International.
Osmotic energy is shaping up to be included as another of the renewable energy alternatives, in which scientists from the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne, Switzerland, have been working.
Seawater, fresh water and a membrane three atoms thick; these are the ingredients of the new clean energy that joins the list of known renewables.
Generally speaking, electrical energy is produced when fresh water comes into contact with salt water through this thin membrane. The results of the research, published in Nature, have determined that this membrane, with impermeable characteristics, is unique in its kind capable of circulating salt ions with the perfect balance to achieve osmosis.
The membrane is composed of molybdenum disulfide, an element of nature, and "holed" with millions of nanopores through which salt ions circulate. Until the salt concentrations of both fluids are not equal, their activity does not cease. And the water currents never stop, so their energy production is endless. Therefore, energy is obtained through the transfer of electrodes, a clean and renewable source.
The key to the process lies precisely in the thickness of this membrane; element in which researchers have had to play trial and error. If it was too large, the ions did not circulate; and the same in reverse.
The potential, like that of any renewable, is said to be enormous and infinite. According to the scientists' calculations, a membrane of approximately one and a half meters of surface would be able to power about 50,000 energy-saving bulbs.
However, where could we store enough water to make this energy production scalable? Those places where the water of the rivers flows into the seas. That is, in estuaries. Places where, day and night, wind or not, water always flows.
Source: sourcezilla.com
