RENEWABLE ENERGY

IMPROVING ENERGY EFFICIENCY

• Efficiency is a measure of the useful energy produced by an energy
conversion device compared to the energy that ends up being
converted to low-quality (useless) heat.
• First Law of thermodynamics: In all physical and chemical changes,
energy is neither created nor destroyed, but it may be converted
from one form to another.
• Second Law of thermodynamics: When energy is changed from one
form to another, some of the useful energy is always degraded to
lower, quality, more dispersed, less useful energy.
• Efficiency is a measure of the useful energy produced by an energy
conversion device compared to the energy that ends up being
converted to low-quality (useless) heat.
• First Law of thermodynamics: In all physical and chemical changes,
energy is neither created nor destroyed, but it may be converted
from one form to another.
• Second Law of thermodynamics: When energy is changed from one
form to another, some of the useful energy is always degraded to
lower, quality, more dispersed, less useful energy.
• The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that the U.S. wastes
approximately 84% of all commercial energy.
• While some energy efficient models may cost more initially, they
often have lower life cycle costs.
• Keep the number of steps in an energy conversion process as low as
possible.
COGENERATION
• Combined heat and power systems: two useful forms of energy are produced
from the same fuel source.
• Usually heat and electricity.
HIDDEN COSTS OF GASOLINE
• Government subsidies and tax breaks for oil companies and road builders
• Pollution clean up
• Military protection of oil supplies in the Middle East
• Environmental, health, and social costs
ENERGY EFFICIENT BUILDINGS
-The south facade progressively
cantilevers 15 inches per floor,
to minimize solar gain and
maximize usable floor area.
GREEN ROOFS
• In addition to the spatial and aesthetic benefits, the environmental impacts
are lovable... "green roofs reduce stormwater runoff, insulate buildings
leading to lower energy use, clean the air, and control local climate, lessening
the formation of smog." According to a Chicago city official, "the city expects
to save $4,000 per year in cooling and heating the building due to the
insulating capability of a green roof." In addition, "Green roofs can last fifty to
a hundred years as opposed to a fifteen-year roof."
• Two types of green roof exist: intensive and extensive.
 • Intensive green roofs are essentially elevated parks. They can
sustain shrubs, trees, walkways and benches with their complex
structural support, irrigation, drainage and root protection layers.
The foot or more of growing medium needed for an intensive green
roof creates a load of 80-150 pounds (36-68 kilograms) per square
foot.
• Extensive green roofs are relatively light at 15-50 pounds (7-23
kilograms) per square foot. They support hearty native ground cover
that requires little maintenance. Extensive green roofs usually exist
solely for their environmental benefits and don't function as
accessible rooftop gardens.
IMPROVING ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN THE HOME
• You can save energy and money by installing insulation, maintaining
and upgrading the equipment, and practicing energy-efficient
behaviors. A two-degree adjustment to your thermostat setting
(lower in winter, higher in summer) can lower
heating bills by 4% and
prevent 500 pounds of
CO2 from entering the
atmosphere each year.
• You can save energy and money by installing insulation, maintaining
and upgrading the equipment, and practicing energy-efficient
behaviors. A two-degree adjustment to your thermostat setting
(lower in winter, higher in summer) can lower
heating bills by 4% and
prevent 500 pounds of
CO2 from entering the
atmosphere each year.
ENERGY STAR APPLIANCES
• When you shop for a new appliance, look for the EnergyStar® label—your
assurance that the product saves energy. EnergyStar® appliances have been
identified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of
Energy as the most energy-efficient products in their classes.
• If the average American were to equip their home only with products that
have the EnergyStar® label, they would cut their energy bills, as well as
greenhouse gas emissions, by about 30%.
SOLAR
Methods of solar energy :
• -The Passive method:
this is quite basic and is implemented by designing residences in such a way
as to trap heat, typically by using glassed areas just as a greenhouse does.
(page 409)
• -The Active method:
uses specially designed heat collectors where, the storage medium is water,
then the heat can be transported by low-power electric pumps to a main
storage tank to supply the hot water or circulated to radiators for space
heating.
• -Photo-voltaic (PVs)(solar cells)
• this is perhaps the most applicable because it is capable of supplying
large amounts of energy both on a local and central scale. It is also
 interesting because the devices (the cells, modules or arrays) are constantly
being improved by research and development, and production costs are
being reduced. Modern cells are capable of operating at relatively low lighting
intensities providing energy when it is most needed. (page 414)
AVIALIBILITY
• Solar power is unavailable at night and is reduced when there is cloud cover.
Reliable performance requires a means of energy storage or standby power
source.
• Locations at high latitudes or with substantial cloud cover offer reduced
potential for solar power use.
• Like electricity from nuclear or fossil fuel plants, it can only realistically be
used to power transport vehicles by converting light energy into another form
of energy (e.g. battery stored electricity or by electrolyzing water to produce
hydrogen) suitable for transport.
WIND ENERGY
Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into more useful forms,
usually electricity using wind turbines.
• According to the Earth Policy Institute, “Wind is the world’s fastest-growing
energy source with an average annual growth rate of 29 percent over the last
ten years.” Most people are familiar with the pinwheel-like design of a wind
turbine; in rural areas, you’ll often see wind farms lined with giant, slow-
spinning blades. The idea is simple: rotating turbine blades gather kinetic
energy from the wind, spinning an internal shaft that generates power. This
process is incredibly clean, producing zero emissions
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES
• Birds killed
• Visually intrusive
• Shadow flicker
• Noise
• Clean: low emissions
• High net energy efficiency
• Moderate costs
GEOTHERMAL
Geothermal power is based on using steam (212oF) coming from the
earth. There are limited locations where this is viable.
Geothermal heat pumps use heat pumps to extract heat energy from the
ground at normal ground temperatures (30oF-60oF). The geothermal heat
pumps have long vertical or horizontal pipes in the ground to assist the
collection of heat from the ground in heating mode, or the rejection of
heat to the ground in cooling mode.
BIOMASS
• Refers to the living and recently living biological material which can be used
as fuel or for industrial production.
• Biomass can be produced from crops, grassy and woody plants, residues from
agriculture or forestry, and the organic component of municipal and industrial
waste.
HYDROELECTRIC ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES
• Provides large amount of cheap power
• Operates without pollution
• Low maintenance & operating costs
 • Provides flood control & irrigation water
• Reservoirs provide recreational sites
• Large dams are expensive to build
• Limited number of appropriate sites
• Stream flows vary from year to year
• Dams disrupt land and water ecosystems
• Long transmission lines usually needed
• A river habitat is replaced by a lake/reservoir. This can cause many
environmental problems for fish and other species living in the river.
• Creation of large reservoirs can destroy Wildlife habitats.
• Rivers & lakes can be filled with sediments from erosion, that can kill fish and
other species living in the river.
Run-of-the-river dams
• Water flows continuously
• Limited reservoir storage
• Bonneville Dam on Columbia River
Storage dams
• Water released as needed
• Have large reservoirs
• Hoover Dam on Colorado River
ENERGY

