Global Dimming

The article on global warming would not be complete without mentioning global dimming as a very important phenomenon. Global dimming is the gradual reduction in the amount of solar radiation reaching the earth's surface, due to the increased amounts of fine particles in the atmosphere caused by human activities throw the processes of fuel combustion. Many researches have shown that the amount of radiation reaching the ground is decreased by an average of 2-3% per decade, and in some areas even more. At the moment, scientists can not find the cause of drastically reducing the amount of solar radiation that reaches the ground given that the amount of particles that entered the atmosphere as a result of burning fossil fuels can not be sufficient for such drastic changes.

Technology for Wind Energy Production

In this article, the principle of energy conversion is described as well as ways to connect the windmills to the power grid. There are various potential applications of energy derived from wind, and one widely spread is a source of energy for the household.

Technology for Solar Energy Production

Solar Cell

Solar cells are semiconductor structures which convert solar radiation in into electrical energy. Solar cell is composed of a large number of diodes, p-n junctions. The process in the middle is Photovoltaic conversion. In this process electron-hole pair is generated due to the incident light. This amount of photon energy is sufficient to move electrons from the valence zone into conductive zone. When it comes to the ways how solar cells can be connected, serial, parallel, or combined connection is possible. However, it all depends on the projected power of the cells. The voltage that is obtained at the output depends on the cell type and can be in range of 600-700 mV, with a current density of about several tens of mA/cm2. These parameters strictly depend on the strength of solar radiation.

Production of Biofuels based on Algae

There are global efforts to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and find economically acceptable alternative fuels and thereby significantly reduce emissions of harmful carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. One of the alternatives are biofuels. Biofuels are due to its similar chemical  structure with petroleum products is quite good alternative to fossil fuels and the use of biofuels results in lower emissions of carbon-dioxide into the atmosphere. Therefore, biofuels are environmentally much more acceptable than competing fossil fuels. Decreased total carbon dioxide emissions from biofuels are the result of closed carbon circle - plants and algae use atmospheric carbon dioxide to grow, and then by using biofuels, the carbon dioxide is returned back into the atmosphere. The carbon-dioxide emmison produced by burning fossil fuel goes in only one direction - from the earth to the atmosphere, which has direct impact on increase greenhouse gases in atmosphere.

BIOFUELS

Many people consider biofuels as a replacement for traditional fossil fuels in the times to come. There are many reasons why this point of view is gaining more and more in popularity. One feature that quailifies biofuels for perfect renewable energy source is the fact, that biofuels can be produced easily and this way one might achive reduction of dependence on imported energy. However, nothing is ideal, and that includes biofules. Some people argue that biofuels could be extremely dangerous for humanity, owing to the fact that no detailed study of the origin and properties of the biofuels have not been conducted. We will have to resolve what are positive and negative sides of using this type of energy source, but also the potential dangers and the impact that biofuels will have on the total world economy.