The energy problem of mankind and the ways of its solution

The energy problem of mankind is growing every year. This is due to the growing population of the planet and the intensive development of technology, which causes an ever-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 depths of the Earth. Oil, natural gas and coal are non-renewable natural energy resources, by now their reserves have decreased 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 deficit and sharp rise in price of this type of fuel provoked a serious crisis in the world economy. And although its value has decreased over time, volumes are steadily declining, so the energy and raw material problem of mankind is becoming ever more acute.

For example, only in the period from the 60s to the 80s of the 20th century, the world's coal production amounted to 40%, oil - 75%, natural gas - 80% of the total amount of these resources, used since the beginning of the century.

Despite the fact that the fuel shortage began in the 1970s and it was discovered that the energy problem is a global problem of mankind, the forecasts did not provide for the growth of its consumption. It was planned that by the year 2000 the volumes of mining will increase threefold. Subsequently, of course, these plans were reduced, but as a result of the extremely wasteful exploitation of resources, which lasted for decades, today they are almost gone.

The main geographical aspects of the energy problem of mankind

One of the reasons for the growing fuel shortage is the increase in the conditions for its extraction and, as a consequence, 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. Especially noticeably deteriorated the geological conditions of the occurrence of energy resources in the old industrial regions of North America, Western Europe, Russia and Ukraine.

Given the geographical aspects of the energy and raw materials problems of mankind, it must be said that their solution is to expand the resource lines. It is necessary to develop new areas with easier mining and geological conditions. Thus, it is possible to reduce the cost of fuel production. It should be borne in mind that the total capital intensity of extracting energy resources in new places is usually much higher.

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

The depletion of natural fuel reserves caused the most severe competition in the economic, political and geopolitical spheres. Giant fuel corporations are engaged in the division of fuel and energy resources and redistribution of spheres of influence in this industry, which leads to constant price fluctuations in the world market of gas, coal and oil. Instability of the situation seriously aggravates the energy problem of mankind.

Global Energy Security

This concept came into use in the early 21st century. The principles of this security strategy provide for a reliable, long-term and environmentally acceptable energy supply, the prices of which will be justified and arranged by countries that export and import fuel.

Implementation of this strategy is possible only if the causes of the energy problem of mankind are eliminated and practical measures are taken to further ensure the world economy with both traditional types of fuel and energy from alternative sources. And the development of alternative energy should be given special attention.

Energy Saving Policy

In times of cheap fuel, a very resource-intensive economy has developed in many countries of the world. First of all, this phenomenon was observed in the states rich in mineral resources. The list was headed by the Soviet Union, the United States, Canada, China and Australia. In the USSR, the volume of consumption of conventional fuel was several times greater than in the USA.

This state of affairs required the urgent introduction of energy conservation policies in the municipal, industrial, transport and other sectors of the economy. Taking into account all aspects of the energy and raw materials problems of mankind, technologies aimed at reducing the specific energy intensity of the GDP of these countries began to be developed and introduced, and the entire economic structure of the world economy should be reconstructed.

Successes and failures

The most noticeable success in the sphere of energy saving was achieved by the economically developed countries of the West. For the first 15 years, they managed to reduce the energy intensity of their GDP by 1/3, which resulted in a reduction in their share in world energy consumption from 60 to 48 percent. To date, this trend continues, and GDP growth in the West outpaces the growing volume of fuel consumption.

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

Realities and prospects

The energy problem of mankind and the ways of its solution today are of concern to the whole world. To improve the existing situation, various technical and technological innovations are introduced. With the purpose of energy saving, industrial and communal equipment is being improved, more economical cars are manufactured, and so on.

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

To successfully solve the energy problem of mankind, special attention should be given to the development and introduction of fundamentally new technologies available at the present stage of the scientific and technological revolution.

Nuclear power

One of the most promising areas in the field of energy supply is nuclear energy. In some developed countries, nuclear reactors of a new generation have already been commissioned. Nuclear scientists today are again actively discussing the topic of reactors working on fast neurons, which, as was once supposed, will become a new and much more effective wave of nuclear energy. However, their development was discontinued, but now this issue has become urgent again.

Use of MHD generators

Direct conversion of heat energy into electricity without steam boilers and turbines allows performing magnetohydrodynamic generators. The development of this promising direction began in the early 1970s. In 1971, the first experimental-industrial MHD with a capacity of 25,000 kW was commissioned in Moscow.

The main advantages of magnetohydrodynamic generators are:

• High efficiency;
• Ecological compatibility (there are no harmful emissions into the atmosphere);
• Instant start.

Cryogenic turbine generator

The principle of the cryogenic generator is that the rotor is cooled by liquid helium, due to which the superconductivity effect is obtained. The undoubted advantages of this unit include high efficiency, small weight and dimensions.

An experimental and industrial sample of a cryogenic turbogenerator was created in the Soviet era, and now similar developments are being conducted 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 human problems - the energy and raw materials problem. First of all, hydrogen fuel will become an alternative to natural energy resources in engineering. The first car on hydrogen was created by the Japanese company "Mazda" in the early 90's, for him was developed a new engine. The experiment turned out to be quite successful, which confirms the prospects of this direction.

Electrochemical generators

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

Engines with fuel cells are characterized by the highest possible efficiency (over 70%), which is twice that of conventional power plants. Plus, they are easy to use, noiseless 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 conducted in most economically developed countries, the first place among which is occupied by Japan. The total capacity of these units in the world is measured in millions of kW. For example, in New York and Tokyo, power plants are already operating on such elements, and the German automaker Daimler-Benz was the first to create a working prototype of a car with an engine operating on this principle.

Controlled thermonuclear fusion

For several decades research has been carried out in the field of thermonuclear energy. At the core of atomic energy lies the nuclear fission reaction, and the thermonuclear 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 exceeds 10 million times the same figure obtained from coal. The result is truly impressive! That is why thermonuclear power is considered one of the most promising directions in solving the problems of the global energy deficit.

Forecasts

Today, there are various scenarios for the development of the situation in the world energy industry 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, developing countries will overtake developed countries in terms of consumption volumes.

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