Global Warming Solutions

ABSTRACT

Global Warming Solutions

The generation of electricity from fossil fuels in power stations is generally only about 40% efficient. The internal combustion engine has an efficiency of only 20-25%. Conversion of solar energy into electricity is less than 20% efficient. Despite the brilliance of so many of our technological achievements and despite the imminence and severity of the problems of global warming, it remains the case that the conversion of heat into mechanical or electrical energy is notoriously inefficient. This paper describes a new approach that may offer much higher conversion efficiencies.
Hot gases rise. The combustion of fossil fuels in a power station produces a continuous stream of hot gaseous products that rise. The upward flow of the products of combustion could itself directly drive a turbine to produce electricity. The residual energy of the flue gases can then be used to preheat the incoming air for combustion. Indeed generation would be most efficient if the preheated incoming air was used to drive a turbine. By rigorously eliminating all possible energy losses it should be possible to generate electricity with over 80% efficiency.
The principles described should also apply to motor vehicle engines. Illustrative examples have been devised of possible design. Continuous combustion of fuel produces a stream of hot rising gases whose energy can be converted into rotation which is conveyed to the axle. Again if the products of combustion are used to preheat incoming air, energy losses are minimized and a conversion efficiency of heat into mechanical energy of over 80% should be possible.
Solar energy falling on panels produces warm air which rises. The flow of warm air can be used to drive a generator. If the residual energy of the warm air is used to preheat incoming air and all energy losses minimized, conversion of incident solar energy into electricity with over 80% efficiency should be possible. This is the Holy Grail. The materials and technologies described are cheap and relatively low tech. If it is possible to convert solar energy into electricity efficiently and cheaply that is the energy problem solved and global warming solved. Hence the title ‘Global Warming Solutions’.

Power Stations


Natural gas is now the leading fuel for electricity generation in Britain giving modern power stations very high controllability. If only a stoichiometric quantity of air is used the combustion gases will have a temperature of 2000° C. The combustion chamber should be designed to allow a large excess of air so that the rising flue gases are at below 500° C.
A magnet could be designed of suitable geometry and with buoyant light materials surround so that it rotates efficiently and ‘weightless’ under the upthrust of the rising incoming gas flow. There are no major energy losses in the above configuration. The heat content of the combustion gases is transferred to the incoming air that rotates the magnet and generates electricity. Any residual heat is absorbed in the water exchanger. An overall efficiency of over 90% should be possible.
Car Engine



In the cross-section above the central rotating arms will be linked to an axle to convey rotational energy to the wheels. As the fuel burns, combustion gases rise inducing rotation of the asymmetrical arms in an anti clockwise direction. Fresh air is drawn in from the bottom – it will be pre-heated by the asymmetrical arms as it enters the combustion chamber.
There could be several layers (3 to 20) of such rotational arms to allow effective energy transfer from the rising hot gases to the rotating mechanism and from the latter to pre-heat the incoming air. If there is an abundant air supply, the central temperature could be below 500° C but will fall as we pass to outer layers ideally at 100° C. If such a design were achievable it would mean a rotary engine of over 80% efficiency.

Solar Energy




Dimensions above for the generation unit could be one meter diameter and the heat exchanger 5 meters height. The solar absorption surface could be 100 meters x 100 meters with the sloping glass one meter high at the perimeter and 5 meters high at the center. The mouth of the warm air exit pipe would need to be 1-5 meters above the cold air entry level to drive the system.
The geometry of the solar generator as drawn may appear inconvenient but it could be sited on a South facing hillside with the generator at the highest point. The only major energy loss above is through the glass of the solar collector – certainly double glazing or perhaps triple glazing with glass of low thermal conductivity will be needed to reduce such energy loss. For the absorption of solar energy the Solar One Power Plant in California has achieved an efficiency of 96% absorption using a special type of paint. The Wells turbine can capture as much as 90% of the energy of air flow. If heat losses through the glass can be minimized conversion of solar energy into electricity with over 80% efficiency should be possible.
Solar electricity is considered wildly uneconomic in the UK – but even in Britain, in Aberporth solar energy influx is 600 kWh/sq meter/year. At a value of 2 pence/kWh, an area of solar absorbers of 100 meters x 100 meters with 80% conversion efficiency into electricity would provide annually about £100,000 electricity per hectare of land. The capital cost of the equipment described would be repaid in a year. In California, most of Southern Europe and large areas of the developing world solar influx is 3-4 times as great.
If solar energy could be converted into electricity efficiently and cheaply that solves the energy problem and global warming. There is however a seasonal mismatch, a day/night mismatch and a geographical supply/demand mismatch. The advanced countries have highest energy demand whilst the potential for solar energy is greatest between the tropics. The best solution is to use solar electricity to generate hydrogen. This could become the fuel for transport using the fuel cell, for industrial and home heating as natural gas supplies diminish and of course could regenerate electricity. A new world trade could develop in the supply of hydrogen.

