How Emerging Technologies Fit Into Tomorrow’s Power Supply
It isn't difficult to get into an argument over emerging technologies, because everyone seems to
have an opinion on which ones are miracles, which ones are junk—and let's not even mention
whether Apple or Dell will do it first! But there is one thing we all agree on: emerging
technologies will radically affect our future power supply. Some new and promising ideas will
die out as quickly as snow melts in August, yet others will drastically change the way we
produce, use and store electricity. Technologies now in the developmental or testing stages will
one day change our power supply and our power supply needs by making current sources more
efficient and affordable, by making more efficient electricity storage options, and by producing
power from new sources.
One of the main ways new technologies will modify our power supply is by improving
current sources. If one power source is made more efficient or less expensive, there will be a
shift in usage toward that source—and away from others—thus affecting the whole industry, not
just one source. Three such technological advances are being attempted in coal power, wind
power and solar power.
Every time energy changes form, some of it is lost through waste heat. The high number
of times the energy produced in a typical coal power plant changes forms results in less than a
third of the original energy being converted to electricity. By the time that electricity gets to the
consumer, it is even less. One emerging technology that may shape our power supply is the
attempt to improve the efficiency of coal power plants with the same principles now used in
natural gas combined cycle plants. In natural gas combined cycle plants, the waste heat is
captured and used to power steam turbines connected to electric generators. This raises the
efficiency level to near sixty percent. Adapting this to coal-fired plants would dramatically
affect our power supply—and the electricity industry—by lessening the need for fuel and making
electricity less expensive.
Coal-fired power plants are certainly not the only fields where new technologies are
developing. Wind power has received a lot of attention in Texas recently due to the large
number of wind turbines being built. The emerging airborne turbine may allow for a more
constant production of electricity, as well as less expense for the initial construction of the
turbine. There are two different kinds of emerging airborne wind turbines: aerostat and
aerodynamic. Both are connected to the ground with a tether (which conducts the electricity to
the ground) instead of being seated on a tower, like conventional turbines. The aerostat turbine
floats in the air by means of balloons or a parachute-like design. Aerodynamic turbines are
constructed like kites or miniature helicopters and may require energy to rise. Both varieties
allow the turbine to reach greater heights, and thus a more constant wind, than the current turbine
designs. If this developing technology reaches the industry, wind power would become more
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dependable and less expensive, which would likely result in a heavier reliance on it as a primary
energy source.
In the realm of solar power, new and less expensive materials, such as silver polymer
sheets and heliostat mirrors, are replacing the weighty and costly glass mirrors previously used.
This lowers the overall cost—the main factor delaying solar power from being more widely
used. New ways to implement solar panels are also being tested. Some organizations are
developing solar panels that can be imbedded in highways, parking lots and sidewalks, which
condenses the cost of these two separate products into one.
Another way our power supply will be directly affected is through technologies which tap
into new power sources. A new method of production could become popular as a backup energy
source, completely replace a current source—or never make it to the market. Three new
technologies that could shape our future power supply are nanoscopic rectifying antennas,
nuclear fusion and fuel cells.
Nanoscopic rectifying antennas, called nantennas, absorb certain wavelengths of light—
proportional to the antenna size—and convert it to electricity. Theoretically, nantennas have a
very high efficiency level. However, there are several limitations to their widespread production
and usage. First, manufacture of nantennas is expensive and slow, since they are made using
electron beam lithography. Research is being done on the possibility of using photolithography
instead. Second, the Schottky and p-n junction diodes used in similar projects lose a lot of power
at the high frequencies at which nantennas operate. Researchers are experimenting with alternate
diodes, such as MIM diodes. The theoretical efficiency ratings are so high (85 percent), that if
research is successful, dependence on fossil fuels would probably shift in a large measure to
nantennas and other solar generators that are based on this principle.
Nuclear fusion (not to be confused with nuclear fission, from which America already
obtains twenty percent of its energy supply) would safely provide immense amounts of energy at
little cost, if the specific conditions necessary for fusion could be made more viable. The
difficulty lies in confining the plasma in which the fusion takes place. Two possible solutions,
confining plasma by magnetic fields and confining plasma by lasers (inertial confinement) are
being researched and experimented with. If power from nuclear fusion were made commercially
feasible, it would turn the power industry upside down. No other power source would come
close to being as large, efficient, inexpensive or clean. Some think nuclear fusion could
eliminate the need for any other power source. However, its effective use seems far away.
Fuel cells collect the energy released when a fuel, usually hydrogen, is reacted with
oxygen. The problems facing this relatively new development are, first, that there is no large
natural source of hydrogen; second, that it is difficult to keep stored hydrogen at the high level of
purity required for the reaction and third, it is a very expensive form of energy. However, fuel
cells have been used commercially with some success and researchers project that soon it would
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be possible for a so-called hydrogen economy to run entirely on hydrogen sources such as fuel
cells.
Better storage of electricity will change the nature of our power supply as much as new
sources of power will. Any improved electricity storage method will change our future power
supply by making conditional energy sources (such as solar and wind power) more practical and,
therefore, more widely used. The approaches to efficient electricity storage are vast and varied,
as the emerging technologies nanowire batteries, electric double-layer capacitors and zincbromine flow batteries demonstrate.
The nanowire battery is a lithium-ion battery that replaces the conventional graphite
anode with a stainless steel anode covered in silicon nanowires. Since silicon contains more
lithium than graphite, it has a much higher energy density, allowing for a much smaller battery
than typical lead-acid batteries. A smaller battery means more power can fit into a certain space,
making certain innovations, such as electric cars, more practical.
The electric double-layer capacitor has an energy density hundreds of times greater than
the electrolytic capacitor it was modeled after. However, it is still only one tenth of the energy
density of a conventional battery. To amend this, research is being conducted to find materials
that would store the charge carriers better than the activated charcoal currently used. If a suitable
material is found, the present reliance on batteries could shift to capacitors. The main advantage
capacitors have over batteries— being able to charge at a miraculous speed—might eventually
make it possible to charge an electric car as fast as a gas-driven car is filled up. It would also
drastically alter the world of electronics.
Zinc-bromine flow batteries are, unlike electric double-layer capacitors and nanowire
batteries, very large and bulky, as they rely on two large tanks of zinc-bromide solution, which is
pumped through the reactor stack. However, zinc-bromine flow batteries have the unique
advantage of being non-perishable, as well as having a much higher energy density than a regular
battery or capacitor. With further developments, these traits could make them useful for certain
situations where space is not as critical, such as electricity distribution centers.
We cannot know which of these new technologies will revolutionize our power supply
and which will die out in a few years. We do know that our power supply will evolve as these
new ideas—and others yet undreamed of—are brought to the market. Our future power supply
will be affected by technologies offering new ways to use current energy sources more
efficiently, store electricity more effectively and tap into new sources of energy.
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