vital facilities (hospitals, military installations, etc.), autonomous power sources are used in power systems for the functioning of life during accidents: batteries, generators. Statistics show a significant increase in accidents in the 90s. XX - early XXI centuries.
In those years, the development of alternative energy continued. In September 1985, a trial connection of the generator of the first solar power station of the USSR to the network took place. The project of the first Crimean SPP in the USSR was created in the early 80s in the Riga branch of the Atomteploelektroproekt Institute with the participation of thirteen other design organizations of the USSR Ministry of Energy and Electrification. The station was fully commissioned in 1986.
In 1992, construction began on the world's largest hydroelectric power station, the Three Gorges, in China on the Yangtze River. The power of the station is 22.5 GW. The pressure structures of the HPP form a large reservoir with an area of 1,045 km², with a useful capacity of 22 km³. During the creation of the reservoir, 27,820 hectares of cultivated land were flooded, about 1.2 million people were resettled. The cities of Wanxian and Wushan went under water. Full completion of construction and commissioning took place on July 4, 2012.
Energy development is inseparable from the problems associated with environmental pollution. In Kyoto (Japan) in December 1997, in addition to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Kyoto Protocol was adopted. It obliges developed countries and countries with economies in transition to reduce or stabilize greenhouse gas emissions in 2008-2012 compared to 1990. The protocol signing period opened on March 16, 1998 and ended on March 15, 1999.
As of March 26, 2009, the Protocol has been ratified by 181 countries worldwide (these countries collectively account for more than 61% of global emissions). The United States is a notable exception to this list. The first implementation period of the protocol began on 1 January 2008 and will last for five years until 31 December 2012, after which it is expected to be replaced by a new agreement.
The Kyoto Protocol was the first global environmental agreement based on a market-based regulatory mechanism - the mechanism for international trading in greenhouse gas emissions.
The 21st century, or rather 2008, became a landmark for the Russian energy system, the Russian Open Joint Stock Company for Energy and Electrification "UES of Russia" (OJSC RAO "UES of Russia"), a Russian energy company that existed in 1992-2008, was liquidated. The company united almost the entire Russian power industry, was a monopolist in the market of generation and energy transportation in Russia. In its place, state-owned natural monopoly companies emerged, as well as privatized generating and supply companies.
In the 21st century in Russia, the construction of power plants reaches a new level, the era of the use of the combined cycle cycle begins. Russia contributes to the build-up of new generating capacities. On September 28, 2009, the construction of the Adler thermal power plant began. The station will be created on the basis of 2 power units of a combined cycle plant with a total capacity of 360 MW (thermal power - 227 Gcal / h) with an efficiency of 52%.
The modern technology of the combined cycle cycle provides high efficiency, low fuel consumption and a reduction in the level of harmful emissions into the atmosphere by an average of 30% compared to traditional steam power plants. In the future, the TPP should become not only a source of heat and electricity for the facilities of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, but also a significant contribution to the energy balance of Sochi and the surrounding areas. The TPP is included in the Program for the construction of Olympic facilities and the development of Sochi as a mountain climatic resort approved by the Government of the Russian Federation.
On June 24, 2009, the first hybrid solar-gas power plant was launched in Israel. It was built from 30 solar reflectors and one "flower" tower. To maintain system power 24 hours a day, it can switch to the gas turbine at nightfall. The installation takes up relatively little space, and can operate in remote areas that are not connected to the central power systems.
New technologies used in hybrid power plants are gradually spreading around the world, as Turkey plans to build a hybrid power plant that will operate simultaneously on three sources of renewable energy - wind, natural gas and solar energy.
The alternative power plant is designed in such a way that all its components complement each other, so American experts agreed that in the future such plants have every chance of becoming competitive and supplying electricity at a reasonable price.
Problems and prospects of modern energy
Experts have calculated that in the United States energy consumption is 6 times higher than the world average and 30 times higher than the level of developing countries.
Scientists offer the following information for reflection. If developing countries were able to increase their consumption of mineral resources to the level of the United States, then the proven reserves of oil would be depleted in 7 years, natural gas in 5 years, coal in 18 years. If we also take into account potential reserves that geologists have not yet reached, then natural gas should be enough for 72 years, oil in ordinary wells - for 60 years, and in shale and sand, from where it is extremely difficult and expensive to pump it out - for 660 years . Coal - for 350 years.
Let's assume that for the needs of energy it is possible to use, like oil, the entire mass of our planet. If the rate of increase in energy consumption remains the same as today, this "fuel" will be burned entirely in just 342 years.
