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From 1890-1910, when horses were replaced by cars and gas lamps by electric bulbs, people could not even consider that one day such progress would turn into a nightmare for humanity. But today more and more countries seek to use natural energy without doing harm.

Alternatives to oil and gas

We have now again begun to seek new but, in essence, old sources of energy. The specific nature of the current phase is its environmental focus. The aim is to prevent pollution of the environment and to achieve the lowest emissions of carbon dioxide and sulphurous gases. This is possible through the use of clean energy sources - wind and solar energy. Otherwise, future environmental disasters could destroy life on our planet.

Energy is a basic sector of the economy. The sovereignty of any country is determined by the size of its own energy resources. Projections indicate that in the middle of the 21st century, energy consumption will be 15 times greater than during the whole 20th century. This will require the use of approximately 80 per cent of all the plant's solid and liquid sources of energy.

The intensive use of thermal power plants has generated a number of undesirable environmental problems, which are associated with a sharp increase in carbon dioxide emissions. Over the past 100 years, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased by 13 per cent. As is known, this gas reflects infrared radiation, thereby disrupting the heat exchange between our planet and surrounding space. This causes a rise in the mean annual temperature and the melting of glaciers in the Arctic and Antarctic. If we do not take steps to prevent this process, a total melting of the ice will raise sea levels by 80-90 metres, which would be a catastrophe for the entire planet. That is why economically developed countries prefer to use clean energy sources - wind and sun.

Considered to be of the cleanest types of energy, wind energy has a long history. For more than 6,000 years, wind has served people. The ancient Greeks believed that, along with teaching people how to use fire, the mythical Prometheus taught them how to equip their ships with sails. The contribution of such ships to the great geographical discoveries is an indisputable fact.

Before the invention of the steam engine, the main source of energy in many countries was the wind. For centuries, it set sailboats, commercial and military ships in motion and ground grain. The first primitive wind engines were in wide use in Egypt and China in the 2nd and 1st centuries BC. In the 7th century AD, the Persians learned to build advanced windmills. In Europe, windmills appeared much later - in the 8th and 9th centuries. Wind engines have been widespread in Western Europe since the 13th century, especially in Holland, Denmark and England. They were used for lifting water, grinding grain and starting up various machines.

In the 16th century, European cities began to build pumping stations and windmills with hydraulic motors. Holland, which suffered from a deficit of agricultural land, fenced off areas of the sea with dams and then drained them through the many windmills. At that time, Holland was considered the most powerful country in terms of energy security. Windmills were also used for irrigation in dry areas of Europe.

In Russia, wind power was used mainly for grinding grain. At that time, there were 20,000 windmills in Russia, which ground more than 32 billion kg of grain.

As the steam engine came into use as an energy source, the development of wind energy halted. The rapid scientific and technological progress of the 20th century changed the technological panorama of the world fundamentally. Steel, oil, gas and other new materials put the centuries-old achievements of human civilization on the back burner. People made increasing use of coal, oil and gas fields. Thus, the threat of depletion of mineral resources began to become reality. As a result, many countries began to pay more attention to the development of non-traditional (alternative) energy sources. Moreover, such sources also have environmental advantages. Thus, the use of wind energy returned to the fore.

Today, wind energy exists in more than 50 countries worldwide as a separate energy sector. The countries most advanced in their use of wind power are Germany, Spain, the USA, India and Denmark. Among other countries developed in this respect are the United Kingdom, Holland, China, Japan and Portugal.

So far, wind power has seen its fastest development in Europe. In Germany, Spain and Holland, there are wind power plants with a capacity of over 1 million kilowatts. But the situation is beginning to change. Along with the US, record levels have been achieved by Canada, Japan and the countries of South America. The most promising sites for wind energy are coastal areas. Offshore farms are being built in the sea at distances of 10-12 km from the shore, and sometimes even more. The wind generator towers are placed on pillars driven into the seabed to depths of 30 metres. Floating bases are also being used.

One of the benefits of wind energy is its vastness. Nor are there problems with the delivery of this energy. The wind "gets" to devices installed by itself. Such devices are especially rational in areas located far from areas of centralized power generation. We should not forget that wind energy is an environmentally clean source of energy and its attendant devices do not cause damage to the territory where they are located.

However, the main factor hindering the use of wind as an energy source is its volatility. In addition, unfortunately, a dangerous ultrasound field, with a frequency of 6-7 hertz, appears around wind power stations. Further, wind power plants interfere with television broadcasting. 

These problems, arising from the operation of wind power plants, have been successfully resolved in Western countries. By selecting the rotation speed of the blades and improving their profiles, they have achieved a significant reduction in noise and vibration levels.

