Name: 替代能源的十大不可思議的替代品 (Top 10 INCREDIBLE Alternatives to Alternative ENERGY)
Uploaded: 2021-01-14T06:08:24.000Z
Duration: 11 min 17 s
Description: 【看影片學英語】數萬部 YouTube 影片，搭配英漢字典即點即查，輕鬆掌握單字發音與用法，長久累積看電影不必再看字幕。

Countries like China, the United States, Germany, Denmark, Spain and India produce over 175,000

MW of power with traditional wind turbines, but that number stands to double if they’re

The technology is simple. Basically, a huge blimp with a wind turbine in the middle is

secured to the ground and hoisted to altitudes of nearly 2000 feet. At that elevation, winds

are blowing at much greater speeds and thus generate twice the power. These new turbines

can withstand wind speeds of up to 43 miles per hour, after which the BAT can automatically

duck for cover to whatever altitude is safe. The environmental impact is far less visible

at such heights, not to mention the 90% cost reductions in terms of transportation and

deployment. Unlike traditional turbines, BATs can easily be dismantled and redeployed elsewhere

With over 70% of the world’s surface covered in water, it’s a surprise that tidal wave

energy was left behind in the race for renewable energy. Oyster is an attempt to bring this

Its design is that of a flap, pushed and pulled by the waves, 50 feet underwater and 1600

feet offshore. Through this endless cycle, Oyster is able to pump energy all the way

back to a standard hydro-electric power plant on the mainland. So far two flaps have been

successfully tested off the coast of Scotland. Oyster 1 was able to produce 315 kW of power,

while Oyster 800 (don’t ask us to explain their naming convention) managed a whopping

800 kW, capable of bringing power to around 80 houses.

Waves are a frequent phenomenon, unlike tides that only come and go a couple of times a

day. The Oyster can also operate in stormy conditions. The first Oyster farm, capable

of producing 40 MW, is currently being developed off the north-western coast of Scotland, with

future plans for a larger 200 MW farm near the Orkney archipelago.

Biofuels are crop-derived ethanol or biodiesel made primarily out of rapeseed, corn, wheat,

sugarcane, sugar beet, soy or other crops. But all of these crops need land to grow on,

which is either acquired by replacing food production crops or by cutting down forests,

neither of which is viable in the long run.

A better approach is to use algae. Since some algae have a natural oil content of around

75%, they can be easily processed into biofuel. The rest of the plant can be used as fertilizer

to grow even more algae. It grows very quickly, and doesn’t need any farm land or fresh

water to do so. On average, algae can produce around 5000 gallons of ethanol per acre in

one year, as compared to only 800 gallons produced with sugarcane.

Scientists at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York have discovered that these biofuel

producing algae can also clean wastewater. They consume nitrates and phosphates, and

also reduce toxins and bacteria. The state of Alabama became home to the first algae

biofuel system that also cleans wastewater. Because the entire traditional water treatment

process is excluded, algae growing is carbon-negative.

Every second, the sun bombards the Earth with roughly 174 quadrillion watts of energy, and

we’re only just beginning to tap into that immense power. The problem with standard solar

panels is that they convert a maximum of only 20% of the sun’s energy into electricity,

all the while being very costly in terms of production.

But recently, scientists from the University of California have discovered how to make

solar panels transparent. The material is a plastic-like substance which is transparent

in the normal light spectrum, but is able to pick up infrared light. Because it’s

made of plastic, it’s relatively cheap to manufacture compared to traditional solar

panels. It can also double as an ordinary window in someone’s house. Every sun-bathed

window in the world could convert solar energy into electricity.

A geothermal plant is like a coal plant without the coal. They both work on the principle

of heating water until it becomes steam, which in turn runs turbines that produce electricity.

The difference is that instead of burning coal, a geothermal plant will use the heat

of the Earth itself. By drilling holes into the ground some two to six miles deep, temperatures

can reach 160 to 600 degrees F. Places with high volcanic activity are ideal for this

type of renewable energy, since underground magma is much closer to the surface and holes

Iceland recently drilled a hole and hit a pocket of magma by mistake. They decided to

pour water down the shaft to see what happened. What they witnessed was something record breaking

— steam gushed out at temperatures of above 842 F. For comparison, steam generated at

geothermal plants usually hovers around 158 degrees F. These traditional plants produce

around 40 MW of energy, good for roughly 11,500 homes. This discovery is still in its testing

phase, but this type of power could multiply the amount of electricity produced by geothermal

We just discussed the vast amount of energy the sun produces and the inefficiency of standard

solar panels. Andre Broessel, a German architect, has come up with a simple yet brilliant idea

to increase the energy output in photovoltaic cells. By incorporating a liquid filled glass

sphere into the design of a solar panel, the energy output is increased by 34%. It’s

fitted with a tracking device that’s able to follow the sun on its daily migration west,

and the Betaray can also tap into the sun’s rays on overcast days, producing four times

the energy of a normal solar panel. It can even draw energy from the moon on clear nights.

The device is specially designed to work for individual houses or buildings, places with

limited space for solar panel deployment. It can easily be fitted onto inclined surfaces

and curtain walls. The project is still in its development stage, but once finished it

might change the look of rooftops around the world.

A breakthrough took place at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California,

where scientists managed to create a virus that can produce an electrical charge when

a material is mechanically deformed or stressed. This material is made out of the engineered

M13 virus, which usually infects bacteria. Long story short, it’s a device that transforms

a simple gesture like pushing a button or sliding your finger on a screen into electricity.

Its practical applications are endless, with many being used on wireless technologies like

mobile phones and laptops. This development will most certainly make other devices and

appliances less dependent on the power grid, and even become more portable in the process.

What’s even greater is that this virus can be sprayed on any surface, like the floor

or a chair, and then produce electricity when it’s stimulated by movement or pressure.

But we won’t get too far ahead of ourselves — in its current state, the maximum output

generated was a quarter of that of a triple-A battery.

Thorium is a radioactive metal similar to uranium, but it can produce 90 times more

energy at a fraction of the waste. It’s also three to four times more abundant in

nature, and just one gram of the stuff is equivalent to 7400 gallons of gas in terms

Because of this, Connecticut’s LaserPowerSystems Company has come up with a plan to create

a thorium based engine for cars. By using a laser powered with only eight grams of thorium