At the current pace of technological development, the production of energy on Earth in 240 years will exceed the amount of solar energy falling on our planet, in 800 years - all the energy released by the sun, and in 1300 years will exceed the total radiation of our entire Galaxy.
However, the main problem of modern energy is not the depletion of mineral resources, but the threatening environmental situation.
Nuclear power
Based on experience, humanity will have to abandon nuclear energy for 4 reasons.
First, every nuclear power plant, regardless of its degree of reliability, is a stationary atomic bomb that can be detonated at any moment by sabotage, air bombardment, rocket fire or conventional artillery shells.
Secondly, using the example of Chernobyl, we were convinced from our own experience that an accident at a nuclear power plant can occur due to someone's negligence. From 1971 to 1984 There have been 151 serious accidents at nuclear power plants around the world, in which there was a "significant release of radioactive materials with a dangerous effect on people." Since then, not a year has passed without a serious accident at a nuclear power plant, and sometimes even several accidents, in one or another country of the world.
Thirdly, the real danger is the radioactive waste from nuclear power plants, which has accumulated quite a lot over the past decades, and will accumulate even more if nuclear energy takes a dominant position in the global energy balance. Now nuclear waste in special containers is buried deep in the ground or lowered to the bottom of the ocean. These methods are not safe: over time, the protective shells are destroyed, and radioactive elements enter the water and soil, and then into the human body.
Fourth, atomic fuel can be used with equal efficiency both in a nuclear power plant and in an atomic bomb. The UN Security Council is suppressing attempts by developing totalitarian states to import nuclear fuel, allegedly for the development of nuclear energy. This closes the way for nuclear energy to the future as a dominant part of the global energy balance.
But nuclear energy also has important advantages. American experts have calculated that if by the beginning of the 90s in the USSR all nuclear power plants were replaced with coal-fired ones of the same capacity, then air pollution would become so great that it would lead to a 50-fold increase in premature deaths in the 21st century. in comparison with the most pessimistic forecasts of the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster.
Alternative energy. Theory and practice
Alternative energy is based on the use of renewable (or "clean") energy sources. These include energy-generating devices that use the energy of the sun, wind, tides, sea waves, and the planet's underground heat.
solar energy
The leading environmentally friendly source of energy is the Sun. Currently, only a small part of solar energy is used due to the fact that existing solar panels have a relatively low efficiency and are very expensive to manufacture. Experts say that solar energy alone could cover all conceivable energy needs of mankind for thousands of years to come. But it faces many problems associated with the construction, placement and operation of solar power plants on thousands of square kilometers of the earth's surface. Therefore, the total share of solar energy has been and will remain quite modest.
Wind energy
According to the World Meteorological Organization, the potential of wind energy in the world is 170 trillion kWh per year.
Wind power has several significant drawbacks that make it difficult to use. First of all, it is highly dispersed in space, so it is necessary to build wind turbines that can constantly operate at high efficiency.
The wind is very unpredictable: it often changes direction, suddenly subsides even in the windiest areas of the globe, and sometimes it reaches such strength that it breaks windmills. Wind power plants are not harmless: they interfere with the flights of birds and insects, make noise, and reflect radio waves with rotating blades. But wind energy has a major advantage - environmental friendliness. In addition, shortcomings can be reduced, or even completely eliminated.
Wind turbines have been developed that can operate efficiently with the weakest breeze. The pitch of the propeller blade is automatically adjusted in such a way that the maximum possible use of wind energy is always ensured, and if the wind speed is too high, the blade is also automatically transferred to the vane position, so that an accident is excluded.
So-called cyclone power plants with a capacity of up to one hundred thousand kilowatts have been developed and are operating, where warm air, rising in a special 15-meter tower and mixing with the circulating air flow, creates an artificial “cyclone” that rotates a turbine. Such installations are much more efficient than solar panels and conventional windmills.
To compensate for the variability of the wind, huge “wind farms” are built. Windmills there stand in rows over a vast area and take up a lot of space. In Denmark, a "wind farm" was placed in the coastal shallow waters of the North Sea, where it does not interfere with anyone, and the wind is more stable than on land.
A positive example of the use of wind energy was shown by the Netherlands and Sweden (the latter decided during the 90s to build and place 54 thousand highly efficient power plants in the most convenient places).
More than 30 thousand wind turbines of various capacities are currently operating in the world. Germany gets 10% of its electricity from the wind, and the wind provides 2500 MW of electricity to the whole of Western Europe.
hydropower
Hydropower plants are another source of energy that claims to be environmentally friendly. At the beginning of the 20th century, large and mountainous rivers of the world attracted attention, and by the end of the century, most of them were blocked by cascades of dams that provide cheap energy.