RENEWABLE/NONRENEWABLE
• Renewable:
– Energy from the sun produces several forms of renewable energy:
wind, flowing & falling water (hydropower), and biomass
– Energy stored in the Earth’s mantel: geothermal
• Nonrenewable:
– Fossil Fuels: Coal, Oil, and Natural Gas
– Uranium (nuclear power)
DIFFERENCES IN ENERGY USE
– Developed countries à ~90% nonrenewable (mainly oil, coal, natural
gas)
– Developing countries à ~59% nonrenewable (mainly biomass, oil,
coal)
USA
• The US uses ~25% of the world's commercial energy
• US has ~4.6% of the world's population
NET ENERGY RATIO
• The ratio of useful energy produced to the useful energy used to produce it
• Extraction à Transportation à Processing à Transportation to Power Plant à
Electric Generation à Transmission à End Use
FLOURESECENT LIGHT – 22% EFFECTIVE
INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE – 10% effective
INCANDESCENT LIGHT – 5% EFFECTIVE
REDUCING ENERGY WASTE
• Makes nonrenewable fossil fuels last longer
• Gives us more time to phase in renewable resources
• Decreases dependence on oil imports
 • Lessens the need for military intervention in the oil-rich but politically
unstable Middle East
• Reduces local and global environmental damage
• Cheapest and quickest way to slow projected global warming
• Saves more money, provides more jobs, improves productivity, and promotes
more economic growth per unit of energy
• Improves competitiveness in the international marketplace
WAYS TO IMPROVE EFFICIENCY
• Insulate & eliminate air leaks
• Air-to-air heat exchange à prevent indoor air pollution
• Waste heat from lights, computers, and other machines can be collected and
distributed to reduce heating bills during cold weather and vented outside
during the summer
• Cogeneration à waste heat is used to produce electricity
• Switch to high efficiency lighting
• Instant hot water heaters (tankless)
• Reuse and recycling
• Increase the fuel efficiency of motor vehicles
WAYS TO REDUCE ENERGY DEMAND
• Cash rebates for buying energy-efficient lights and appliances, tax breaks,
increase the price of energy, and other economic incentives / disincentives.
• Increase use of carpools and mass transit by making it cheap and convenient
• Building design (insulation, triple-paned windows, orientation to maximize
winter & minimize summer solar heating, etc.) à Cost is recouped because
less energy is required.