DESTRUCTION OF THE STANDARDS OF THINKING IS THE WAY OUT OF ECOLOGICAL COLLAPSE
Mankind
is on the verge of unprecedented trial in comparison with which all terrors of
war and miseries of the past fade. And mankind in chase of blessing of progress
became the offender of approaching miseries. It is senseless to hope that
somebody will avoid global warming. The process is of irreversible character.
Biological resource of the world ocean will become poor a lot because of
seawater warming. The process of warming takes away oxygen from water and the
process is at full speed. Usual sea currents will soon change and it will lead
to dramatic change of climate in Europe. Mass desertification of fertile areas
will take place. Siberia and Alaska will change into gigantic bogs – permafrost
will melt. Hurricanes and floods will become many times stronger. Substantial
and quick redistribution of moisture will take place on the planet and the
speed of these changes won’t allow flora and fauna to adapt and they suffer irreplaceable
deprivation. People and animals will not have anything to use for food.
Densely populated areas may be liable
to underflooding because of thawing and this will
result in migration of population and social tension and it is difficult to
forecast the consequences of it. Many
cities – centers of culture and production - will find themselves under water.
All
this will take place against a background of exceptional aggravation of
the struggle for remains of fossilized energy supply on the
planet. Governments of Asia, Africa and Latin America won’t be able to convince
peoples of their countries to renounce the growth of well-being, founded on
extraction and wider use of fossil fuel motivating this by ecological reasons.
There are no odds that the governments of European countries and the USA will
be able to do the same. At the existing rates of the world economic development
and population upsurge total oil and gas reserves and on the planet will be
suffice for 50-70 years. In this situation wars for resource control are
inevitable.
Mass transition to coal which will be sufficient for 200 –300 years will finally destroy the ecosystem of the planet as for some 300 years the amount of carbon dioxide thrown out into atmosphere will be equal to the amount absorbed by the ecosystem of the planet for the last 500 million years.
There is no doubt that some steps are taken now with a view to improve the situation but it should be acknowledged that in spite of noble aims which Kyoto protocol follows it is not able to avert imminent threat even in store. Modern academic science suggests not too great possibilities in this direction.
Hydrogen
energy has much been spoken about lately. But try to obtain one kilogram of
hydrogen from water, oil or gas and gripe it or pack it by other means this
quite useful and explosive gas in technically acceptable capacity. For all
these operations it is necessary to expend energy containing in 4 –6 kilograms
of coal or oil but it is not fashionable to mention it.
Perhaps
it may be more effective to use vegetable oils as an equivalent of diesel oil.
But how much fuel is it necessary to spend in order to plough fields, to gather
and harvest, how much is it necessary
to spend on farmer’s needs? What part
from obtained vegetable oil can be sent to fuel market? And even it will be a
half of oil gathering (that is quite optimistic) what field area will be
necessary for providing all energy and transport of the planet with fuel? It
shouldn’t be forgotten that we’ll have to give up areas necessary for
production of foodstuff and forage. Besides this production is vulnerable from
the point of view of the climate as crop capacity is influenced by many
factors.
May
be we should hope for traditional solar energy? But production of photoelectric
cells demands as much energy as photoelectric cells will not be able to produce
for the whole service life. May be we should hope for mirror fields focusing
sunlight on the usual steam-boiler? But what about wind, clouds and other
weather mess? And what should we do at night? The cost itself and longevity of
these mirror fields raise a lot of questions.
Some
suggests using coal for electric power stations and carbonic acid received at
coal firing drive into underground bed at high pressure. But will the man get
pleasure from the bomb of delayed action under his feet? And compression itself and driving gas into
underground will reduce efficiency of the electric power station significantly.
Besides this process is not possible everywhere for geological reasons.
Energy of wind is often suggested to make use of. But the matter is velocity of air current is not constant and such plants themselves are far from being recompensed so far.
May
be we should build up thermonuclear electric power stations? But worth and
complexity of such equipment will be fabulous; it’s not clear at all whether it
will be able to be recompensed at all. Besides materials of the reactor will be
subjected to radioactivity directed by neutrons. The question of burial of
structural material will be raised after their resources will be worked out and
it can’t be too big as operating mode of this material of thermonuclear
reactors is quite tense. Besides it is known that efficiency of such stations
can’t be especially high and somehow or other heat will have to be thrown into
the environment adding it to the heat that will be accumulated under the
influence of greenhouse gas.
Ordinary
nuclear energy is not worth mentioning as uranium store is too small and
ecological expenses are known.
So
if to sum up the actual state of affairs we should acknowledge – academic
science can’t suggest an effective way out of the situation. Mankind can’t do
without energy sources but with them it will not exist long in the present
state of affairs.