However, this resulted in huge damage to Agriculture and nature: the lands above the dams were flooded, in the territories located below, the groundwater level fell, huge expanses of land were lost, going to the bottom of giant reservoirs, the natural flow of rivers was interrupted, the water in the reservoirs rotted, fish stocks decreased. On mountain rivers, all these disadvantages were minimized, but one more was added: in the event of an earthquake that could destroy the dam, the disaster could lead to thousands of casualties. Therefore, modern large hydroelectric power plants are not really environmentally friendly. However, the disadvantages of hydroelectric power plants gave rise to the idea of mini-hydroelectric power stations, which can be located on small rivers or even streams, and their electric generators are able to operate with small water drops or being driven only by the force of the current. The same mini-hydro power plants can be installed on large rivers with a relatively fast flow.
The centrifugal and propeller power units of sleeve portable hydroelectric power plants with a capacity of 0.18 to 30 kW have been developed in detail. In the in-line production of unified hydro-turbine equipment, mini-hydroelectric power plants are able to compete with maxi-variants at the cost of one kilowatt hour. Also, an undoubted advantage is the possibility of their installation even in the most inaccessible corners of a particular country: all equipment can be transported on one pack horse, and installation or dismantling takes only a few hours.
Another very promising development, which has not yet received wide application, is the recently created Gorlov helicoid turbine, named after its creator. Its peculiarity lies in the fact that it does not need strong pressure and works effectively using the kinetic energy of a water flow - a river, an ocean current or a sea tide. This invention changed the usual idea of a hydropower plant, the power of which previously depended only on the force of water pressure, that is, on the height of the hydroelectric dam.
Ebb and flow energy
A disproportionately more powerful source of water flows are the ebbs and flows. Projects of tidal hydroelectric power plants are developed in detail in engineering terms, experimentally tested in several countries, including on the Kola Peninsula in Russia. Even a strategy for the optimal operation of the TPP has been thought out: to accumulate water in the reservoir behind the dam during high tides and spend it on electricity production when the “peak consumption” occurs in the unified energy systems, thereby easing the load on other power plants.
Today, PPPs are uncompetitive compared to thermal energy.
In practice, the construction of a TPP at the most favorable points of the sea coast, where the water level difference ranges from 1-2 to 10-16 meters, will take decades or even centuries. But interest in the global energy balance of TPPs should begin to give already during the 21st century.
The first tidal power plant with a capacity of 240 MW was put into operation in 1966 in France at the mouth of the Rance River, which flows into the English Channel, where the average tide amplitude is 8.4 m. Opening the station, French President Charles de Gaulle called it the outstanding building of the century. Despite the high cost of construction, which is almost 2.5 times higher than the cost of building a river HPP of the same capacity, the first experience of operating a tidal HPP turned out to be economically justified. TPP on the Rance River is part of the French energy system and is effectively used.
There are projects of large TPPs with a capacity of 320 MW (Kola) and 4000 MW (Mezen) on the White Sea, where the amplitude of the tides is 7-10 m.
It is also planned to use the huge energy potential of the Sea of Okhotsk, where in some places, for example, in the Penzhinskaya Bay, the tide height reaches 12.9 m, and in the Gizhiginskaya Bay - 12-14 m. the Gorlov turbine, which allows the construction of PPPs without dams, reducing construction costs.
Wave energy
Already today, highly economical wave power plants have been engineered and experimentally tested, capable of operating efficiently even with weak waves or even with complete calm. A vertical pipe is installed at the bottom of the sea or lake, in the underwater part of which a “window” is made, falling into which, a deep wave (and this is an almost constant phenomenon) compresses the air in the mine, and it turns the generator turbine. During the reverse movement, the air in the turbine is rarefied, setting the second turbine in motion. Thus, the wave power plant operates continuously in almost any weather, and the current is transmitted to the shore through an underwater cable. Some types of wind farms can serve as excellent breakwaters, protecting the coast from waves and thus saving on the construction of concrete breakwaters.
