Nikola Tesla is often thought of as the “Father” of commercial electricity, because of all of his work in the field of electromagnetism. Since its inception, the way electricity is generated has gone through a lot of changes. Many people are concerned with the amount of CO2 emissions in light of global warming and related threats.
So several inventors have been working on sources of renewable electricity. So we can be less reliant on the use of CO2-producing fossil fuels. There have been promising achievements made in the study of solar energy and the harnessing of wind. Geothermal energy has been one of the top studies.
Thorium
Thorium has the ability to generate more energy than Uranium, oil, coal combined, or gas. It can satisfy the worldwide demand. Thorium is abundantly present in nature and is expected to emerge as a rich source of nuclear energy. Thorium waste can be treated easily; a ton of thorium produces equivalent energy produced by 3.5 million tons of coal and 200 tons of uranium.
Ocean Thermal Energy Conservation (OTEC)
OCET utilizes the difference in temperature between shallow and deep waters. However, recent inventions and modern designs have used the effectiveness of heat exchange very well. Many experts feel that OTEC has to be optimized for generating electricity.
Wind power
Wind power is one of the most cost-effective and environment-friendly sources of generating energy. Though it satisfies only 2 % of the global energy requirement, wind power is growing drastically. Over the past three years, the use of wind power has doubled.
In countries like Denmark, wind energy has been utilized to fulfill 20% of the stationary production of electricity. Britain is utilizing wind power better in comparison to other countries because of the decent speed of the wind in the country.
Many people have purchased solar panels to harness the energy that the sun provides. This is a clean renewable source of energy, but the equipment required to put it to use is expensive. Most of the energy created by the sun just goes to waste so there is definitely room for improvement in the study of solar energy.
Geothermal Energy
This energy is derived from the underground heat stores. It is also a renewable source. Geothermal energy utilizes the heat of volcanic activity, radioactive decay from minerals, and solar energy on the surface of the earth. The scope of this source was restricted to the tectonic plate boundaries.
With the advancement of technology, the size and the range of the energy have been expanded and new geothermal resources are being discovered. There are apprehensions among the researchers regarding the disposal of greenhouse gases with the geothermal well.