The energy problem of mankind and ways to solve it

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Energy problem of mankind every year becomes more and more widespread. This is due to the growth of the world's population and the intensive development of technology, which leads to a constantly growing level of energy consumption. Despite the use of nuclear, alternative and hydropower, people continue to extract the lion's share of fuel from the bowels of the Earth. Oil, natural gas and coal are non-renewable natural energy resources, and by now their reserves have been reduced to a critical level.

Beginning of the end

The globalization of the energy problem of mankind began in the 70s of the last century, when the era of cheap oil ended. The shortage and a sharp rise in the price of this type of fuel provoked a serious crisis in the global economy. And although its cost has decreased over time, volumes are steadily declining, so the energy and raw materials problemhumanity is getting sharper.

For example, only in the period from the 60s to the 80s of the twentieth century, the world volume of coal production was 40%, oil - 75%, natural gas - 80% of the total volume of these resources used since the beginning of the century.

Despite the fact that fuel shortages began in the 70s and it turned out that the energy problem is a global problem for mankind, forecasts did not provide for an increase in its consumption. It was planned that by the year 2000 the volume of mining would increase 3 times. Subsequently, of course, these plans were reduced, but as a result of the extremely wasteful exploitation of resources that lasted for decades, today they are practically gone.

The main geographical aspects of the energy problem of mankind

One of the reasons for the growing shortage of fuel is the aggravation of the conditions for its production and, as a result, the rise in the cost of this process. If a few decades ago natural resources lay on the surface, today we have to constantly increase the depth of mines, gas and oil wells. The mining and geological conditions of the occurrence of energy resources in the old industrial regions of North America, Western Europe, Russia and Ukraine have especially noticeably deteriorated.

Given the geographical aspects of the energy and raw material problems of mankind, it must be said that their solution lies in expanding the resource frontiers. Need to learn newareas with lighter mining and geological conditions. Thus, the cost of fuel production can be reduced. However, it should be taken into account that the overall capital intensity of extracting energy resources in new places is usually much higher.

Economic and geopolitical aspects of the energy and raw material problems of mankind

The depletion of natural fuel reserves has led to fierce competition in the economic, political and geopolitical spheres. Giant fuel corporations are engaged in the division of fuel and energy resources and the redistribution of spheres of influence in this industry, which leads to constant price fluctuations in the world market for gas, coal and oil. The instability of the situation seriously exacerbates the energy problem of mankind.

Global energy security

This concept came into use at the beginning of the 21st century. The principles of the strategy of such security provide for a reliable, long-term and environmentally acceptable energy supply, the prices for which will be justified and suit countries both exporting and importing fuel.

The implementation of this strategy is possible only if the causes of the energy problem of mankind are eliminated and practical measures are aimed at further providing the world economy with both traditional fuels and energy from alternative sources. Moreover, special attention should be paid to the development of alternative energy.

Energy saving policy

During the time of cheap fuel, many countries of the world have developed a very resource-intensive economy. First of all, this phenomenon was observed in states rich in mineral resources. The list was topped by the Soviet Union, USA, Canada, China and Australia. At the same time, the volume of equivalent fuel consumption in the USSR was several times greater than in America.

This state of affairs required the urgent introduction of energy saving policies in the domestic, industrial, transport and other sectors of the economy. Taking into account all aspects of the energy and raw material problems of mankind, technologies aimed at reducing the specific energy intensity of the GDP of these countries began to be developed and implemented, and the entire economic structure of the world economy was being rebuilt.

Successes and failures

The most notable successes in the field of energy conservation have been achieved by the economically developed countries of the West. In the first 15 years, they managed to reduce the energy intensity of their GDP by 1/3, which led to a reduction in their share in world energy consumption from 60 to 48 percent. To date, this trend continues, with GDP growth in the West outpacing growing fuel consumption.

The situation is much worse in Central and Eastern Europe, China and the CIS countries. The energy intensity of their economy is declining very slowly. But the leaders of the economic anti-rating are developing countries. For example, in most African and Asian countrieslosses of associated fuel (natural gas and oil) range from 80 to 100 percent.

