ANALYTICAL REVIEW OF MODERN NON-CONVENTIONAL ENERGY SOURCES

Abstract

The structure of the world energy economy has developed in such a way that 80 % of the electricity consumed is obtained by burning fuel at power plants, where the chemical energy of the fuel is first converted into heat, heat into work, and work into electricity. Hydropower also provides a significant percentage (about 15 %), the rest is covered by other sources, mainly nuclear power plants. Human needs are growing, there are more and more people, and this causes gigantic volumes of energy production and growth rates of its consumption. Today, traditional energy sources (various fuels, hydro resources) and technologies for their use are no longer able to provide the required level of energy availability of society, because these are non-renewable sources. And although the explored reserves of natural fuels are very large, the problem of depletion of natural reserves at the current and projected rates of their development is moving into a real and near future. Even today, a number of fields, due to depletion, turn out to be unsuitable for industrial development, and for oil and gas, for example, one has to go to hard-to-reach, remote territories, to ocean shelves, etc. The forecast proves that while maintaining the current volumes and growth rates of energy consumption at 5–7 %, fossil fuel reserves will completely run out in 70–150 years. Another factor limiting a significant increase in energy production through fuel combustion is the ever-increasing environmental pollution from energy production waste. These wastes are significant in mass and contain a large number of various harmful components. This is where acid rain comes from, the disappearance of ozone, the poisoning of farmland and water bodies. Moreover, nature is no longer able to process these pollution and self-repair by natural physico-chemical and microbiological methods.
 In nuclear power, environmental problems of a different kind arise. They are associated with the need to exclude the ingress of nuclear fuel into the environment and the reliable disposal of nuclear waste, which, with the current level of development of technology and technology, is associated with great difficulties.
 No less harmful is the thermal pollution of the environment, which can lead to global warming of the Earth's climate, melting of glaciers and rising sea levels.
 In the light of the above, the widespread practical use of non-traditional and renewable energy sources, which are also environmentally friendly and do not pollute the environment, is becoming increasingly relevant.
 The article briefly presents an analytical review of modern non-traditional and renewable energy sources.