Summary

The conversion of heat into mechanical or electrical energy is notoriously inefficient. Power stations generate electricity with only 40% or so efficiency whilst motor vehicles are only 20-25% efficient.

This paper describes a new approach to harnessing heat energy. Hot air rises. The products of combustion rise because of gravity as cold air, which is heavier, is drawn in at the base of any fire. The upward flow of combustion products or the flow of incoming air could be used to rotate a turbine to generate electricity. This is the principle of what is described as the Convector Generator.

If the flue gases are used to preheat incoming air and the preheated incoming air used to rotate a turbine, very high conversion efficiencies should be possible. Several illustrative examples have been devised. The ideas can be scaled up for power stations or miniaturised for motor vehicle engines. By rigorously eliminating energy losses, efficiencies of over 80% should be possible.

The principles described should also apply to harnessing solar energy in large scale solar farms or in roof collectors. Using relatively cheap and unsophisticated materials an efficiency of conversion of solar energy into electricity of over 80% should be possible.

No experimental work has been carried out to illustrate the principles or to develop any working models. The ideas however are based on convection currents and about 10 examples are quoted from everyday life as proof of concept.

If the assertions made are found to be correct and the relevant technologies developed, fuel demand for power stations and transport and carbon dioxide emissions could be halved. If solar energy can be converted into electricity with high efficiency and cheaply that is global warming solved. Hence the title – global warming solutions.

Golbal Warming Cartoons

World Council on Global Warming: 'I regret to report that there's no global warming threat after all - we just got Fahrenheit and Celsius mixed up.'
Artist: Baloo -Rex May-

Green is the new black...my book is aimed at all those interested in saving the planet.
Artist: Fran

Research Concludes: We are destroying Earth.
Artist: Bilicki, Justin

Protection
Artist: Milenkovic, Goran

Polar bears attacked by lions. Artist: Lynch, Mark

Evolution. Artist: Lynch, Mark

You wait until the polar icecaps melt my friend then we will see who is laughing!
Artist: Stik -Bill Greenhead-

Greenhouse effect.
Artist: Nilsson-Maki, Kjell

Oil crisis. Artist: Lynch, Mark

'Mr. Bernanke is busy saving the economy right now. Can he come over and fix the ozone layer tomorrow?' Artist: Brown, David

GLOBAL WARMING

Global Warming is an environmental issue that is continuing to harm our planet. The definition of Global Warming is “the increase in the average temperature of the Earth’s near-surface air and oceans since the mid-twentieth century and its projected continuation” which means that if in the winter the snow melts faster than it snows then there has to be something wrong with Earth because how else can you explain average temperature for many years that change one year? The answer is Global Warming. It is dangerous and unless we as people investigate more into the causes of Global Warming and how to prevent Global Warming then the world would over heat and eventually burn.

For further examples there are icebergs melting in Antarctica and Alaska for nothing other than Global Warming because those icebergs are what those places are known for and for all of sudden to begin melting gradually year after year is astounding and frightening all at the same time. There are singers, such as Sheryl Crow, that have had songs that dealt with telling audiences about Global Warming, that it is real and beginning to surface. In Melbourne, Fl they “endured 24 days above 95 degrees and Tampa remained above 80 degrees F at nighttime for 12 days” (climatehotmap.org).

