20 April 2020

Since the dawn of time, civilization on Earth has required energy. Whether it's electromagnetic, thermal, electrical, or any other form of energy, there are carriers and systems that generate it in greater or lesser quantities. On a planet like ours, the natural and most accessible energy is electromagnetic energy, and it was this energy that was first harnessed in the form of fire, and its production and technology naturally developed based on combustion. There were no major adjustments to this system along the way, but it can be said that harnessing atomic energy was one of the most significant achievements along this path, and the resulting product of atomic decay is electromagnetic energy and, unfortunately, radioactive waste. The other energy sources include field energy, the potential energy of matter in a gravitational field, utilized as falling water, especially as a source of energy in hydroelectric power plants. Over the years, we have experienced many seemingly crucial technological breakthroughs in satisfying the energy hunger of our dynamically developing civilization, yet there are problems in this field, terrifying in their catastrophic implications. Looking from a slightly different perspective, we note that there is a highly technologically advanced Northern Hemisphere, where people generally live relatively prosperously, and a Southern Hemisphere and the equatorial zone, particularly the equatorial zone, where living conditions are unfavorable due to tropical temperatures, which is less industrialized and has less advanced technical infrastructure. Vast swaths of land lack access to either potable water or electricity. We are attempting to solve this problem by building wells and installing photovoltaic cells. There are also some attempts to condense water vapor from the atmosphere using special condensation devices. The water thus obtained is safe to drink and clean. Deep wells are also a good solution, but for some residents of Africa and other areas where the sun is at its hottest, their existence often means having to travel long distances from their homes to a water source. Rainwater, which is already scarce, is undrinkable, and those who attempt to drink it become ill due to the microorganisms and parasites it contains. To generate any energy for subsistence purposes, some type of fuel and some energy reactants are necessary. In the case of combustion, these are flammable substances and atmospheric oxygen. In the case of nuclear energy, access to oxygen is not necessary ? the fuel burns spontaneously when provided with the appropriate volume and shape to prevent melting of the fuel elements due to the rapid emission of neutrons within the fuel. Nuclear energy remains an expensive form of energy; not every country can afford it. Nuclear power plants are expensive installations, and even with recent advances in safety measures, they are still unreliable. A lack of control due to external factors, which we as humans cannot fully predict, can mean an ecological disaster threatening thousands or even millions of people. There are a number of newly introduced safety measures, one of which is a gravity-based system for shutting down the reactor in the event of a power outage at the plant itself. Electromagnets are used to hold the shutdown rods. In the event of a power outage, these rods automatically fall between the fuel rods, shutting down the reactor. Nuclear reactors also lacked a tight concrete enclosure, and when fuel melted, it escaped the reactor and burned vertically downward toward the Earth's center. This is what happened during the Chernobyl disaster, where a concrete bath had to be quickly poured under the damaged reactor to prevent fuel from entering the Earth's interior. This fuel, derived from the melted reactor core at the Chernobyl power plant, continues to burn in this bath to this day. Other forms of energy generation rely on the use of natural energy. For example, tidal energy, which uses floats propelled by wave energy, represents gigawatts of energy. It is arguably one of the most abundant potential energy sources, considering the amount of water on our planet and the power of the wind, which blows most strongly over the sea, creating large, solid waves. This is an energy better than wind energy, using the wind, i.e. the same generating factor, but the power generators in this case may have a simpler structure, do not generate infrasound and are not as susceptible to damage as the blades of wind turbines in wind farms with too strong gusts of wind.