Isn't it wonderful when predictions come true? Our interests and imagination have been stirred by oral and written stories for centuries. From favourite science fiction shows based on reality like Star Trek to books like Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas, which took inspiration from early submarine prototypes.
For most of us nowadays, the push of a button in the comfort of our homes is enough to ensure that gas can be ignited, electricity can circulate, freshwater can flow, and lights can come on. This comes from improved access to energy-dense resources. Various geographical areas may have more or less of one resource or accessibility to the resource.
The meaning of future energy resource
Future energy resources refer to those resources that may become widely available to use in the future, thanks to technological advancements or new scientific discoveries. Future energy resources will differ from today's due to several combined factors.
| Reason | Details |
Availability shortage | New technologies are needed where the surface deposits of a resource have been depleted. Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) is the injection of high-pressure water and other chemicals into rocks to fracture them and allow for fossil fuel extraction. |
New technologies | Improved health and environmental safety, as well as improved efficiency. Improved filtration, separation membranes and solutions for (fossil) oil and gas processing.1 |
Environmental concerns | Biodiversity extinction rates directly indicate improper resource utilization practices. Energy will be invested, by law, in biodiversity gain. |
Public opinion and investments | The public is more aware of health, industry and environmental concern factors and invests in different sources of revenue. |
National and international security | Threats to security may trigger additional energy needs. Investment in planetary defence systems against asteroids.2 |
The types of future energy resources
Efforts are being made to build technology that allows us to harvest and store less dense energy forms, such as sunlight and wind. In this section, we will start with nuclear power, which is ever-present in future energy plans.
Nuclear
Nuclear energy is one of the densest energy forms that humanity is learning to handle. The nuclear technology of the future can be split into fission and fusion.
Nuclear fission, or the splitting of atoms, is the most common worldwide, but it may be less common in the future.
Nuclear fusion, or the fusion (combination) of atoms, yields more energy than fission, but it is still in testing.
New fission technologies include molten salt reactors, laser fusion which fuses atoms through a high-energy laser beam, and thorium or plutonium reactors.
New fusion technologies include toroidal reactors and laser fusion, which uses a laser beam to fuse hydrogen isotopes.
Renewable
Renewable energy resources were a popular energy choice before the 18th century. They became less common when technological advancements allowed for fossil fuel use.
Technologies of the future include:
Solar sails and solar photovoltaic panels, more of which may be made from perovskite or gallium arsenide, two materials that can replace silicone. Carbon nanotube materials for solar thermal energy are also expected. Moreover, solar panel fields may be converted into CSP (Concentrating Solar Power) systems that use mirrors to focus sun rays onto a single source.
Solar panels can now be made transparent and used as windows.
Water wheels (low-head, for small-scale exploitation), Kaplan turbines or Gorlov helical turbines (different blade designs) will be able to rotate their blades in the direction in which the strongest currents flow to harness more kinetic energy.
These hydroelectric power turbines may also change their shape or position to match times when the water table is lower or higher.
Wave energy and tidal power, used close to the seashore, harvest water's kinetic power. In the future, they may also be able to harvest energy from the changing temperature and salinity gradients that exist and mix in layers of seawater.3
Tidal barrages and lagoons can also be built to amplify the effect of changing water levels.
Wind power is among the most flexible. Different blade shapes can be designed to increase speed, reduce turbulence and drag or ensure a smoother rotation (e.g. blade-tip fins, blade nacelles, helical vertical and horizontal wind turbine axes -VAWTs and HAWTs).
Wind-assisted ships that require only one, or very few people, to operate them, will be more common in the future.
Biofuels can come from agricultural and supermarket food waste and dedicated plantations, such as the grass miscanthus. The biofuel of the future is often considered algae, as it generates methane and hydrogen when decomposing. Liquid (bioethanol), solid (humus) and gaseous (biogas) fuels can be obtained from biomass. All three can also be obtained from biodigesters, which use microorganisms to digest waste.
Geothermal energy is available only in specific locations that benefit from volcanic activity. Usually, it uses hot water and steam to power engines. In the future, it will be paired with liquids with low boiling points, such as butane, to generate electricity at lower overall temperatures.
Non-renewable
Coal, oil and gas will likely continue to be used in the future due to their high energy output when burned. However, their pollution capacity remains high, resulting in the release of heavy metals or greenhouse gases.
The combustion facilities of the near future need to capture such pollutants and emissions.
Oil: subsea production wells, tar sand and oil shale use, and drilling will be paired with highly efficient enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques. EOR techniques that will be improved upon include the following:
Primary oil recovery, pumping oil from the ground and separating it from the water and other impurities.
Secondary oil recovery, using water or chemicals to increase the flow of oil from the reservoir to the well.
Tertiary oil recovery, injecting steam or other fluids into the reservoir to heat the oil, so it flows more easily.5
How to better extract the energy resources of the future?
- Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV) are controlled by a remote operator.
- Autonomous Unmanned Vehicles (AUV) are autonomous, meaning they can operate independently.
