Climate change
Climate change with all its manifest problems is the greatest threat we face today. To stand any chance of curtailing the increasing rise in temperatures, due to greenhouse gases caused by burning fossil fuels, we must act now to significantly increase the amount of green renewable energy being produced.
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The geopolitical events of 2022 highlight the urgent need for us to be independent of OPEC dictators and develop our own sources of sustainable energy.
There is a large investment in wind, solar and hydropower, but these are interruptible sources dependent on the weather and requiring the expensive back up of fossil fuel, coal & gas, or nuclear, powered sources to maintain grid operational security.
There is a fourth source of renewable energy - gravitational force. Mankind has tried unsuccessfully for centuries to harness g-force with mechanical contraptions that did not and never could work.
The Energy Conversion System or ECS uses a different approach explained in detail here.
The ECS technology is essentially a closed-circuit hydropower station that harnesses the power available in g-force anywhere on Earth.
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Theoretically, ECS units could be of any size, but in real life a single unit of about 15 or 16MW would probably be the practical limit. However, units can be connected together to produce the same output as a large power station.
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ECS technology can also be configured to operate as a Hydraulic Air Compressor (HAC) In this mode large volumes of air are compressed in a downflowing water column, giving intimate mixing.
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By adding sodium hydroxide to the circulating water atmospheric CO2 can be captured and permanently removed in the form of sodium carbonate.
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The UK carbon price for 2023 is £83.03 per tonne, paid by firms which emit CO2.
Global Fossil Fuel Consumption
This is a very scary chart. We know we must drastically reduce the burning of fossil fuels to stand any chance of limiting the rise in global temperatures, yet this chart shows we are actually increasing the burn rate!
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The oil major BP has released its Statistical Review of World Energy 2020.​​
My acknowledgements to Robert Rapier of Forbes Magazine who extracted the following salient points:-
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2019 was the 10th consecutive year that the worlds total energy use increased.​
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Cumulatively fossil fuels accounted for 84% of the world’s primary energy consumption in 2019.
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​Carbon dioxide set a fourth consecutive all time high.
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Since the negotiation of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol to curb emissions, global Carbon dioxide emissions have risen by 50%
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​Renewable energy continued its impressive growth streak. Wind was the largest contributor, with solar close behind. Renewable energy reached 10.4% surpassing nuclear power for the first time.
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The good news is that wind and solar renewable energy is increasing, the bad news being that so is the world’s consumption of power.
This increasing demand is probably going to continue exponentially, as all countries strive for ever-larger economies and better living standards for their people.
Nearly all of us are in favour of increasing renewable energy to prevent increasing global temperatures, but very few people will willingly see a drop in living standards or increasing power bills, caused by using carbon taxes to accelerate change.
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With 84% of the world’s energy still provided by fossil fuels, we have a gargantuan task ahead of us, to do what is blatantly obvious – dramatically reduce the fossil fuel burn rate!
The introduction of the Energy Conversion System (ECS) brings another player into the sustainable energy pack, namely gravitational force.
Details of how this works can be viewed here.
Gravitational force is virtually the same anywhere on the planet 24/7. In human terms the power available is virtually infinite. ECS technology will enable units of 15 or 16MW to be built and connected together to make installations the same size as previous large coal-fired or nuclear power stations at considerably less capital cost.
ECS units comprise steel pipes and tanks, with conventional pumps and water turbines. The larger the unit the cheaper per mW is the output. At the end of generations of working life, they can be fully recycled.
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ECS uses only gravitational force as its power source, there are no emissions, no greenhouse gases, no moving blades to hazard wildlife and no intrusive noise.
With 84% of the world’s energy being produced by fossil fuel and the imperative to rapidly reduce this, ECS has a lot to offer.
When rolled out commercially ECS will be able to produce significant amounts of sustainable energy 24/7. Its capital cost and generous ‘Return on Investment’ due to its longevity and low automated operating costs, make it more than competitive with fossil fuel power.
Governments could accelerate the roll-out of this radical hydrodynamic technology by providing early day subsidies, repayable over time, coupled with rapidly increasing carbon taxes to accelerate the conversion from fossil fuel to renewable energy.
ECS provides a major asset in the urgent need to reduce the alarming world fossil fuel burn rate with its damaging greenhouse gas emissions.