Powering The Planet

Powering the planet seems easy as they are doing it already. But there is a BUT, the way that it happens now is only effective for this and maybe next generation, but after that people will only be able to survive on this planet, not live and thrive. Surely that is not what we want for our future generations?

We need to change the way we look at energy and the abundance of it all around us. Energy just needs to be converted to a usable force, as energy does not get destroyed but it can only be transformed into other kinds of energy. We need to take a look at the abundant resources  that are available to us, and combine them to create what humanity needs now and in the future.  

We are on the right path when looking at solar wind and water powered solutions, however there are way more effective forces to use. Forces like gravity , and waves.

I have a vision of how the future generations live and thrive, it's not only a picture but I can only explain it as "Memories  of the future" , I am not claiming to be a time traveler, but it does explain how I see things. I can zoom in and out of things, look at the big picture and zoom in on the smallest details. I understand what I see and how and why it works, as well as what effects it has on the planet and humanity as a whole.  

I see solutions that need to be realized soon, as people are noticing the negative effects of climate change.  Climate needs to change and the way we live needs to change to change the climate in a positive way. We have got to be realistic about the fact that the natural disasters that are now happening all around the world will not stop  from today  to tomorrow. We need to adapt the way we live and use resources wisely.  

One system that potentially reduce erosion of the coastline would be a modular system made of recycled plastic. I have posted a few pictures on the side here of the concept.

One of the biggest changes I see for the future is what I call "Innovasia '' in my game "Innovasia Quest '' (aka IQ). It comes down to hexagonal platforms made of sediment from the ocean floor, these platforms are modules that can be seen as cells in a body. They connect to each other having different functions.  The platforms are built from a combination of concrete , sediment and reinforced by plastic waste that is now polluting the oceans. Using the plastic waste instead of traditional steel will prevent concrete rot. Steel rusts and expands, especially when in contact with salt water, this in turn cracks the concrete. Using the plastic waste floating in the ocean, and littering coastlines, locks in the plastic to drastically reduce microplastics. 

The platforms will have to be made as big as possible, but there is more to them than meets the eye.  Like I said before we need to take a look at using the energy that is most abundant and free, GRAVITY!

As you can imagine a platform made of  concrete is very heavy, (like a ship is very heavy too, but floats) The weight of these platforms / modules form a potential powersource  that can be converted into usable energy.
This can be done by utilising the force that pushes down when a wave drops the module relative to the ocean floor. To make this more understandable you can see the module as your hands pushing down on a double action air pump. But now imagine that it is water that is pumped, the platform has a large floatation force that pulls the pump on the up stroke. This creates an endless source of high pressure water stream that can be used for powering for instance generators.  Now the bright minds will be thinking this is not a continuous power source as there is a point called slack water. The time between ebb and flood, but there is a way to generate power even when it is slack water. To do this we need to make the weight of the module variable.

This works the following way: The platforms have an air chamber in the lower part , and a chamber that fills with water in the upper part. When the platform gets lifted up by the wave it gradually fills the upper chamber with water (weight), and when the wave stops rising the top chamber starts dumping water back into the ocean. This results in the platform becoming lighter and causing it to rise up even though the wave has met its max . The upper chamber will lose weight for the time that it takes the slack water to begin its ebb cycle.  For the system to work in the time of low slack water we need to utilize the middle chamber. That was filled on the way up but was not emptied on the top of the cycle. Dumping water whilst at low tide makes the platform rise up even when the wave is absent. When the flood comes in it fills the middle and the upper chamber and the cycle repeats again. 

This system works for relatively shallow locations as we need to have the ground to push back in order to pressurize the water. But what if we want to use the vast amount of space and energy that is available to us? About 70% of our planet is made of water and very deep water at that. To make this system work in deep water we need to use a system I call "Fake Floor" . It does what it says , it creates a fake ocean floor to resist the force that the pump pushes down. Sounds simple, make a structure that is held in place by anchors, with enough (flotation) resistance to withstand the pressure that is created by the platform above.  To make this work there are several challenges, first of all this structure needs to be built and made semi floating.  Use floatation devices to "hang" the structure which is partially filled with air. When it is on the final destination the structure needs to be anchored in place with some really massive weights (I guess this will be the most challenging to realize), after that the structure can be filled with air to make it resist the maximum force that it will have to resist.  Now the system can be realized in shallow and deep water lets take a look at the different functions it can have.

