jan05b.indd inter net resources Gary L. Parsons Alternative energy Resources from coal to wind In the past few years, we have been barraged with the news of rising energy prices and extreme instability in the areas where our energy is located. You have to be wondering if there is a better way. This article hopes to show that there is. The Web is full of sites on energy, from the basics to the ultrafantastic. For each energy source I have tried to find one site that is a good, solid representation of that type of energy. My bias (or perhaps emphasis), whenever it appears, is in regards to an energy source’s usefulness in transportation. Astronaut Edgar Mitchell has noted that there are three phases to achieving a vision: awareness, education, and action. I hope that this article serves at least as a first step. I also hope that it can lead to the second step, mak ing readers aware that there are lots of ways to solve our energyrelated problems. My goal for this article is that it will be both informa tive and entertaining. Enjoy the ride. The basics Coal Coal is quite abundant in the U.S.; we have as much coal as Saudi Arabia has oil. • World Coal Institute. The World Coal Institute Web site discusses coal’s role in fu ture energy use. Access: http://www.wcicoal. com/web/bl_content.php?menu_id=0.0 • United Mine Workers of America: What Coal Miners Do. This site includes il lustrations of the various types of mines and how coal is extracted. Access: http://www. umwa.org/mining/colminrs.shtml. Coalgas One solution to the fuel problem is to just make our own. Coalgas is a “synfuel” (syn thetic fuel) made from mostly coal. This is not a new technology. The Germans ran their war machine on it with the technol ogy of the 1940s; just think what we could do today. • Power from Coal Gas. This article by John Allen from the Vision Engineer Web site provides an overview of coal gas and its uses. Access: http://www.visionengineer. com/mech/coal_gas.shtml. Diesel Diesel oil is slightly less refined than gaso line. It is always “oily” and not “liquidy” like gasoline. This slight lack of refi nement gives us more bang for our buck—or at least our barrel. Long the property of heavy equip ment, industrial use, and railroads, techno logical advancements make it viable for au tomobiles–even small ones. • How Diesel Engines Work. This article from the HowStuffWorks Web site (excellent for basic information on anything technical), provides a good example of how diesel engines work. Access: http://auto.howstuff works.com/diesel1.htm. Heavy oil Heavy oil is not the liquid we’re used to. It is a form of petroleum and has a much more solid form. It looks like silly putty with cof fee grounds. Native Americans used to caulk their canoes with it. With energy prices high, heavy oil remains economically feasible. • What is Heavy Oil. This page from the Oilfield Technical Society (OTS) Heavy Oil Gary L. Parsons is a reference and engineering librarian at Florida Atlantic University, e-mail: parsons@fau.edu © 2005 Gary L. Parsons C&RL News January 2005 18 mailto:parsons@fau.edu http://auto.howstuff http://www.visionengineer http://www http://www.wcicoal Science Center provides more information on heavy oil. Access: http://www.lloydminster heavyoil.com/whatislaunch.htm. Internal combustion engine Like its petroleum counterpart, this bit of technology has served us well over the past century (and beyond). It comes in all sizes and serves countless types of vehicles and power needs. • How Car Engines Work. This install ment from the HowStuffWorks series provides some good information about how your car engine functions. Access: http://auto.how stuffworks.com/engine3.htm. Natural gas Natural gas is a cleanburning alternative fossil fuel that we have in abundance in North America. • The Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition. Natural gas has many uses, including that of powering cars and other vehicles as this site shows us. Natural gas is already in wide use in fleet cars, buses, and other vehicles that do not stray too far from the fuel source. Access: http://www.ngvc.org/ngv/ngvc.nsf • Natural Gas Supply Association. This educational Web site from the Natural Gas Supply Association provides additional information on topics related to natural gas and strives to “present an unbiased learning tool for students, teachers, industry, media, and government.” Access: http://www.natu ralgas.org/. Nuclear Nuclear power works. We find that if we approach this source without the usual ir rationality that nuclear power provokes, it is a viable and economically competitive alter native to coal and oil