We continue to talk simply about what the GEF SGP is doing and why it does it. Today we will talk about alternative energy and how it relates to the gloomy expression "climate change".
And we will start, as strange as it may sound, with manure. Animal dung, decomposing, releases methane into the atmosphere. The same methane that flows through our pipes, and by burning it, we cook food, drive cars, and in general, the country generates almost 90% of its energy by burning methane at power plants and thermal power plants. Methane from manure can be collected using a biogas plant, and then it is not just emitted into the atmosphere, but provides benefits - it is used for energy production.
And what's wrong if it gets into the atmosphere? This is where his harm is. Methane is 28 times more harmful to the planet's climate than carbon dioxide. Methane and carbon dioxide are the most common gases in a small constellation of gases called "greenhouse gases". Greenhouse gases (well, from the concept of "greenhouse", of course) collect, retain heat in the atmosphere. Keeping warm inside the atmosphere, they change the balanced and balanced energy processes on the planet. Violation of these processes is the cause of climate change.
What it is? Many have heard about hurricanes, abnormally heavy precipitation, abnormally high or low temperatures, unpredictable and out of place graphs of the seasonality of climatic phenomena. The temperature of the water in the ocean changes, the ocean currents change, the volume, speed and time of the formation and distribution of precipitation on the planet, and the temperature regime change. This is called climate change. And all this happens because too many of these same greenhouse gases are collected in the atmosphere, which trap heat.
Where do these greenhouse gases come from? And here we come to the question of why we need alternative energy sources. Humans emit too many greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Because most of our energy is still based on burning hydrocarbons. And when they are burned, our greenhouse gases get into the atmosphere and accumulate there. And the more greenhouse gases, the more they trap heat in the atmosphere, the more processes occur that change the climate.
Let's go back to our rams. So, animal manure is a very important source of methane from where it enters the atmosphere. About 14% of all greenhouse gases come from the livestock industry. The population of the planet is growing, the diet of many countries is based on the consumption of large amounts of meat, and therefore more and more animals are raised. And their waste is a source of methane emissions into the atmosphere. But after collecting methane, and burning it, while receiving energy, we neutralize it 28 times, eventually emitting only carbon dioxide. Energy production methods that either reduce or even avoid the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere are called "alternative energy sources". Those. in fact, it is an alternative for humanity how to avoid accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and prevent climate change.
There are many different alternative energy sources. For example, if you grow trees and use them for firewood, this is also an alternative source of energy. Burning self-grown wood, a person emits into the atmosphere exactly as much carbon as the tree took from the atmosphere. That is, total emissions are zero, you are carbon neutral. But if you did not grow a tree, but took it from nature, where it just stored carbon and did not allow it to be thrown into the atmosphere, and burned it, then you essentially destroyed the natural storage of carbon. Because when carbon is not in the atmosphere, but in a solid state, we have no problem with the climate. Therefore, first grow a tree, take carbon from the atmosphere, then you can use it for firewood. Then you will not cause any harm to the climate of the planet.
Another example of energy use is that we all use hot water and heating. So, this hot water and heating can be obtained simply by heating the water in the sun. This is called a solar collector. In our country, several manufacturers already make them. For example, Solar City Solutions, QIE, and others. By heating hot water from the sun, you are not wasting energy from burning carbon fuels or emitting carbon into the atmosphere. Plus, you also don't pay for hot water and you always get hot water for your domestic needs.
The collectors can also be used for heating: part of the water heats up well even in winter - up to 30-40 degrees, and you only heat it up a little from traditional energy sources. Thus, you save a lot of carbon fuels and reduce greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere by 30-50%.
There are also solar photovoltaic panels. People often confuse solar collectors and solar panels, sometimes also called photovoltaic panels. Collectors heat water, and solar panels create electricity from the sun when help of chemical processes. The chemical element used, mainly silicon, converts sunlight into direct current. Well, the resulting electric current can be used already as we used to do it - for anything. There are already cars that run on electric motors. I arrived, and instead of refueling with gas, I simply plugged my car into an outlet for recharging, like a phone, charged my car and drove on.
Electricity is also obtained from water. The process is simple to explain - the water falls, turns the turbine. And this turbine converts kinetic energy into electrical energy using a generator. In Uzbekistan, about 10-12% of electricity is produced from water. There is one big "but" here. When dams are built for large hydroelectric power plants, they usually block the river and flood large areas. When a river is blocked, many of the biological processes of the river stop. For example, fish can no longer spawn and their reproduction stops. The natural processes of water movement are also disrupted. In our country, the entire system of tugai forests was at stake and huge areas of forests disappeared (more than 90% of tugai forests have disappeared over the past 40 years), because the natural process of flooding of coastal zones with flood waters has been stopped. Tugai forests do not grow anymore, and water is taken for irrigation of agricultural lands. Those. There are many side effects to nature from large hydropower. We are not looking at them yet. But in other countries this is being watched very closely. In the United States, for example, a multimillion-dollar project to build a hydroelectric power station was once stopped because its construction would have killed one rare fish. In our country, such attention to nature is impossible, but we would like to. However, hydropower is also a carbon neutral way of generating energy and helps fight climate change.
Wind is another very widespread form of alternative energy around the world. In places where the wind blows constantly and strongly, wind generators can be installed. The wind turns the blades, the blades generate electricity. We have already installed a test wind farm on Charvak. There are also small installations for small farms. These are produced here, for example, by Intellekt-Dialog.
There are many other sources of alternative energy. What do you know? Knowing the basics of why and why you need alternative energy sources will help you while participating in our quest dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the GEF SGP.