Now here is where it gets interesting. These platforms  have the potential to do many things, for one it creates habitat for corals, fish and seaweeds. The platforms can be designed in a way that they create shallow coastlines at the edges, creating ideal habitat for marine life. It's a well known fact that when a structure (like a pellet) is floating in the ocean you are bound to see fish and other wildlife making use of its shade and flotation like seals and birds will rest on it . Now let's take a look at the other functions  they have.  For starters the platforms form space to utilize, with the benefit of the space not being able to flood and not have earthquakes, or at least no damage by earthquakes. The waves would pass below them, this is especially interesting as we now see increasing accounts of earthquakes destroying many homes. And the same goes for floods. The water levels are rising causing many miles inland to flood within the next 30 years , so much so that people do not get a mortgage to buy a home because of the flood risk. So it makes sense to build homes on the platforms or businesses. There is power to use and space available. Yes it costs massive amounts of money, but so does a plot of land that does have the risk of flooding and risk damage by earthquakes. 

What we need most is clean water! This system can offer space to harvest clean drinking water simply by covering the hexagon space in between the modules with transparent (recycled) plastic, the sun can evaporate sea water that can be collected  to be used as drinking water (solar still). Humanity is growing so it needs more space to live and more food to eat. Luckily there is now extra space to grow food, so some modules would become food farms, possibly using hydroponics to grow crops. 

Seen as every module has the potential to generate massive amounts of electricity the next step would be to utilize the location and energy to generate green hydrogen. Green hydrogen is hydrogen that is made using clean renewable energy sources. At this point it is not very cost efficient to generate hydrogen, but it is different if the power is used where it is generated and where the sea water can be used to generate the hydrogen gas. Not only can this be used on the platforms by industry but it can also be used for powering ships. Another benefit of the hydrogen is that it can be pumped true pipelines to the mainland relatively cheaply in comparison with electric wiring. Ships pollute our planet extremely!

I came up with a possible solution to that problem. I would like to take a short side step from the platforms to dive into this before continuing this platform system.

I see ships that use a combination of fuels, one of which is hydrogen and the other is ammonia, using a combination of solar power and wind power to generate hydrogen on board. The ammonia is often used to create ice  for skating rings so it is cold. A ship's engine is massive and needs cooling to run efficiently. My idea would be to run the engine on a combination of hydrogen and ammonia with added oxygen that is produced by the electrolysis process, that combination forms a very explosive mix ,and cools the engine with the cold of the ammonia. as far as I can tell this would drastically reduce the pollution of ships close to zero.  The ships would not have enough capacity to generate enough hydrogen  to go for long howls, but they would be able to tank  hydrogen generated by the platforms.  This leaves the need for Ammonia to be solved.  

Ammonia can be won from the raw sewage from large cities and from the waste of livestock on farms. It's all about being resourceful. 

Let's get on with the platforms ...

When it comes to the platforms they offer several options, using the space in between to farm fish . Grow trees on them to clean the air, or use the electricity to scrub the air of pollutants. Realize hopping stations for airplane gliders, You could see this as floating airports, but with a twist. The platforms go up and down , this motion can be used to lift and drop weights, this in turn can pull glider planes up into the air  and send them to a hopping station that lays in the direction that suits the end destination. The planes can be partially powered by electricity or hydrogen gas that is generated by the modules. Another benefit of this system is that it would be potentially tax free as it is in international waters.  

Lets take a look at how we could produce large quantities of Ammonia on the platforms, there is space and it's far away to produce it relatively safely. 

We have a reliable and sustainable source of clean energy.  We made sure that our energy source is both abundant and consistent and powerful enough to support the energy-intensive Haber-Bosch process.

A key ingredient for ammonia production is hydrogen. We would need to generate hydrogen, which can be achieved through methods like electrolysis of water. Nitrogen can be sourced from the air, as it makes up about 78% of Earth's atmosphere. Air separation units (ASUs) can be used to extract nitrogen from the air. We would need a well-designed Haber-Bosch reactor, which operates under high pressure and temperature conditions with the use of a catalyst. Having an abundance of seawater, we could use seawater for various purposes, including cooling and as a potential source of liquid for ammonia production. 

Ammonia synthesis typically consumes a significant amount of energy, fortunately we have more than enough air water space and electricity  where we need it, On the ocean where ships can load the clean fuel.

Thank you

You have now discovered a small part  of what I have in my mind. Come back later if this interests you, and share it with your network. 

As you by now have gathered, I can not do anything more than share my insights / visions  and  ideas with whoever is interested in "out of the box" thinking. 

I firmly believe that this will become reality some day!

Thanks for taking your valuable time to read (and hopefully share) this post to you. Be aware this website is still under construction.