The Most Efficient Types Of Renewable Energy In History

Current research into the most efficient types of renewable energy explores sources that were well known to early mankind. They used ethanol to cook their food and energy from food to walk to work and set off on hunting expeditions. They probably spent a good deal of time out of doors absorbing heat and light from the sun.

The Prime Minister of Britain used to make a statement about conserving fuel by riding his bicycle to the House of Commons. It was a wise statement, but his quality of life probably changed when work pressure required him to move swiftly and safely from one point to another using cars or aeroplanes. The same goes for millions of other people across the globe who are compelled to use expensive and wasteful methods to sustain their lifestyle.

There is no logical reason why all the employees in an investment bank should not live above the bank's offices. In the case of bankers they could live in luxury apartments paid for by customers and take the lift to work directly below. Billions of dollars and thousands of tons in fuel could be saved by this simple innovation in urban design and regulation.

When William Wordsworth composed his sonnet 'Upon Westminster Bridge' he marvelled at the beauty of a modern city. It was powered almost entirely by horsepower, moving water and human energy. The situation altered rapidly thanks to industrialization and now millions move in and out of the city on a daily basis. But technology renders much of the commuting obsolete. Many people could now work from home on computers and others could live above the office with a few changes in regulation and urban design.

Working from home would make the use of natural clean energy like solar energy viable. Methane gas is another source of cheap and efficient energy. Garbage and animal waste can produce methane and it can be used domestically for cooking purposes. It can be supplemented with solar power caught on the roof of a house.

Ethanol can be produced from plants such as corn, sugar cane, timber or manioc, to name only a few. It can be used to supplement petroleum, or neat in suitably adapted machines. In fact ethanol was commonly used as a supplementary fuel way back in the nineteen forties. It fell into disuse for economic reasons. Petroleum could be pumped from huge fossil fuel lakes more cheaply, and the exploding human population demanded increasing supplies of food.

Progress towards more efficient energy use has been hampered by vested interests who profit from inefficiency such as the use of massive vehicles that are not always necessary. It has long been known that ethanol can be used to drive cars but economic dictates have preferred to use oil. That action has soiled the environment but made many people very rich. Presently governments have begun to initiate massive education programmes to convince people to change their patterns of behaviour and so make alternatives such as solar power more feasible. For example if householders all place solar panels on their homes the national saving in energy will be massive.

In a final analysis the most efficient types of renewable energy may be a factor of lifestyle and urban design. If urban designs require people to commute speedily over considerable distances in bullet trains and aircraft then energy from solar power and bio-fuels will be insufficient. However, if lifestyles and patterns of usage were to change, alternative energy sources such as solar power and bio-fuels could become viable again as they were through most of human evolution.