Specialists from the laboratory of water and wind energy at Northeastern University in Boston (USA) have developed a project for the world's first ocean power plant. It will be built in the Florida Strait, where the Gulf Stream originates. At its exit from the Gulf of Mexico, the capacity of the water flow is 25 million m 3 / s, which is 20 times higher than the total water flow in all rivers of the globe. According to experts, the funds invested in the project will pay off within five years. In this unique power plant, a Gorlov turbine will be used to generate a current of 38 kW. This helicoid turbine has three helical blades and rotates 2-3 times faster than the current speed under the influence of the water flow. Unlike multi-ton metal turbines used in river hydroelectric power stations, the dimensions of the Gorlov turbine made of plastic are small (diameter - 50 cm, length - 84 cm), its weight is only 35 kg. The elastic coating on the surface of the blades reduces friction on the water and prevents the adherence of algae and shellfish. The efficiency of the Gorlov turbine is three times higher than that of conventional turbines.
geothermal energy
The underground heat of the planet is a fairly well-known and already used source of “clean” energy. In Russia, the first geothermal power plant with a capacity of 5 MW was built in 1966 in the south of Kamchatka, in the valley of the Pauzhetka River. In 1980, its capacity was already 11 MW. In Italy, in the areas of Landerello, Monte Amiata and Travele, there are 11 such stations with a total capacity of 384 MW. Geothermal power plants also operate in the USA (California, the Valley of the Great Geysers), Iceland (near Lake Myvatn), New Zealand, Mexico and Japan. Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland, receives heat exclusively from hot underground sources.
Geologists have discovered that massifs heated to 180°-200°C at a depth of 46 km occupy most of the territory of Russia, and with temperatures up to 100°-150°C they are found almost everywhere. In addition, over several million square kilometers there are hot underground rivers and seas with a depth of up to 3.5 km and a water temperature of up to 200 ° C (naturally, under pressure), so that by drilling a well, you can get a steam fountain without any thermal power plant and hot water.
hydrothermal energy
In addition to underground, there is also water heat, which is not so common as an energy source. Water is always at least a few degrees of heat, and in summer it heats up to 25°C. In order to use this heat, an installation that operates on the principle of “refrigerator in reverse” is required. If you pass water through a refrigeration unit, then heat can also be taken from it. Hot steam, which is formed as a result of heat exchange, condenses, its temperature rises to 110°C, and then it can be sent either to the turbines of power plants or to heat water in central heating batteries up to 60°-65°C. In response, for every kilowatt-hour of energy expended on this, nature returns 3 kilowatt-hours. By the same principle, it is possible to obtain energy for air conditioning in hot weather.
Such installations are most effective at large temperature differences. All necessary engineering developments have already been carried out and tested experimentally.
Energy today and tomorrow
Today, about half of the world's energy balance is accounted for by oil, about a third by gas and nuclear (about one sixth each), and about one fifth by coal. Only a few percent remain for all other energy sources. But where possible, alternative energy sources should be introduced.
It should be noted (and this was repeatedly reported by C&N) that, for example, certain experience in the use of wind energy already exists in Belarus.
Modern electric power industry has many problems, they are due to the high cost of fuel, the negative impact on the environment, etc..
For example, hydropower technologies have many advantages, but there are also significant disadvantages. Overhead, rainy seasons, low water resources during droughts can seriously affect the amount of energy produced. This can become a serious problem where hydropower is a significant part of the country's energy complex, dams are the cause of many problems: the resettlement of residents, the drying up of natural riverbeds, siltation of reservoirs, water disputes between neighboring countries, the significant cost of these projects. Hydroelectric power stations on lowland rivers lead to flooding of large areas. A significant part of the area of reservoirs formed is shallow water. In the summer, due to solar radiation, aquatic vegetation actively develops in them, the so-called “blooming” of water occurs.
A change in the water level, in some places it reaches complete drying, leads to the death of vegetation. Dams prevent fish migration. Multi-cascade hydroelectric power plants have already turned rivers into a series of lakes, where swamps appear. Fish are dying in these rivers, and the microclimate around them is changing, further destroying natural ecosystems.
On the hazards of thermal power plants, during the combustion of fuel in thermal engines, harmful substances are released: carbon monoxide, nitrogen compounds, lead compounds, and a significant amount of heat is also released into the atmosphere.