for a largescale power generation. • How Nuclear Power Works. The folks at HowStuffWorks have good, basic explana tions and diagrams of how a nuclear power plant works. Access: http://people.howstuff works.com/nuclearpower.htm. Oil Whatever else can be said about oil, it works. It powers a multitude of engines and is use ful in all types of situations. The problem is supply, and not just pure supply (some now think that petroleum is a natural geological phenomenon), but supply outside of politi cally unstable regions. • How Oil Drilling Works. This site from HowStuffWorks provides information on the basics of the oil business from exploration to extraction. Access: http://www.howstuff works.com/oildrilling1.htm. Energy transition technology These are alternative energy sources that are ready for use or in serious development, with just a little push to get them to the mag ical status of “commercially reliable.” Alcohol Alcohol and driving do mix—in the fuel tank. Alcohol is a viable fuel for vehicles. It was, in fact, the original choice of fuel by Henry Ford. Alcohol can be used in an in ternal combustion engine with little modifi cations. Many countries have been using it for years. It burns cleaner than gasoline but has a little less octane, requiring more of it to “stay even” with the power of gasoline. Nevertheless, it is a renewable fuel, and it works. • Henry Ford, Charles Kettering and the "Fuel of the Future.” This essay by Bill Kovarik covers the history, pros, and cons of alcohol as a fuel source. Access: http://www. radford.edu/~wkovarik/papers/fuel.html. Biofuels It is possible to make fuels out of plants and plant waste. Two good sites from the State of Oregon and Uncle Sam (The Department of Energy has good, solid information on its Web page on alternatives) give excellent explanations of how the process works and what it can do for us. Biofuels claim to be the best renewable source for liquid fuels that we have right now. Fuels used now are ethanol, methanol (alcohol), and biodiesel. • Oregon Department of Energy’s Biomass Energy Page. Access: http://www. energy.state.or.us/biomass/BiomassHome. htm • U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Bio January 2005 19 C&RL News http://www http://www http://www.howstuff http://people.howstuff http:ralgas.org http://www.natu http://www.ngvc.org/ngv/ngvc.nsf http://auto.how http://www.lloydminster mass Program. Access: http://www.ott.doe. gov/biofuels/ Compressed air Want an abundant energy source? How about running our vehicles on air? It has al ready been done. • MDI (Moteur Developpment Inter national). French company MDI has come up with a CAT (compressed air technology) vehicle. It runs on tanks of compressed air and can run for 120 miles or up to 10 hours. It’s a modern start. Access: http://www.theair car.com/howitworks.html) • The Pneumatic Options Research Library. This site shows examples of many cars running on air . . . in the late 1800s! Ac cess: http://aircaraccess.com/index.htm. Hemp Hemp is an interesting plant that can be use for food, clothing, paper, and fuel. It is grown everywhere in the world–except the U.S. This provides a field day for conspiracy writers, but it is probably due to hemp’s fa milial links to the cannabis (marijuana) fam ily. • Hemp as Biomass for Energy. Hemp supporters have a strong Web presence. The Learn More about Hemp site, is the best one that I found that explains hemp’s potential as a fuel. Access: http://www.artistictreasure. com/learnmorecleanair.html. Hydrogen If the U.S. is running out of a fuel source, why not switch to hydrogen, the most abun dant element in the universe? We can, but there is a problem because you can’t drill or mine hydrogen. You have to create it. It is usually used as a natural gas, and stor age is a problem for the liquid form that ve hicles require (high pressure and extreme cold temperatures). These are basically in frastructure problems. Hydrogen already powers vehicles that don’t venture from their sources (buses, urban fleets), but what about longer distances? The infrastructure is sues are solvable, and many companies and inventors claim that they already have the answer. • Hydrogen Now. Roger Billings claims to have solved the fuel cell problem in the 1970s and now can easily convert internal combustion engines to fuel cell use. A press release on the Hydrogen Now Web site de tails his claims (http://www.hydrogennow. org/HNews/PressReleases/Billings/Billings1. htm). The site contains extensive information on hydrogen and its uses, including news, facts, and links. Access: http://www.hydro gennow.org/ • U.S. Department of Energy’s