Both are used in situations that are not safe or practical for humans.
Examples of future energy resources
The future of energy is ever-changing, making it difficult to forecast what energy sources will be used.
The Fuji Molten Salt Reactor, Japan.
Toroidal reactors, named so after the doughnut shape in which they keep plasma (the energy source) confined, are being tried in numerous places around the world, such as the UK (JET, Culham), France (the ITER megaproject in Provence), or USA (the San Diego tokamak).
Plasma inside a tokamak is made of extremely hot hydrogen that becomes electrically charged.
Strategies to secure future energy supplies
In recent years, efforts to improve access to electricity have made Earth's population (recorded by birth certificate) change in only 30 years from 70% to 90%.
Some strategies can still be employed to help secure future energy supplies.
Diversify energy sources using a mix of renewable (solar, tidal, wind, biomass) and non-renewable sources (oil).
This helps to hedge against price fluctuations and supply disruptions.
Invest in energy efficiency. Transport, building and industrial energy conservation are paramount to a sustainable future of energy resource usage.
Building insulation with energy-efficient and cost-effective solutions (e.g. triple-glazing) or renewable materials with good thermal properties, such as straw, animal waste (dung) or a mix of plant fibres.
Vehicle design and choice of materials to help reduce weight and drag.
Heat recovery systems and passive ventilation.
Research is ongoing into batteries made of diamond encasing that can function on radiation.6
Examples include wood, peat and other biomass.
Peat needs a combination of factors to keep forming, such as a high water table (the water near the surface of the soil), waterlogged soils and specific vegetation (e.g. Sphagnum mosses). If drainage is built in peat habitats or trees are planted, the whole habitat degrades, and peat stops forming.
Issues with future energy resources
All activities, including the extraction, processing, transport, use and disposal of all resources and their technologies (e.g. the building of a wind turbine nacelle), leave an environmental footprint.
An environmental footprint measures the impact on the environment of all afferent activities of a group of people. It considers resource use, land, and the waste and pollution generated.
Polluters aren't widely held responsible for pollution damage. Will they be in the future? Greenhouse gas taxes are currently being implemented in European countries and the US, but some may not come into force until 2024.7 Will domestic consumers be equally impacted by the taxes?
Other risks include:
Nuclear elements volatility and hydrogen gas permeability (it can pass through many materials and leak from tanks).
Biodiversity life loss, earthquakes, etc.
Reopening coal mines once gas and oil reserves are depleted.
Non-conventional energy resources
Some non-conventional energy resources are already being implemented.
Magnetic energy is promising, as a set of powerful magnets can both attract and repel. Magnetic energy will be instrumental in the transportation and building sectors. Magnetic fields already help toroidal reactors function.
The Maglev train transportation system uses electromagnets to "float" the train approximately 10 centimetres in the air. This elimination of friction allows countries which employ the system, such as Germany and Japan, to benefit from high-speed trains. We can essentially call this magnetic levitation. They are also less noisy!
Carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) could help reduce the carbon footprint of the extractive industries. Carbon mineralisation uses technology that captures air for its CO2 molecules and injects it into the ground to form rocks and minerals.
One example is "Orca", employed by Iceland, a technology which mimics the natural process of rock formation that would usually take hundreds of years.
Additionally, the widely available bio-batteries of the future should be able to harness the power of organic molecules, such as enzymes, sugars or bacteria, which could be contained in substances like tree sap or blood.8
We will always dream of tapping into energy sources and technologies that allow us to live and learn differently. Whatever their origins, we must ensure that they are ethical and do not cause environmental damage to the natural world or our built cities and landscapes.
Future Energy Resources - Key takeaways
- Resource availability shortage, new technologies, environmental concerns, public opinion and investments, and national and international security are reasons why future energy supplies will differ from today.
- Examples of future energy supplies currently employed but in testing include hydrogen for nuclear fission, electromagnetic transportation, and helical wind and water turbines.
- Fossil fuels and other non-renewable resources will also likely remain an energy source.
- Diversifying energy resources (rather than being dependent on fossil fuels), investing in energy efficiency, developing new storage abilities and conserving or enhancing natural habitats are among the preferred strategies to secure future energy supplies.
- Risks of future energy resources include their availability, volatility, permeability and pollution capabilities.
References
- Zane Vorenberg, Argonne scientists create new oil-resistant filter technology, 2018
- Josh Handal, NASA’s DART Mission Hits Asteroid in First-Ever Planetary Defense Test, 2022
- UNFCCC, Wave of The Future, 2021
- civils360, Coal Gasification and Liquefaction, 2022
- rigzone, What Is EOR, and How Does It Work?, 2022
- Jennifer Johnson, FEATURE: Diamond batteries are forever, 2021
- Myles McCormick, The Inflation Reduction Act Applies the Polluter Pays Principal: Carbon Tax Will Accelerate Reduction of Methane Emissions, 2022
- University of East Anglia, Bio-batteries, 2020
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