Bicycle Generator dynamo for home electricity solutions
In today’s modern society, most people just flip a switch or push a button, and everything we depend on is readily available. Cell phones, computers, televisions, heated water, lights, and so much more, are all the backbone of any modern society’s functionality. The electricity powering all these systems is something most people rarely think about until the power is no longer available for use. The extensive system that allows for an instant and near constant supply of conditioned power is referred to as the ―grid‖. This grid is usually supported by government and/or private in developed countries; a government must have enough financial resources to establish and support a significant investment to provide the service of electricity. With this idea in mind, it may be hard to believe that nearly 80% of all people living in third world countries have no access to electricity. That is an estimated 1.5 Billion people with no electricity.
This power crisis will not be getting better in the future. The U.S. Energy Information Administration stated in their International Energy Outlook Report for 2010 that the world energy consumption will increase by 49 percent, or 1.4 percent per year, from 495 quadrillion Btu in 2007 to 739 quadrillion Btu by 2035. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD for short, is an international organization, which includes a majority of the world’s most advanced countries. Historically, OECD member countries have accounted for the largest share of current world energy consumption; however, in 2007—for the first time—energy use among non-OECD nations exceeded that among OECD nations as depicted in Figure 1.2. If any growth in the world’s energy supply and infrastructure is to occur in the future, it is likely the majority of this energy will go to these developed countries before any developing or third world country. This will only exasperate the needs and deficiency of these developing and third world countries.
As of today, oil is by far the most used energy product in the world’s energy supply, with coal at a distant second. According to the International Energy Agency, oil products make up over 33% of the world’s energy supply, while coal products make up around 27% of the world’s energy supply. The Middle East and Russia are the top producers of oil in the world, and based on their current trends, will be hitting peak oil production within the next decade. This means the energy demand will continue to increase but the oil supply will not be able to follow the same trend. To make matters worse, the cost of oil worldwide has skyrocketed due to the combination of issues such as the crisises in the Middle East, off shore drilling accidents, and the increasing difficultly for finding and drilling for oil. While coal is still an option for fossil fuels the environmental impact is arguably worse than oil. Per unit of energy, coal is even worse for the environment than oil. The amount of CO2 produced is nearly the same, but coal produces much more solid, liquid, and gaseous waste products. The trend of rising energy needs and waning fossil fuel supplies means a new forms of energy needs to fill in the gaps.
As the electrical grids get older in developed countries, and the cost and demand for energy gets higher worldwide, it is likely the people who are left out are the ones in developing and third world countries. Grids are a large expense, even for the wealthiest countries, and the amount of transmission losses in large grid would only compound the energy crisis. So a grid of energy for less fortunate countries is out of the question. Without the grid to support these people, a standalone system is the only solution.
There is only one way to create a standalone system, and this is with a generator. The type of generator to select is our main concern. The typical solution is to use a fossil fueled generator that produces AC or DC energy from fossil fuels. This solution is less than ideal as fossil fueled generators are bulky and expensive, plus the ever-rising costs of fossil fuels and the negative impacts on the environment due to emissions. Additionally, more regulations regarding emissions are starting to limit the burning of harsher fuel. Clean energy technology development has increased to combat the cost of rising fuel costs and provide an alternative to fossil fuel. This alternative is to use more sustainable means of power generation. These means include solar, wind, water, and human powered generators that produce clean energy. Not only would the energy be clean and sustainable, but we have only begun to scratch the surface of the amount of energy production possible with renewable energy. This is the option Cal Poly’s DC House Project looks to develop.
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