There are steps to prevent Global Warming such as “minimizing drafts in your home, reducing your waste electricity use, using more efficient light bulbs, turning down your water heater, and being the change you wish to see” (energyefficienthomearticles.com). These are simple steps to help make the world a better place. Doing your research on Global Warming and what other organizations are doing in order to prevent Global Warming is important because we as people caused Global Warming slowly but surely and we need to learn how to prevent it from continuing to happen.

This article is about the current period of increasing global temperature. For other periods of warming in Earth's history, see Paleoclimatology and Geologic temperature record.

Global mean surface temperature anomaly relative to 1961–1990

Mean surface temperature anomalies during the period 1995 to 2004 with respect to the average temperatures from 1940 to 1980
Global warming is the increase in the average measured temperature of the Earth's near-surface air and oceans since the mid-20th century, and its projected continuation.
Global surface temperature increased 0.74 ± 0.18 °C (1.33 ± 0.32 °F) during the 100 years ending in 2005. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concludes that most of the increase since the mid-twentieth century is "very likely" due to the increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations. Natural phenomena such as solar variation combined with volcanoes probably had a small warming effect from pre-industrial times to 1950 and a small cooling effect from 1950 onward. These basic conclusions have been endorsed by at least 30 scientific societies and academies of science, including all of the national academies of science of the major industrialized countries. While individual scientists have voiced disagreement with these findings, the overwhelming majority of scientists working on climate change agree with the IPCC's main conclusions.

Climate model projections summarized by the IPCC indicate that average global surface temperature will likely rise a further 1.1 to 6.4 °C (2.0 to 11.5 °F) during the twenty-first century. This range of values results from the use of differing scenarios of future greenhouse gas emissions as well as models with differing climate sensitivity. Although most studies focus on the period up to 2100, warming and sea level rise are expected to continue for more than a thousand years even if greenhouse gas levels are stabilized. The delay in reaching equilibrium is a result of the large heat capacity of the oceans.
Increasing global temperature is expected to cause sea levels to rise, an increase in the intensity of extreme weather events, and significant changes to the amount and pattern of precipitation, likely including an expanse of the subtropical desert regions. Other expected effects of global warming include changes in agricultural yields, modifications of trade routes, glacier retreat, mass species extinctions and increases in the ranges of disease vectors.
Remaining scientific uncertainties include the amount of warming expected in the future, and how warming and related changes will vary from region to region around the globe. Most national governments have signed and ratified the Kyoto Protocol aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but there is ongoing political and public debate worldwide regarding what, if any, action should be taken to reduce or reverse future warming or to adapt to its expected consequences.

Greenhouse effect
Main articles:
Greenhouse gas and Greenhouse effect
The detailed causes of the recent warming remain an active field of research. The scientific consensus is that the increase in atmospheric greenhouse gases due to human activity caused most of the warming observed since the start of the industrial era, and the observed warming cannot be satisfactorily explained by natural causes alone. This attribution is clearest for the most recent 50 years, for which the most detailed data are available.
The greenhouse effect was discovered by Joseph Fourier in 1824 and was first investigated quantitatively by Svante Arrhenius in 1896. It is the process by which absorption and emission of infrared radiation by atmospheric gases warm a planet's lower atmosphere and surface. Existence of the greenhouse effect as such is not disputed. The question is instead how the strength of the greenhouse effect changes when human activity increases the atmospheric concentrations of some greenhouse gases.
Recent increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). The monthly CO2 measurements display small seasonal oscillations in an overall yearly uptrend; each year's maximum is reached during the Northern Hemisphere's late spring, and declines during the Northern Hemisphere growing season as plants remove some CO2 from the atmosphere.
Naturally occurring greenhouse gases have a mean warming effect of about 33 °C (59 °F), without which Earth would be uninhabitable. On Earth, the major greenhouse gases are water vapor, which causes about 36–70 percent of the greenhouse effect (not including clouds); carbon dioxide (CO2), which causes 9–26 percent; methane (CH4), which causes 4–9 percent; and ozone, which causes 3–7 percent.
Human activity since the industrial revolution has increased the concentration of various greenhouse gases, leading to increased radiative forcing from CO2, methane, tropospheric ozone, CFCs and nitrous oxide. The atmospheric concentrations of CO2 and methane have increased by 31% and 149% respectively since the beginning of the industrial revolution in the mid-1700s. These levels are considerably higher than at any time during the last 650,000 years, the period for which reliable data has been extracted from ice cores. From less direct geological evidence it is believed that CO2 values this high were last attained 20 million years ago. Fossil fuel burning has produced approximately three-quarters of the increase in CO2 from human activity over the past 20 years. Most of the rest is due to land-use change, in particular deforestation.
CO2 concentrations are expected to rise due to ongoing burning of fossil fuels and land-use change. The rate of rise will depend on uncertain economic, sociological, technological, and natural developments. The IPCC Special Report on Emissions Scenarios gives a wide range of future CO2 scenarios, ranging from 541 to 970 ppm by the year 2100. Fossil fuel reserves are sufficient to reach this level and continue emissions past 2100, if coal, tar sands or methane clathrates are extensively used.