In addition, the use of steam turbines at thermal power plants requires the allocation of large areas for ponds, in which the exhaust steam is cooled. Every year, 5 billion tons of coal and 3.2 billion tons of oil are burned in the world, this is accompanied by the release of 2 10 J of heat into the atmosphere. Fossil fuel reserves on Earth are distributed extremely unevenly, and at the current rate of consumption, coal will last for 150-200 years, oil for 40-50 years, and gas for about 60 years. The entire cycle of work associated with the extraction, transportation and combustion of fossil fuels (mainly coal), as well as the generation of waste, is accompanied by the release of a large number chemical pollutants. Coal mining is associated with considerable salinization of water reservoirs where water is discharged from mines. In addition, the pumped water contains isotopes of radium and radon. The thermal power plant, although it has modern systems for cleaning coal combustion products, emits into the atmosphere per year, according to various estimates, from 10 to 120 thousand tons of sulfur oxides, 2-20 thousand tons of nitrogen oxides, 700-1500 tons of ash (without purification - in 2 -3 times more) and emits 3-7 million tons of carbon monoxide. In addition, more than 300 thousand tons of ash is formed, containing about 400 tons of toxic metals (arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury). It can be noted that a coal-fired thermal power plant emits more radioactive substances into the atmosphere than a nuclear power plant of the same capacity. This is due to the release of various radioactive elements contained in coal in the form of inclusions (radium, thorium, polonium, etc.). the product of the dose value and the number of people exposed to radiation (it is expressed in person-sievert). It turned out that in the early 90s of the last century, the annual collective dose of exposure of the population of Ukraine due to thermal energy was 767 people / n and due to nuclear power - 188 people / n.
Currently, 20-30 billion tons of carbon monoxide are emitted into the atmosphere every year. Forecasts indicate that if such rates continue, the average temperature on Earth could rise by several degrees by the middle of the century, which will lead to unpredictable global climate changes. Comparing the environmental impact of various energy sources, it is necessary to take into account their impact on human health. The high risk for workers in the case of using coal is associated with its extraction in mines and transportation, and with the environmental impact of its combustion products. The last two reasons relate to oil and gas and affect the entire population. It has been established that the global impact of emissions from coal and oil combustion on human health operates in much the same way as an accident like Chernobyl, which occurs once a year. This is a “quiet Chernobyl”, the consequences of which are directly invisible, but constantly affect the environment. The concentration of toxic impurities in chemical waste is stable, and eventually all of them will pass into the ecosphere, unlike radioactive waste from nuclear power plants decay.
In general, the real radiation impact of nuclear power plants on the environment is much (10 or more times) less than the permissible one. If we take into account the environmental impact of various energy sources on human health, then among renewable energy sources, the risk from normally operating nuclear power plants is minimal both for workers whose activities are associated with various stages of the nuclear fuel cycle and for the public. The global radiation contribution of nuclear power at all stages of the nuclear fuel cycle is now about 0.1% of the natural background and will not exceed 1% even with its intensive development in the future.
Mining and processing of uranium ores are also associated with adverse environmental impacts.
The collective dose received by the facility personnel and the public at all stages of uranium mining and fuel fabrication for reactors is 14% of the total dose of the nuclear fuel cycle. But the main problem remains the disposal of high-level waste. The volume of highly hazardous radioactive waste is approximately one hundred thousandth of the total amount of waste, including highly toxic chemical elements and their stable compounds. Methods are being developed for their concentration, reliable binding and placement in stable geological formations, where, according to experts, they can be contained for millennia. A serious disadvantage of nuclear energy is the radioactivity of the fuel used and its fission products. This requires the creation of protection against various types of radioactive radiation, which significantly increases the energy generated by nuclear power plants. In addition, another disadvantage of nuclear power plants is the thermal pollution of water, i.e. its heating.
It is interesting to note that according to a group of British doctors, people who worked during 1946-1988 in the British nuclear industry live longer on average, and the mortality rate among them from all causes, including cancer, is much lower. If we take into account the real levels of radiation and the concentration of chemicals in the atmosphere, then we can say that the effect of the latter on the flora as a whole is quite significant compared to the effect of radiation.
The data presented indicate that during the operation of power plants, the environmental the impact of nuclear energy is tens of times lower than thermal.
The Chernobyl tragedy remains an incorrigible evil for Ukraine. But it has more to do with the social order that gave rise to it than with nuclear energy. After all, at no nuclear power plant in the world, except for Chernobyl, there were no accidents that directly led to the death of people.
The probabilistic method for calculating the safety of nuclear power plants as a whole indicates that when generating the same unit of electricity, the probability of a major accident at a nuclear power plant is 100 times lower than in the case of coal energy. The implications of this comparison are obvious.
The growth in the use of electrical energy, the aggravation of environmental problems have significantly intensified the search for environmentally friendly ways to generate electricity. Ways to use non-fuel renewable energy - solar, wind, geothermal, wave energy, tidal energy, biogas energy, etc. are being intensively developed. The sources of these types of energy are inexhaustible, but it should be reasonably assessed whether they can satisfy all the needs of mankind.
The latest research is focused mainly on the generation of electrical energy from wind energy. Wind farms are built mainly with direct current. The wind wheel drives a dynamo - an electric current that simultaneously charges batteries connected in parallel.
