This mysterious chasm in the US may seen a return to production after nearly thirty years of dormancy. Amidst a world which is looking towards finding sustainable solutions to replace our reliance on fossil fuels, industries are looking at a myriad of options in order to feasibly phase out these fuels which are contributing towards irreversible climate change damage. While the transportation industry, particularly the automobile sector, has been embracing electric and even hydrogen solutions, this new fuel may contribute towards a more sustainable world.
The road towards energy transformation
With the world currently facing a climate crisis, industries and governments alike continue to be looking towards multiple solutions towards eventually seeing the phaseout of fossil fuels which create harmful carbon emissions for our planet. This targeting of carbon-neutrality has meant that the renewable energy industry has continued to grow in both resources and adoption by consumers.
One of the most popular renewable energy solutions the world has seen is the embracement of solar power. Adopted for both individual and largescale use, photovoltaic technology has continued to advance, with innovators of the technology even choosing to focus on its aesthetics in order to encourage more consumers to implement solar power into their homes and businesses.
In addition to solar power upgrades, wind energy also continues to be on the rise. While this renewable resource is mostly used for wide-scale utility operations, there has been increased progress in seeing this technology be scaled down in order to be implemented for single-household use. Additionally, we can expect to see further upgrades to this technology in the imminent future thanks to the recent contributions of a University of Pennsylvania student who solved a 100-year-old aerodynamic problem related to the operation efficiency of wind turbines. Thanks to her efforts, we may see new design changes for this technology to improve power output.
“I created an addendum to Glauert’s problem, which determines the optimal aerodynamic performance of a wind turbine by solving for the ideal flow conditions,” Tyagi said, per a Penn State news release.
This substance at the bottom of this chasm has potential
While renewable energy efforts seem like the logical way forward, it would seem counter-intuitive then to support efforts which encourage increased mining operations. However, Grant Energy is doing exactly that. The company is currently in the process of evaluating the feasibility of a 20 to 30 year project which would seek to extract uranium from the Grants area- and operation which has not occurred in the past thirty years.
The Grants area is home to the largest uranium source in the country, with some estimating as much as 150,000,000kg of it. The project has been suggested due to the US targeting to triple its nuclear power capacity by 2050. While the process of mining uranium is not carbon-neutral, uranium can be used to produce nuclear power, which does produce carbon-free energy, making it another clean energy source to draw upon.
Turning to the arts to maximize renewable energy efficiency
While the main focus of innovators in the renewable energy world has been focused on finding a renewable energy source which could compare to fossil fuels in terms of availability, efficiency, and production costs, other innovators are taking a completely different direction in their renewable energy journey.
Space agency NASA has embraced solar energy for decades, and instead of trying to find alternative solutions, researchers have looked at creating technology which can capitalize on the full potential of this technology. Over ten years ago, the space agency released a revolutionary design for solar panels, still seen today, whereby researchers drew upon the practices of origami in order to maximize the surface area capacity of their solar panels to power their space-orbiting technology.