En ergy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Hydrogen, Fuel Cells, and Infrastructure Technologies Program. This site discusses the hydrogen economy and how fuel cells work. Access: http://www.eere.energy.gov/ hydrogenandfuelcells/. Fuel cells Related to hydrogen energy, fuel cells are the most commonly agreed upon method of using hydrogen. A fuel cell is an elec trochemical device, like a battery, but de signed for continuous replenishment of the reactants involved. It creates electricity from an external fuel, while a battery is discarded when drained. • Advanced Vehicles and Fuel Re search. A simple but effective illustrated explanation of fuel cells is found on this site from the National Renewable Energy Labo ratory. Access: http://www.nrel.gov/vehicle sandfuels/whatis_fuelcell.html. Solar Let us not forget solar, one of the oldest of the “new” technologies. Not that useful yet in transportation or industrial use, solar en ergy has found a niche in the home. Solar is a key factor in cutting utility bills and is the key to the effi cient and environmentally sound passive solar homes that we have now. • The Florida Solar Energy Center. This site for the University of Central Florida’s Flor ida Solar Energy Center provides information on the application and use of solar energy. Access: http://www.fsec.ucf.edu/. Steam Back to the future. Another alternative solu tion is the original fuel for mechanized ve C&RL News January 2005 20 http:http://www.fsec.ucf.edu http://www.nrel.gov/vehicle http:http://www.eere.energy.gov http:gennow.org http://www.hydro http://www.hydrogennow http://www.artistictreasure http://aircaraccess.com/index.htm http://www.theair http://www.ott.doe hicles: steam. Steam is an old technology. It was used for toys in the ancient days. There is even a famous picture of a steam car in the 1770s–internal combustion and diesel did not appear until the late 1800s. This car, known as the Cugnot vehicle, was little more than a buckboard with a boiler in front (sad ly, the picture shows it being driven into the side of a building—but it was powered and it ran). Steam cars are safe, easy to maintain, and run on a variety of fuels. • Steam Car FAQs. Details of the advan tages of steam cars are fleshed out on the Steam Automobile Club’s FAQ page. Access: http://ghlin2.greenhills.net/~apatter/steam faq.html. • Mike Brown Solutions. Another good source for steam and alcohol is this site by steam advocate, Mike Brown. It gives good, practical advice on steam and other resources and compares gasoline and alcohol fuels. Access: http://www.mikebrownsolutions. com/. Stirling The Stirling is one of a series of devices that is a heat engine that operates on any fuel. This futuristic technology (invented in 1816) is in use but is not widespread. • Stirling Engine Home Page. This site explains the history and use of the Stirling Engine. Access: http://www.bekkoame. ne.jp/~khirata/indexe.htm. Tidal Tidal power is just that. It generates power twice a day from the change in the ocean’s tides. Tidal power will not, of course, do the Midwest much good, but it can help relieve pressure on the grid in the heavily populat ed coastal areas. It creates power in a simi lar fashion as regular hydroelectric power plants (and can use much of the same tech nology and equipment). • Andy Darville’s Science Site–Tidal Power. This section of Andy Darville’s Web site gives good details on tidal power’s work ings, advantages, and disadvantages. Access: http://www.darvill.clara.net/altenerg/tidal. htm#adv. • Hydroelectric Power–How it Works. As I have just alluded to hydroelectric power, I must mention this site from the U.S. Geologi cal Survey, which explains how dams and the hydroelectric process works. Access: http:// ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/hyhowworks.html Wind From compressed air we move to the least compressed air of all—ordinary wind. While not useful for transportation, wind genera tors can help relieve stress on the power grid and other forms of stationary power generation. • National Wind Technology Center– Wind Resource Information. This is a good page with moving graphics that show how wind technology works. Access: http://www. nrel.gov/wind/animation.html. To boldly go . . . The following are possibilities for future de velopments. These items usually exist in ex perimental or “toy” form, but are not avail able in workable models yet. Cold Fusion There was a lot of hype about cold fusion in 1989 when this invention was announced. Well, an intrepid band of researchers from all over the world has kept up with it, and, guess what? It works. Cold