Solar variation
Main article: Solar variation
Solar variation over the last thirty years.
Some other hypotheses departing from the consensus view have been suggested to explain most of the temperature increase. One such hypothesis proposes that warming may be the result of variations in solar activity.
A paper by Peter Stott and other researchers suggests that climate models overestimate the relative effect of greenhouse gases compared to solar forcing; they also suggest that the cooling effects of volcanic dust and sulfate aerosols have been underestimated. They nevertheless conclude that even with an enhanced climate sensitivity to solar forcing, most of the warming since the mid-20th century is likely attributable to the increases in greenhouse gases.
Two researchers at Duke University, Bruce West and Nicola Scafetta, have estimated that the Sun may have contributed about 45–50 percent of the increase in the average global surface temperature over the period 1900–2000, and about 25–35 percent between 1980 and 2000.
A different hypothesis is that variations in solar output, possibly amplified by cloud seeding via galactic cosmic rays, may have contributed to recent warming. It suggests magnetic activity of the sun is a crucial factor which deflects cosmic rays that may influence the generation of cloud condensation nuclei and thereby affect the climate.
One predicted effect of an increase in solar activity would be a warming of most of the stratosphere, whereas an increase in greenhouse gases should produce cooling there. The observed trend since at least 1960 has been a cooling of the lower stratosphere. Reduction of stratospheric ozone also has a cooling influence, but substantial ozone depletion did not occur until the late 1970s. Solar variation combined with changes in volcanic activity probably did have a warming effect from pre-industrial times to 1950, but a cooling effect since. In 2006, Peter Foukal and colleagues found no net increase of solar brightness over the last 1,000 years. Solar cycles led to a small increase of 0.07 percent in brightness over the last 30 years. This effect is too small to contribute significantly to global warming. One paper by Mike Lockwood and Claus Fröhlich found no relation between global warming and solar radiation since 1985, whether through variations in solar output or variations in cosmic rays. Henrik Svensmark and Eigil Friis-Christensen, the main proponents of cloud seeding by galactic cosmic rays, disputed this criticism of their hypothesis. A 2007 paper found that in the last 20 years there has been no significant link between changes in cosmic rays coming to Earth and cloudiness and temperature.
Forcing and feedback
Components of the current radiative forcing as estimated by the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report.
None of the effects of forcing are instantaneous. The thermal inertia of the Earth's oceans and slow responses of other indirect effects mean that the Earth's current climate is not in equilibrium with the forcing imposed. Climate commitment studies indicate that even if greenhouse gases were stabilized at 2000 levels, a further warming of about 0.5 °C (0.9 °F) would still occur.
Climate variability
The Earth's climate changes in response to external forcing, including greenhouse gases, variations in its orbit around the Sun (orbital forcing), changes in solar luminosity, and volcanic eruptions; all examples of the earth's own variation in temperatures, for which the UNFCCC uses the term climate variability.