Realities and prospects

The energy problem of mankind and ways to solve it today are of concern to the whole world. To improve the existing situation, various technical and technological innovations are being introduced. In order to save energy, industrial and municipal equipment is being improved, more fuel-efficient cars are being produced, etc.

Among the primary macroeconomic measures is a gradual change in the very structure of consumption of gas, coal and oil with the prospect of increasing the share of non-traditional and renewable energy resources.

To successfully solve the energy problem of mankind, it is necessary to pay special attention to the development and implementation of fundamentally new technologies available at the present stage of the scientific and technological revolution.

Nuclear power industry

One of the most promising areas in the field of energy supply is nuclear energy. In some developed countries, new generation nuclear reactors have already been put into operation. Nuclear scientists are once again actively discussing the topic of reactors powered by fast neurons, which, as was once envisioned, will become a new and much more efficient wave of nuclear energy. However, their development was discontinued, but now this issue has become relevant again.

Using MHD generators

Direct conversion of heat energy into electricity without steam boilers and turbines allowsperform magnetohydrodynamic generators. The development of this promising direction began in the early 70s of the last century. In 1971, the first pilot-industrial MHD with a capacity of 25,000 kW was launched in Moscow.

The main advantages of magnetohydrodynamic generators are:

• high efficiency;
• environmental (no harmful emissions into the atmosphere);
• instant start.

Cryogenic turbogenerator

The principle of operation of the cryogenic generator is that the rotor is cooled by liquid helium, which results in the effect of superconductivity. The indisputable advantages of this unit include high efficiency, low weight and dimensions.

A pilot prototype of a cryogenic turbogenerator was created back in the Soviet era, and now similar developments are underway in Japan, the USA and other developed countries.

Hydrogen

The use of hydrogen as a fuel has great prospects. According to many experts, this technology will help solve the most important global problems of mankind - the energy and raw materials problem. First of all, hydrogen fuel will become an alternative to natural energy resources in mechanical engineering. The first hydrogen car was created by the Japanese company Mazda back in the early 90s; a new engine was developed for it. The experiment turned out to be quite successful, which confirms the promise of this direction.

Electrochemical generators

These are fuel cells that also run on hydrogen. Fuel is passed throughpolymer membranes with a special substance - a catalyst. As a result of a chemical reaction with oxygen, hydrogen itself is converted into water, releasing chemical energy during combustion, which turns into electrical energy.

Fuel cell engines have the highest efficiency (over 70%), twice that of conventional power plants. Plus, they are easy to use, silent during operation and undemanding to repair.

Until recently, fuel cells had a narrow scope, for example in space research. But now work on the introduction of electrochemical generators is being actively carried out in most economically developed countries, among which Japan occupies the first place. The total power of these units in the world is measured in millions of kW. New York and Tokyo, for example, already operate power plants using such cells, and the German automaker Daimler-Benz was the first to create a working prototype of a car with an engine that works on this principle.

Controlled thermonuclear fusion

For several decades, research has been conducted in the field of thermonuclear energy. Atomic energy is based on the reaction of nuclear fission, and thermonuclear energy is based on the reverse process - the nuclei of hydrogen isotopes (deuterium, tritium) merge. In the process of nuclear combustion of 1 kg of deuterium, the amount of energy released is 10 million times greater than that obtained from coal. The result is truly impressive! That is why thermonuclear energy is considered one of the most promising areas in solving the problems of globalenergy deficit.

Forecasts

Today there are various scenarios for the development of the situation in the global energy sector in the future. According to some of them, by 2060 global energy consumption in oil equivalent will increase to 20 billion tons. At the same time, in terms of consumption, the developing countries will overtake the developed ones.

By the middle of the 21st century, the amount of fossil energy sources should decrease significantly, but the share of renewable energy sources, in particular wind, solar, geothermal and tidal sources, will increase.