fusion (actually the popular name for LENRCANR: Low En ergy Nuclear ReactionChemically Assisted Nuclear Reaction) has an extreme Web pres ence, mostly of aficionados and a few de bunkers. • Wikipedia–Cold Fusion. The closest thing I could find to a “how to” site on cold fusion is in the Wikipedia. Mainstream jour nals are beginning to write about it and the U.S. Energy Department is initiating a second look. Could we finally realize Jules Verne’s dream of fire from water? Access: http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_fusion. Free Energy Free energy refers to a whole family of de vices, mostly magnetic in nature, that pro vide fuelless propulsion. The muse of this movement (and, to a degree, the entire al ternative energy movement) is 19thcentury inventor Nikola Tesla. These devices could January 2005 21 C&RL News http://www http://www.darvill.clara.net/altenerg/tidal http://www.bekkoame http://www.mikebrownsolutions http://ghlin2.greenhills.net/~apatter/steam significantly change society—whenever they get them beyond the laboratory stage. Not without their critics, aficionados of Free En ergy have a large Web presence. • TheLivingWeb.net–Free Energy. Zero Point. Cold Fusion. This site has a decent overview of all things related to free energy. Access: http://www.thelivingweb. net/free_energy.html. Journals • Extraordinary Technology. This journal is from the Tesla Tech Group, an outgrowth of the defunct Tesla Society. Most articles, therefore, are on energy development with a profree energy bias. Quite readable generally, articles frequently discuss and use hard science, including formulas, mathemat ics, etc. Access: http://www.teslatech.info • Free Energy News. Those who study this field of energy have their own online news outlet. Access: http://freeenergynews. com/newstuff/. • Nexus. An easier read than the previ ous entries, this magazine covers energy topics, criticisms of current medicine, and corporate globalism. It occasionally strays into UFOs and New Agetype topics. Nexus is a refreshing bit of alternative viewpoints. Access: http://www.nexusmagazine.com. Organizations • The Alternative Energy Institute. Image courtesy of Alternative Energy Institute Most of the organizations I have come across are basically trade organizations or other advocates. These groups, as I have shown, provide basic, solid information on their product. The Alternative Energy Institute is the one I like the best. While it is an advocacy group, it does present essays on the pros and cons of all kinds of energy sources, from the basics to the future. Access: http://www. altenergy.org/ Miscellaneous Here are a few sites that did not fit into the previous categories of resources but are benefi cial nonetheless. • Renewable Energy Resources Re search Guide. This guide is just that: a re source page giving the facts and news items on a variety of alternative energy sources. Access: http://www.aresearchguide.com/en ergy.html. • The Source for Renewable Energy. This site provides access to more than 8,000 businesses engaged in the alternative energy field right now. Access: http://energy.source guides.com/index.shtml. • By Design. This link gives basic descrip tions of several of the fossil fuels. Access: http://www.bydesign.com/fossilfuels/links/ html/oil.html. • Department of Energy (DOE). The DOE is getting some good, useful information on its Web page. Access: http://www.energy. gov/engine/content.do. • Institute for Ecolonomics. Dennis Weaver, who played Marshall McCloud on the television series McCloud, has long been a leader in the environmental move ment. He is now a player in the alternative energy movement. His Institute for Ecolo nomics is a major educational force in this field. He also organizes drives (some up the coast in California, some across county) of alternative fueled vehicles. Called Drives to Survive (http://www.drivetosurvive.info), his alternative fueled cars already do just that. Absolutely worth a look. Access: http://www. ecolonomics.org/. • Yahoo. Can any topic be researched without the ubiquitous Yahoo? Access: http:// dir.yahoo.com/Science/Energy/, http://dir. yahoo.com/Science/Alternative/, http://dir. yahoo.com/Recreation/Automotive/Alterna tive_Fuel_Vehicles/. C&RL News January 2005 22 http://dir http://dir http:ecolonomics.org http://www http://www.drivetosurvive.info http:gov/engine/content.do http://www.energy http://www.bydesign.com/fossilfuels/links http://energy.source http://www.aresearchguide.com/en http:altenergy.org http://www http:http://www.nexusmagazine.com http://freeenergynews http://www.teslatech.info http://www.thelivingweb