Today, wind power units reliably provide current to oil workers, they successfully operate in hard-to-reach areas, on remote islands, in the Arctic, on thousands of agricultural farms where there are no large settlements and public power plants nearby.
The widespread use of wind turbines in normal conditions while their high cost hinders. When using wind, a serious problem arises: an excess of energy in windy weather and a lack of it in a calm period. The use of wind energy is complicated by the fact that it has a low energy density, as well as changing its strength and direction. Wind turbines are mainly used in places where there is a good wind regime. To create high-capacity wind turbines, it is necessary to have big sizes in addition, the propeller must be raised to a sufficient height, since at a higher altitude the wind is more stable and has a greater speed. Only one power plant running on fossil fuels can replace (in terms of the amount of energy produced) thousands of wind turbines.
For centuries, people have pondered the cause of the ebb and flow of the sea. Today we know for certain that the mighty a natural phenomenon- the rhythmic movement of sea waters - cause the forces of attraction of the moon and the sun. The energy of the tides is enormous, its total power on Earth is about 1 billion kW, which is more than the total power of all the rivers of the world.
Operating principle tidal power plants very simple. At high tide, water, rotating hydroturbines, fills the reservoir, and after low tide, it leaves the reservoir into the ocean, again rotating the turbines. The main thing is to find a convenient place for the installation of the dam, in which the height of the tide would be significant. Building and operating power plants is a complex task. Sea water causes corrosion of most metals, algae grows on the details of installations.
The thermal flux of solar radiation that reaches the Earth is very large. It exceeds the total use of all types of fuel and energy resources in the world by more than 5,000 times.
Among the benefits of solar energy— its eternity and exceptional ecological cleanliness. Solar energy is supplied to the entire surface of the Earth, only the polar regions of the planet suffer from its lack. That is, on almost the entire globe, only clouds and night prevent you from using it all the time. Such general availability makes this type of energy impossible to monopolize, unlike oil and gas. Of course, the cost of 1 kWh. solar energy is much higher than that received traditional method. Only a fifth of sunlight is converted into electrical current, but this proportion continues to grow thanks to the efforts of scientists and engineers around the world.
Since the energy of solar radiation is distributed over a large area (in other words, has a low density), any installation for the direct use of solar energy must have a device with sufficient surface area. The simplest device of this kind is a flat collector; in principle it is a black slab, well insulated from below.
There are power plants of a slightly different type, their difference lies in the fact that the solar heat focused on the top of the tower sets in motion a sodium coolant, which heats the water to form steam. According to experts, the most attractive idea regarding the conversion of solar energy is the use of the photoelectric effect in semiconductors. However, the surface of the solar panels to provide sufficient power must be large enough (for a daily output of 500 MWh. A surface area of 500,000 m 2 is required), which is quite expensive. Solar energy is one of the most material-intensive types of energy production. The large-scale use of solar energy entails a gigantic increase in the need for materials, and, consequently, for labor resources for the extraction of raw materials, their enrichment, the production of materials, the manufacture of heliostats, collectors, other equipment, and their transportation. Efficiency solar power plants in areas far from the equator, it is quite small due to unstable atmospheric conditions, relatively low intensity of solar radiation, as well as its fluctuations due to the alternation of day and night.
Geothermal energy uses the high temperatures of the deep interior of the earth's crust to generate thermal energy.
In some places on the Earth, especially at the edge of tectonic plates, heat comes to the surface in the form of hot springs - geysers and volcanoes. In other areas, underwater sources flow through hot underground formations, and this heat can be taken away through heat exchange systems. Iceland is an example of a country where geothermal energy is widely used.
Technologies have now been developed that allow the production of combustible gases from biological raw materials as a result of a chemical reaction of the decomposition of high-molecular compounds into low-molecular ones due to the activity of special bacteria (which participate in the reaction without access to atmospheric oxygen). Reaction scheme: biomass + + bacteria -> combustible gases + other gases + fertilizers.
Biomass is a waste of agricultural production (livestock, processing industry).
The main raw material for biogas production is manure, which is delivered to biogas stations. The main product of the biogas plant is a mixture of combustible gases (90% of the mixture is methane). This mixture is supplied to heat generation plants, power plants.
Renewable sources (except for water energy) have a common drawback: their energy is very weakly concentrated, which creates considerable difficulties for practical use. The cost of renewable sources (excluding hydroelectric power plants) is much higher than traditional ones. Both solar and wind and other types of energy can be successfully used to generate electricity in the power range from several kilowatts to tens of kilowatts. But these types of energy are quite unpromising for the creation of powerful industrial energy sources.
