Human beings conquer the darkness. That is, after experimenting with electricity—its currents and metalloid conductors—the world began to light up artificially and today, it is a vital resource for civilizations.
This fact is undoubtedly not entirely positive – after all, darkness is also nature; Instead of taking advantage of what the planet provides us, we unleashed a strange technological competition that seemed to have the purpose of overwhelming nature and “overcoming” it. We use its minerals, convert them into fuels and burn them to run turbines that generate energy, instead of taking advantage of the “natural mechanics” of hundreds of phenomena that occur in the world.
At the moment:
92% of global carbon dioxide production
comes from burning fossil fuels.
However, more and more efforts are being made daily to close this enormous – and absurd – gap that we have opened between nature and humans. Costa Rica, for example, demonstrates that the future of lighting now depends on how much we can work closely with nature, rather than against it, to generate clean energy.
This Caribbean country is an example that 100% of the energy used can come from green energy, also generated in favor of nature. This year alone, the country managed to obtain 78.26% of electricity from the, 10.29% from the wind, 10.23% of geothermal and 0.84% of biomass and the sun.
But what are the 4 ways you can work with nature to produce energy?
Water
Hydroelectric plants were the first green alternative to energy produced with fossil fuels. This is obtained by taking advantage of the kinetic and potential energies of the water flow, for example, from rivers. Costa Rica has long used it as its main source of energy.
Wind
This production requires knowing the variations of the wind and installing enormous wind turbines that convert its kinetic energy into energy. This technology dates back to the Middle Ages, when mills were used to grind wheat. But since 1970 it has been used in wind farms where dozens of wind turbines are erected that currently provide up to 40% of the energy of countries like Denmark.
Land
Geothermal energy is obtained by taking advantage of the heat from the interior of the Earth that is transmitted through bodies of hot rock or reservoirs by conduction and convection that give rise to geothermal systems. It does not require the construction of dams or cutting down forests, but it does require the construction of large plants.
The bad thing is that this energy, since it cannot be transported in viable ways, can only be used as in: to cover the hot water needs of the Greater Reykjavík metropolitan area. And not all countries have a usable geothermal resource, as this country does.
Therefore, in Costa Rica this energy production only covers 10.23% of its needs.
Sun
This energy is used through photovoltaic panels, which has proven to be the best option of all clean energies. Its use can be industrial, with energy produced in solar parks and farms, and little by little progress has been made in the storage of this energy so as not to have to depend only on clear days for its use.
It can also be used “passively”, in public buildings, homes and even public transport, such as trains in India.
In addition to these four natural and renewable energies, it is worth keeping an eye on what other ways innovation is being done in this sector. An example is fuel cells that use biogas, hydrogen or natural gas and which have become popular in the United States.
All this technology, which is based on cooperation with nature, allows us to glimpse that a bright and harmonious future with nature is not impossible and that, on the contrary, it is getting closer.