Let us see what is present technology based on. Today’s energetics is built up on this technology. Existing systems of conversion of heat energy into electric one are based on vapour-water work cycles efficiency of which is within 30% for atomic and 63% for the most modern electric power stations working on natural gas. What are the main ideas that are followed by scientists and engineers when these electric power stations are built? There are two main principles: the so-called first law of thermodynamics and the law of degradation of energy. The first law of thermodynamics is the law of conservation of energy; in other words energy can’t originate from anywhere and disappear anywhere. The second postulate affirms that heat overfall is necessary for work of heat engine, i.e. thermal spring of energy (nuclear reactor, for example) and a certain cold substance, usually it is the environment where we can send that portion of heat that couldn’t be managed to change into effective work. It means that the second postulate forbids building up the heat engine that would convert heat energy into effective work. It is considered that the law of degradation of energy accumulates humanity’s experience and in this respect is in the context of common sense.
The
origin of this postulate is ascribed to engineer Carnot who viewing work of the
steam-engine formulated implicitly the law of degradation of energy in 1824. It
is evident that in order to use water in the boiler of the steam engine it is
necessary to convert waste low-temperature steam of low pressure into water,
and then feed obtained cold water into the steam-boiler again. So steam should
be condensed and for that it is necessary to throw the heat of condensation
into the environment. It was the
beginning of stereotype of scientific and technical thinking. In the course of time this stereotype has
become a dogma confirmed by heaps of scientific manuscripts and authority of distinguished
scientists.
This
dogma is tenacious of life and so much that scientists refuse to consider the
projects of facilities infringing or evading the second postulate of
thermodynamics. So there is no way out of ecological crisis in the context of
traditional conception.
However
we assert that there exist conditions and possibilities to change the situation
for the better radically; this decision is surprisingly simple and effective
and at that it is devoid of multitude of disadvantages. The problem is solved
at the turn of two branches of science: chemistry of solutions and hydraulics.
It is a purely engineering decision and is pronouncedly based on scientific
knowledge in existence. For an inexperienced in chemistry reader we shall view
the simplest examples hereinafter, for example dilution of sugar and white
salt.
If
we try to melt and evaporate for example sugar, we’ll need high temperatures
and great amount of heat. But if the reader dissolves sugar in water at room
temperature, he will not even notice what heat efficiency originates from this
and meanwhile there is some. Dilution of both salt and sugar demands some
amount of heat but too small: it is not easy to disclose it. Meanwhile
evaporating crystals of salt and dissolving them in water you get destruction
of the crystal and conversion of the molecules of salt from solid
crystalline state into the state of free molecules. It is the result of the
fact that per se dilution is a reversible chemical reaction with its own energy
balance in which energy necessary for destruction of the crystal is included
only as a constituent part. It is known there are substances having very low
heat of dissolubility, practically equal to zero.
However a wise reader will ask the question what is effective here. You see couple of substances can push on the piston and perform effective work if steam pressure is higher than the pressure of atmosphere. And what about the solution?
The answer is simple! Any substance dissolved in water produces
so-called osmotic pressure. Just owing to this pressure plants stretch their
leaves, rigidity of stems of plants and flowers is maintained and many other
things happen. Penetrating through cell membranes or more precisely being
absorbed through the membrane by the solution pure water mixes with sugars,
salts and other soluble substances inside cells. The solution produces
hydraulic pressure inside the cells; this pressure is of osmotic nature and it
bursts open cell membranes from within.
This
effect was used by ancient Egyptians in their quarries. They drilled opening in
the stone, nailed up withered trunks of trees there and coated it with water;
the tree swelled with the force that broke the stone! The peculiarity of
osmotic pressure is that at the same quantity of dissolved salt it depends on
temperature in the same way as pressure of usual gas depends on temperature. It
means that it rises! So there is no need to throw out the heat of the engine
based on effect of direct and reverse osmosis as it is not necessary for
getting initial soluble substance in crystalline state and pure dissolvent
owing to the fact that heat of dissolving is
equal to zero. It is enough to squash water through the membrane at the
low temperature that s equal to the temperature of the environment. And it is
quite possible just owing to dependence of osmotic pressure on temperature. Consequently
Carnot’s ideas are not valid for osmotic
machine/mechanism of such type and then effectiveness of such machine is not
limited hard by the law of degradation of energy.
Besides
we pay our reader’s attention to the fact that steam is not used for work of
such mechanism and consequently there is no need in the expensive and
complicated in manufacturing steam turbine; hydraulic motor or water turbine
will be quite enough. Owing to the fact that functioning of such machine will
take heat energy from molecular movement of the molecules of the solution at
the high temperature, heat from without should be introduced into the system.
Osmotic
machines for substances dissolving with absorption of heat can be built up in a
similar manner. But in this case couples of substances should be used. If we
use a couple of such substances on the basis of one dissolvent and bring them
together in one contour parted by membranes then we can get the system
transforming heat energy into electric one with efficiency 100%.