The energy problem is one of the most important problems that humanity has to solve today. Such achievements of science and technology as means of instantaneous communication, rapid transport, and space exploration have already become familiar. But all this requires a huge expenditure of energy. The sharp growth in the production and consumption of energy has put forward a new acute problem of environmental pollution, which poses a serious danger to mankind.
World energy needs will grow rapidly in the coming decades. Any one source of energy will not be able to provide them, so it is necessary to develop all sources of energy and use energy resources efficiently.
At the next stage of energy development (the first decades of the 21st century), coal-fired power engineering and nuclear power engineering with thermal and fast neutron reactors will remain the most promising. However, one can hope that humanity will not stop on the path of progress associated with the consumption of energy in ever-increasing quantities.
The word "energy" from Greek means action, activity. The importance of the concept of energy is determined by the fact that it obeys the law of conservation. The concept of energy helps to understand the impossibility of creating a perpetual motion machine. Work can be done only as a result of certain changes in the surrounding bodies or systems (burning fuel, falling water). The ability of a body during its transition from one state to another to perform a certain work (working capacity) was called energy. Now, more than ever, the question has arisen: what awaits humanity - energy hunger or energy abundance. Articles about the energy crisis do not leave the pages of newspapers and magazines. The inexorable laws of nature state that the only way to obtain usable energy is by converting it from other forms. Perpetual motion machines are unfortunately not possible. And today, 4 out of 5 kilowatts of electricity produced are obtained by burning fuel or using the chemical energy stored in it, converting it into electricity at thermal stations. Rising oil prices, the rapid development of nuclear energy, the growing demands for environmental protection required a new approach to energy.
No wonder they say: "Energy is the bread of industry." The more developed industry and technology, the more energy they need. There is even a special concept - "advanced development of energy." This means that no industrial enterprise, no new city or even a house can be built before the source of energy has been identified or re-created,
which they will consume. That is why, by the amount of energy produced and used, one can fairly accurately judge the technical and economic power, or, more simply, the wealth of any state.
In nature, energy reserves are huge. It is carried by the sun's rays, winds and moving masses of water, it is stored in wood, deposits of gas, oil, and coal. The energy "sealed" in the nuclei of the atoms of matter is practically unlimited. But not all of its forms are suitable for direct use.
Over the long history of the energy industry, many technical means and methods have been accumulated for extracting energy and converting it into energy. people need forms. Actually, a person became a person only when he learned to receive and use thermal energy. The fire of bonfires was lit by the first people who did not yet understand its nature, however, this method of converting chemical
energy into thermal energy has been preserved and improved for thousands of years.
To the energy of their own muscles and fire, people added the muscular energy of animals. They invented a technique for removing chemically bound water from clay using the thermal energy of fire - pottery kilns, which produced durable ceramic products. Of course, the processes occurring at the same time, a person learned only millennia later.
Then people came up with mills - a technique for converting the energy of wind currents and wind into mechanical energy rotating shaft. But only with the invention of a steam engine, an internal combustion engine, hydraulic, steam and gas turbines, an electric generator and an engine, did humanity have at its disposal powerful enough
technical devices. They are able to convert natural energy into its other types, convenient for use and obtaining large amounts of work. The search for new sources of energy did not end there: batteries, fuel cells, converters of solar energy into electrical energy and, already in the middle of the 20th century, nuclear reactors were invented.
The problem of providing electrical energy to many sectors of the world economy, the constantly growing needs of more than six billion people of the Earth is now becoming more and more urgent.
The basis of modern world energy is thermal and hydroelectric power plants. However, their development is constrained by a number of factors. The cost of coal, oil and gas, which power thermal plants, is growing, and the natural resources of these fuels are declining. In addition, many countries do not have their own fuel resources or lack them. In the process of generating electricity at thermal power plants, harmful substances are released into the atmosphere. Moreover, if the fuel is coal, especially brown, of little value for another type of use and with a high content of unnecessary impurities, emissions reach colossal proportions. And, finally, accidents at thermal power plants cause great damage to nature, comparable to the harm of any major fire. In the worst case, such a fire may be accompanied by an explosion with the formation of a cloud of coal dust or soot.
Hydropower resources in developed countries are used almost completely: most of the river sections suitable for hydrotechnical construction have already been developed. And what harm do hydroelectric power plants do to nature! There are no emissions into the air from HPPs, but
causes significant harm to the aquatic environment. First of all, fish that cannot overcome the hydroelectric dams suffer. On the rivers where hydroelectric power stations are built, especially if there are several of them - the so-called cascades of hydroelectric power stations - the amount of water before and after the dams changes dramatically. Huge reservoirs overflow on the flat rivers, and the flooded lands are irretrievably lost for agriculture, forests, meadows and human settlement. As for accidents at hydroelectric power stations, in the event of a breakthrough of any hydroelectric power station, a huge wave is formed that will sweep away all the hydroelectric power stations located below the dam. But most of these dams are located near large cities with a population of several hundred thousand inhabitants.
