There are different types of energies, renewable and non -renewable. Within these are wind, solar, hydraulic, thermal, electrical, etc … You have surely heard the name of all of them, but there are more. In this article we will talk about a less known type of energy that is still halfway. Do you know the blue energy? Maybe by blue you think that water intervenes and, indeed, the blue energy or also called Osmotic energy It is generated by contacting two water flows with different levels of concentration in salts.
Do you want to learn more about this type of renewable energy? In this interesting ecology article, it is explained What is blue energy, its advantages and disadvantages and how it occurs.
Blue energy, what is it?
The blue energy or osmotic energy It occurs when it gets in touch seawaterwhich has a greater concentration of salts with fresh water which contains a lower salts concentration. That is why blue energy could be an inexhaustible source of energy, in addition to not negatively impacting the environment. But how does this energy occur?
How blue or osmotic energy occurs
In order to understand how this energy called blue or osmotic occurs it is necessary to know the concept of osmosis. Osmosis It is a physical process, in which two Liquids with different salt concentration They are separated by a semipermeable membrane, and through this flow the liquid with less concentration of salt towards the most concentrated.
Therefore, to get the blue energy Seawater and fresh water should be separated by the semipermeable membrane, which only lets the water pass and do not salts them. Water flows naturally from the least concentrated to the most concentrated by decreasing saline concentration and exerting a pressure called Osmotic pressure. This pressure is what makes Move a turbine To, thus, produce energy.
Before we have said that this type of energy is halfway, despite being an inexhaustible source of energy. What is the problem? A truly efficient system that generates large amounts of energy has not yet been found, in addition to the high costs it supposes for the moment.
Advantages of blue energy
Next, the Great advantages of blue energy:
- Blue energy, such as wind and solar, It is renewable And it will never run out.
- It is also one constant energythat is, usable 24 hours, we can always obtain it regardless of climatic conditions. For example, to obtain solar or wind energy, we depend on whether winding or the day is sunny, for blue energy we should not take into account the weather.
- With this type of energy the entire planet could be supplied, since it occurs throughout the world, the only thing that is needed is that river water will contact sea water.
- CO2 emissions are a real problem for climate change. Plants to obtain this type of energy They have no CO2 emissions. Its ecological impact is very low thanks to how they are designed.
Disadvantages of blue energy
After seeing the advantages, here we mention the main disadvantages of blue or osmotic energy:
- Before we mentioned that the blue energy is halfway, despite all the advantages it has, the disadvantages have a greater weight, for the moment, and this is mainly due to the high costs which means generating it.
- Building a salinity central already entails an economic investment, but the real problem of this is that to put it into operation THE MEGAVATIO PRICE It is double that they are obtained with fossil fuels.
- The semipermeable membranes are really expensive but, in addition, to give the necessary pressure to be able to move the turbine that will then produce electricity, these must be large semipermeable membranes.
Blue energy and nanotechnology
With form progress the time new methods are discovered to be able to do Use of blue energy efficiently. Already in 2009 the first floor with the technology necessary to produce it was inaugurated in Norway, but it barely produced 10 kW of electricity. Later in the Netherlands, another type of technique called inverse electrodialysis (Network) that achieved a greater productivity with 50 kW was used, although it is not enough to replace the energies obtained with the burning of fossil fuels. While there are fossil fuels and generating energy from these is cheaper than obtaining it through renewable resources, this will be used despite the great ecological impact it has. Even so, scientists continue to investigate and in 2016 they developed a new membrane capable of generating 1 MW per square meter. And everything is not there, in addition, the use of this type of membrane composed of molybdenum disulfide of three thick atoms would have a much cheaper cost.
This New membrane develops thanks to nanotechnology And, although there is still a long way to go until reaching an efficient system capable of standing in the face of non -renewable energies, scientists are on the right track.
To have more information about energies obtained with water, we recommend these other ecology articles about what is the kinetic energy of water and advantages and disadvantages of hydraulic energy.
If you want to read more articles similar to Blue energy: what is, advantages and disadvantageswe recommend that you enter our category of renewable energy.
