Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Since 1989, numerous scientists have tried to demonstrate cold fusion, but all have
failed. This quest may turn out to be as illusory as the search for the philosopher's stone,
but at least it has stirred public interest in the energy debate, particularly in the potential of
The Enterprise Solution: Matter-Antimatter Reactor
When, in the television series
Star Trek
, Captain Kirk boldly embarked on the next
adventure, he relied on his spaceship's antimatter engine. Though pure fiction, there was
some science behind this. Antimatter is almost identical to ordinary matter, except that its
subatomic particles are charged oppositely to normal particles; protons are negative and
electrons are positive. Normally, atoms repel one another because of their similar charges.
That is why immense heat and pressure are required for atomic fusion. With atoms of
antimatter, the opposite occurs; they attract one another with a force equivalent to the
repulsionofnormalatoms.Asaresult,whentheycollidetheirmassdisappearsandtheyare
converted into energy. Antimatter exists naturally in the universe, but it is very rare. It can
be synthesized in particle accelerators, but even the world's most efficient accelerator - at
CERN in Switzerland - would have to run nonstop for 100 billion years to produce a single
with antimatter: any tool (composed of matter) used to handle or contain antimatter would
be immediately annihilated by it.
Space-Based Solar Energy
In 1968, Peter Glaser, then president of the International Solar Energy Society, proposed
an energy solution for the space age: giant satellites orbiting the Earth would capture solar
power and beam it to the ground in the form of microwaves or laser. During the 1970s oil
crises his idea garnered considerable interest, but when cost estimates of about US$300
billion were revealed, the interest quickly evaporated.
However, the idea, in itself, is not outlandish. Sunshine is eight times more intense in
the Earth's upper atmosphere than it is on the ground. From 1995 to 2003 NASA funded
several projects that evaluated a variety of solutions. Designs took advantage of thin-film
PV panels to generate electricity, which could then be converted on board the satellite into
electromagnetic waves and transmitted at low frequency to ground stations. Here, receivers
2 to 3 kilometres wide would convert the waves back into electricity. Like visible light
or radio signals, microwave radiation does not damage DNA and biomolecules and is
therefore safe in low doses.