A wind is blowing through Abseron

Azerbaijan's first wind power station will be built in Qobustan. The station will comprise 10 blocks, with a total capacity of 20 MW. It is projected that it will generate more than 700 million kilowatt hours of energy per year. In the future, the power station's capacity will be raised to 60 MW.

According to Idris Rzabayov, head of the oil and gas department at the Azerbaijani Ministry of Industry and Energy, in order to develop alternative energy in the country, it is planned to install wind generators on the islands of Pirallahi and Cilov, to provide them with electricity. "These projects will be included in programmes to develop alternative and renewable sources of energy, which are being prepared by a specialized state agency," said Rzabayov.

In addition, as reported by the AzarTac news agency, it is planned to install wind turbines with a capacity of 250 MW in the residential area of Yeni Yasma, near Sumqayit.

According to Deputy Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament and chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Energy, Environment and Natural Resources, Valeh Alasgarov, alternative energy will not be able to replace traditional fossil energy sources - oil, gas, uranium and coal - within the next 50 years. "Alternative energy can meet only part of the growing demand for energy, although this area has its own problems in terms of security. Nevertheless, if the project to create a single European power network, which the EU plans to establish in Mediterranean countries with extremely clean energy, is commercially viable, Azerbaijan can join this and other power networks," he said.

The technical potential of wind energy in the Abseron peninsula is 3,000 MW. A wind inventory of the country has been prepared as part of measures to promote renewable energy.

For decades before the arrival of electric pumps in villages surrounding Baku, windmills were used in the irrigation of arable land.

Beer instead of petrol

There are other environmentally friendly sources of energy, including marine mini-power plants that can generate electricity from waves and wind. Some 1,000 of these devices can provide up to 500 kW of electricity. The mass production of such mini-power plants in the world will begin in 2011.

Solar energy is establishing itself more firmly in the world's sources of energy. The increased interest in this source has several causes. Solar energy is available anywhere on our planet; it meets the interests of all countries in terms of energy independence and is clean and inexhaustible, while it does not harm the environment. This energy can be converted directly into electricity and, through absorption, it can be converted to thermal energy.

Arab sheiks invest oil revenues not only in improving the microstructures of their countries, but also in projects to improve the environment. The United Arab Emirates is currently working on a project on unmanned electric taxis. This system will come on stream soon, and these taxis will shuttle between the terminals of Abu Dhabi. These cars, called personal rapid transport, will move on an extensive rail system. It is expected that this system will be introduced in the Masdar eco-city, which is being built in the desert.

Masdar is a huge eco-city - a source of innovation. The city's name means a "source" or a "brook" in Arabic. This is the first city on the planet in which the release of air pollutants will be close to zero. The appearance of Masdar will be determined by original architecture, interesting energy systems and futuristic transportation (there will be no cars at all in the city).

The world's scientists also continue to study the manufacture of environmentally friendly fuel. In the near future, Florida is expected to start production of celluloid ethanol from wood chips. This method of production will be cheaper than making biodiesel fuel from grain. A biofuel plant, built in Florida, will produce 135 million litres of ethanol per year.

We all know that we drink beer and do not put it in the fuel tanks of cars. But one beer company begged to disagree and built the world's first installation for making ethanol at home. It is enough to have sugar, water and yeast at hand to do this.

After the production of Sierra-Nevada beer - the 6 million litres of yeast remaining are now used as a food additive for livestock. The manufacturer plans to use some of this yeast to produce ethanol for its fleet of vehicles. Although some people might think this funny, it is quite a rational approach, because everyone interested can make fuel for their car and save on petrol.

In recent years, biofuel has become an integral part of the global energy system, because it does not harm the environment; on the contrary, it has a positive impact.

In Finland, one of the world leaders in environmental cleanliness, the use of environmentally friendly sources of energy has been raised to the level of state policy. Lacking its own oil and gas reserves, Finland, 70 per cent of which is covered by forests, attaches great importance to the use of alternative energy sources. Now, 35 per cent of energy consumed in the country is generated from wood waste. By 2015, this volume will increase to 65 per cent and then - up to 80 per cent.

Scientists project that if the current growth rates of bioenergy continue, biofuels will be able to compete with oil, gas and coal, albeit not in the near future.

The EU budget for 2007-2013 allocates 2 billion euros for the development of bioenergy. Sweden, Denmark and Austria are the leading European countries in the production of biofuels. They are followed by Germany, Norway, Finland and the UK.

In France, it is planned to obtain clean fuel from sugar beet and other agricultural plants. In some European countries, biofuels for diesel engines are obtained from waste produced by the processing of canola, corn and sunflower. In Belgium, fuel obtained from sugar beets and cereals is on sale; only 15 per cent is petrol.

In Japan, garbage trucks run on oil obtained from the litter they carry.

Thus, in becoming an integral part of the world's energy in recent years, biofuels serve to protect the environment by preventing pollution.