The way out of this situation was seen in the development of nuclear energy. By the end of 1989, more than 400 nuclear power plants (NPPs) had been built and operated in the world. Today, however, nuclear power plants are no longer considered a source of cheap and environmentally friendly energy. Nuclear power plants are fueled by uranium ore, which is an expensive and difficult-to-extract raw material whose reserves are limited. In addition, the construction and operation of nuclear power plants are associated with great difficulties and costs. Only a few countries are now continuing to build new nuclear power plants. Problems of environmental pollution are a serious brake on the further development of nuclear energy. All this further complicates the attitude towards nuclear energy. Increasingly, there are calls demanding to abandon the use of nuclear fuel in general, to close all nuclear power plants and return to the production of electricity at thermal and hydroelectric power plants, as well as to use the so-called renewable - small, or "non-traditional" types of energy generation. The latter primarily include installations and devices that use the energy of wind, water, sun, geothermal energy, as well as heat contained in water, air and earth.
A significant increase in energy consumption is expected over the next decades due to the development of the economy and population growth. This will increase the pressure on the energy supply system and require increased attention to energy efficiency. These are the problems of modern energy that need to be addressed right now. The availability of energy resources is a key factor for the development of the economy and improves the quality of life. As a rule, energy consumption forecasts are based on factors such as the growth of world economies and population growth, which act as the main driving force for the continuous growth of energy consumption. These achievements have made it possible for economic activity to grow at a faster pace than the growth in energy consumption.
For example, despite the fact that the number of cars in China in 2000-2006 increased by more than 2 times, there is one car for 40 people, while in the USA this figure is equal to one car for two people. Based on this, it is safe to predict further rapid growth in car sales and fuel consumption in China. The accelerating consumption rate, combined with a large population that continues to grow, suggests that the new wave of growth in energy consumption will largely come from developing countries.
A person is only beginning to realize the limitations of fossil resources, in the conditions of the need for their rational use. Oil from 1960 to 1970 was used up as much as in the previous 100 years. By 2030, the share of oil as an energy carrier will decrease to 16%. Meanwhile, only 30% of oil was extracted from explored and operated wells until recently. Coal could once again become the most important source of energy. Another alternative is increasingly called - nuclear energy.
The fruits of economic growth are used by about 15% of the world's population (mainly Western countries), and energy resources are concentrated mainly in developing countries. USA, EEC, Canada, Japan consume 1/2 of all world energy, 1/3 of fertilizers, 2/3 of all metals, 2/3 of commercial timber. They also produce more than 2/3 of the world's gross product, provide 2/3 of world trade, emit 3/4 of all pollutants. Energy investment per 100,000 people in the Netherlands is 914 pentajoules, Germany - 418, Great Britain - 355, Japan - 352, USA - 74, in Russia - only 16. The struggle for the possession of energy resources often ends in military conflicts. In modern conditions, efforts in these conflicts are increasingly directed not to seizing enemy territories, but to suppressing the military-economic potential - eliminating the "competitor" and ensuring the dominance of the winner in the markets for raw materials and sales. This opinion is especially relevant for today's situation in the world.
Currently, the main sources of energy are hydrocarbons and uranium ores. Their world reserves are approximately already known, and, even according to the most optimistic estimates, exploration is unlikely to increase their volumes by several times. Since the level of consumption of these resources is also known, the period after which they will be completely exhausted has already been calculated. It is obvious that no non-renewable energy savings regime can exclude the moment in the future when they will be completely exhausted. The situation is exacerbated by several other factors.
First, the exponential growth of industrial production. Thus, in the last century, the total volume of industrial production in the world increased on average every 20 years. If this trend continues in the 21st century, then in 20 years the demand for energy resources will increase by 2 times, in 40 years - by 4 times, by the end of the 21st century. - at 32, by the end of the XXII century. - 1024 times. And since even if resource consumption remains at the current level, they will last no more than a few decades, the growth of industry catastrophically accelerates the approach of a global resource catastrophe.
In this regard, the transition to thermonuclear energy (perhaps, in a broader sense, to plasma energy in general) is the only really known way out of the impasse. But even if thermonuclear reactions can be curbed in the future, other problems of modern energy will remain unresolved.