Surprisingly effective thermocompressors can be built up. This equipment can take away the heat from the environment and transmit it to a more heated object. No other modern thermocompressors can compete with osmotic ones in its effectiveness. There are no obstacles in using such osmotic thermocompressors in common with the osmotic heat machine. And such combination makes the machine independent of temperature of the heat source.
So
general technical deduction is the following one: it is possible to build up
the machine operating at the expense of heat in the environment. Now let’s
briefly consider technical, ecological, economic and political consequences of
widespread use of machines of such type.
We
can consider as an obvious drawback of such machine (if it can really be called
a drawback) only the fact that large area of membranes and metal constructions
which are able to withstand high pressures will be necessary for its making.
Accordingly the more power is necessary the more useful capacities and weight
of these technical constructions will be required.
All
other technical details do not arouse particular complexities. The cost of
electric power stations will be quite moderate, though quick payback shouldn’t
be expected; perhaps it’s a question of 10-15 years of exploitation for
receiving the first profit. Although this period greatly depends on the prices
of hydrocarbon fuel and the larger the prices the quicker payback
will be. The advantage of such electric power station is that it
will be quite durable.
Working of such stations will lead neither to radiation nor chemical pollution. In case of emergency severe ecological problems can be avoided as non-volatile liquids but not volatile gases are used in this machine. Spill of liquids can be prevented by simple means. Working of the station will not depend on weather conditions, change of time of the day and night and seasons. Obviously it’s more profitable to build up such electric power stations in countries with warm climate. As the station will work cooling ambient air, atmospheric moisture will be condensed on heat exchangers of its thermocompressors. Built up in a desert such station will create a green oasis around, allow organizing agriculture and cultivate forests in dries contributing to absorption of carbonic acid of atmosphere by plants. As a matter of fact the station will transform solar heat taken up by ground surface and transmitted to common air into electric energy. Such machine will extend cool air around itself on surface layer and take away warm air from higher layers.
Energy
spent on night lighting and heating of towns in winter, on work of radio
stations and similar needs will partly go into outer space in the form of heat
and electromagnetic radiation. All this means that such machine will work
against global warming.
Synthesis
of usual motor hydrocarbon fuel on chemical enterprises will become profitable.
For this purpose it is necessary to educe carbon out of carbonic acid of the
atmosphere and hydrogen out of water. This operation requires energy and we
will have it in abundance. So transferring to dangerously explosive hydrogen in
transport is not necessary. Direct pumping of received by means of synthesis
carbohydrates into the bowels is quite possible though it may be not required.
Necessity in other ways of energy generation including nuclear and
thermonuclear electric power stations ceases to have significance. Although in
long-term outlook somewhere in distant cosmos nuclear or thermonuclear power
system can be combined with the suggested method of conversion of heat into
electricity and so get rid of the necessity to throw away low-temperature heat
into cosmos and this technical task is far from being easy. Wide application of
osmotic electric power stations of this kind will let reducing energy
constituent of the cost of merchandise and freight services noticeably in the
course of time. Europe will get energy independence. For South-East Asia deprived of fossil fuel
abundance of fuel energy will become stimulus for recurrent economic spurt.
Arabian world instead of oil gains will get inexhaustible sources of fresh
water: the Near and Middle East fail it.
In
general the world industrial production will undergo serious structural
changes. Business dealt with chemical production and first of all synthesis
will be brought to the forefront. Profession of chemist will be the most
claimed in the world. Production of atomic energy materials will
exclusively be subordinated to military interests and it will make
non-proliferation control easier.
So
we are in a paradoxical situation. The world can be changed with the help of
known to everybody processes of dilution which people watch in the cup of
morning tea since childhood! On the whole humanity needs such machines promptly
and now. But! Some influential part of humanity needs these very machines
neither now nor in the nearest 50 years!
To
refute stated ideas confirmed by scientific calculation is not possible as they
are based on one of universally recognized branches of science – chemistry of
solutions. On the other hand calculations in existence prejudices the second
postulate of orthodox school of classic thermodynamics that was stated by
Carnot.
What
should be done in order to embody the idea into the first testing machine?
First of all it is necessary to overcome standards of thinking accepted in
academic science, business and political elite. Community worried by ecological
state of the planet can positively influence the situation in the given case.
Besides business circles, which have their own scientific base and are engaged
in advanced research in the sphere of power engineering can exert influence. At
least they are able to make sure of scientific consistency of the new energy
conception.
Perhaps
God wishes humanity another choice. Humanity either will go the way on which there is not successful outcome or by
giving up scientific and technical and behavioural stereotypes will be able not
only to survive but save as far as possible the biological variety of the planet.
But it should be done quickly as it is not clear whether humanity will be able
at least partly to turn back the changes of climate, which we all observe.
The
authors took necessary arrangements for protection of intellectual property.
Readers
can get to know the theory in detail on the site: http://energy-of-membranes.narod.ru
March 29th, 2007 Andrey Pelipenko,
engineer
Nikolay
Kolisnichenko, engineer
