For grand energy systems in action, we need look no further than the science and technology of our home planet for impressive examples: Sea and Sky. It’s especially interesting to consider their ‘electronic’ properties in light of modern innovation.
Though the modern technological concept of hydro or hydroelectric power has earliest known evidence in BC China, the ocean and water have reigned for billions of years. (1)
What’s powerful about water is its movement – its flow from one place to another, and its molecular properties.
“Water has distinctive liquid and solid properties: It is highly cohesive… Unlike simpler liquids, water’s orientation-dependent hydrogen bonding leads to open tetrahedral cage-like structuring that contributes to its remarkable volumetric and thermal properties.“ (2)
That tetrahedral structure – considered liquid crystalline – maximizes hydrogen bonding, and the hydrogen atoms become bridges that can interact ‘without borders,’ or at a distance, referred to as a van der Waals force (4) and a manifestation of quantum dynamics.
”Upon exposure to light or ionizing radiation, liquid water may undergo a series of transformations involving electronic excitations… by the nature of the electron transfer… of the interaction of light with water.” (3)
So let’s talk “liquid ionization potential” and “electron affinity.” Photo-ionization, the interaction with light, leads to conduction. The photons and the water molecules could be viewed as terminals of a battery [as well as the poles between molecules themselves].
And what is the ionic potential of water? This fundamental property of the element varies with form. And electron affinity, the energy from an electron attaching to a neutral atom or molecule, is integral to molecular dynamics, connection to “redox,” the process of oxidation or reduction. All of this amounts to movement, the dance of life so to speak, that creates electromotive force or energy transfer.
The “wave-current dynamic” within global oceans flow is an amazing example of this, saltwater being especially powerful because the electrolyte sodium increases the (energy) density of water. In this case, the wave and the current could be considered the moveable terminals of energy transfer. (5) There is literal electric current in the ocean. And the nonlinear wave-current dynamic, or interaction of gravity and electricity, is still considered somewhat mysterious, venturing into quantum biology. Perhaps one reason is linear and reductionist *trends in science. Clearly, considering the potential of larger systems is important as well. (6) Either approach, there’s plenty more to study.
One example of a relatively recent type of battery technology influenced by fluid dynamics is the “Redox Flow Battery.”
Next, being related to sea and part of the Earth’s larger “Water Cycle,” the sky is a tremendously fascinating set of systems, from the layers of the atmosphere, to the interactions within those layers. Water vapor is an important component of the air, clouds being the condensation of the vapor.
What’s interesting is that clouds store energy, and lightning occurs because of their build-up of electric charge, which is of course high voltage. That sure puts another spin on the term ‘cloud storage.’ Whereas, the overall charge of Earth’s atmosphere is caused by cosmic rays, colliding with particles, as in the luminescent Northern Lights of the upper atmosphere. What a beautiful reminder of our connection to the cosmos through systems.
At any given moment, we’re surrounded by a vast and changing field of electromagnetic energy — even in space. At an astrophysical level, galactic magnetic activity and “the universe” itself can also be viewed as having battery-like systems, the structure of the universe even with proposed poles. All of this amounts to dynamic flow.
The flow of ions between electrons and protons loosely define an energy system, or battery. That is, the generation, transfer and storage of energy. It’s obvious here that batteries can be far more than cylindrical double A Duracells or even solar cells. Energy, this all pervasive quality that everyone wants, is already there.
It stands to reason, that if we’re living inside this great Q “source charge” field of nested flow functions, that we can tap into abundant energy in many nondestructive sustainable ways, combining ancient with modern. Earth science gives us exquisite examples of large living battery or energy systems to continue learning from, whereby the field of electronics is more than just useful daily gadgetry; we are and are surrounded by electronics!
- https://www.hydropower.org/iha/discover-history-of-hydropower#:~:text=From%20its%20earliest%20beginnings%20to,and%20in%20early%20paper%2Dmaking
- https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.chemrev.7b00259#
- https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-02673-z
- https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/General_Chemistry/Map%3A_A_Molecular_Approach_(Tro)/11%3A_Liquids_Solids_and_Intermolecular_Forces/11.09%3A_Water_-_An_Extraordinary_Substance
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/ocean-dynamics#:~:text=Ocean%20dynamics%20delineate%20and%20describe,gravity%20waves%20and%20mean%20flow.
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/book/9780128207857/nonlinear-ocean-dynamics#book-description