The Future of Renewable Energy

1. Introduction
Currently, one of the most important goals of developing countries is to supply sufficient energy as there is a
direct relation between energy supply and economic growth. Supplying more energy has led to a major increase
in environmental pollution and in the emission of greenhouse gases. Developing countries such as China and
India have played the greatest roles in the emission of greenhouse gases as they mainly produce their energy
using fossil fuels. Greenhouse gases are responsible for climate change. This must be reduced by using other
sources of energy.

Renewable energy is an alternative to fossil fuels. It is clean, eco-friendly and can be used in most parts of the
world. In the recent years, a few countries such as Germany, USA and Brazil have made major investments in
the development of renewable energy. The main reason for the unpopularity of renewable energy is due to the
complex renewable energy system and the cost. Scientists are researching for ways that can help in reducing the
complexities, cost and increase the energy efficiency which will encourage more countries to turn to renewable
energy.

1.1 Energy Consumption

The energy consumption is rapidly increasing as people get richer and the population increases. Growing
energy consumption makes it challenging to shift from fossil fuels to more environmentally friendly energy
sources. According to Figure ??, we can see that the global energy consumption in increasing every year. It
grows with an average of 1% to 2% per year.

Energy consumption is rising in many countries where incomes are rising quickly and the population is
growing. But in many countries – particularly richer countries trying to improve energy efficiency – energy
consumption is actually falling.

Fig ?? The Energy Consumption Worldwide from 1965 to 2019

 Fig ?? The Energy Consumption by Country from 1965 to 2019

According to the figure below (Fig ?? and Fig ??), the largest energy consumers include Iceland, Norway, Canada,
the United States and Saudi Arabia. The average per person energy consumption in these countries is 100 times
more than the average per person consumption in the world’s poorest countries.
 Fig ?? Energy Consumption per person from 1965 to 2019

The COVID-19 pandemic has and is continuing to impact the global energy demand. It fell by 4% in 2020 due to the
restrictions on travel and industries. However, the energy demand is expected to rebound by 4.6% pushing the
global energy use in 2021 0.5% above the pre-COVID-19 level. If the travel and transport demand returns to pre-
COVID 19 levels, then the global energy demand will rise even higher, to almost 2% above the pre-COVID 19
level. Fig ?? illustrates the evolution of global GDP, energy demand and CO2 emissions from 2019 to 2021.
 Fig ??: Impact of COVID-19 on the GDP, Energy Demand, and CO2 Emissions

Presently, we have a diverse range of energy sources – coal, oil, gas, nuclear, hydropower, and many more. But
centuries ago there were only a handful of energy mixes known, and the transition from one source to another was
incredibly slow.

According to the chart below (Fig ??), until the mid-19th century, traditional biomass was the dominant source of
energy used. With the Industrial Revolution, came the rise of coal, followed by oil and gas. Renewable energy
sources were added until the late 1980s.

Fig ?? The Energy Consumption by Source from 1800 to 2019

Fig ?? Per Capita Energy Consumption by Source in 2019

Fig ?? Global Energy Consumption by Source

1.2 Fossil Fuels and The Environment

The Industrial Revolution had unlocked a new energy source, fossil fuels, which has been an important driver for the
progress. Although, fossil fuels play an important role in the global energy systems, they have several negative
impacts.

Burning fossil fuels produces a significant amount of carbon dioxide (C02+) which is responsible for air pollution,
global warming, climate change, and many more factors.

The following figure (Fig ??) illustrates the global fossil fuel consumption broken down by coal, oil and gas since
1800. The consumption has increased significantly over the past half-century. Today, coal consumption is steadily
falling in many parts of the world, but coal and oil are rapidly increasing.
Fig ?? Global Fossil Fuel Consumption

Burning fossil fuels releases poisonous gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. These gases also
known as greenhouse gases that trap heat in the atmosphere leading to global warming and climate change.

1.3 Renewable Energy

Renewable energy, also known as clean energy, is an alternative to fossil fuels. It comes from natural
sources that are constantly replenished and is sustainable. Transitioning to renewable energy causes
less damage to the environment and also helps in combating climate change.

Fig ?? Share of Primary Energy from Renewable Sources

The figure (Fig ??) above illustrates the share of primary energy consumption from renewable sources.
In 2019, 11% of the world’s energy came from renewable resources.
 2. Findings

This section covers the different types of renewable energy sources in detail.

2.1 Biomass Energy

Biomass is the organic material originating from plants, trees and crops, which are essentially the collection and
storage of the sun’s energy through photosynthesis. Biomass energy is the conversion of biomass into useful forms
of energy such as electricity, heat and liquid fuels (biofuels). The biomass, which is used to derive bioenergy, comes
directly from the land, dedicated energy crops and residues generated in the processing of crops for food and other
products.

Bioenergy is a significant part of the energy economy, accounting for 9.5% of total primary energy supply and some
70% of renewable energy in use today. More than half of this bioenergy involves the traditional use of biomass,
mostly in households for cooking and heating but also within small industries (such as charcoal kilns and brick
kilns). Liquid biofuels, a convenient renewable substitute for gasoline, are mostly used in the transport sector. Fig ??
shows the various uses of bioenergy.

Fig ?? The uses of bioenergy

Biomass energy is renewable and sustainable. Biomass can be directly burned to obtain energy and also be used as a
feedstock to be converted into various liquids and gas fuels (biofuels). Biofuels can be stored and transported.
Moreover, the utilization of biomass-derived fuels will greatly mitigate energy security and trade balance issues.
One of the most primary benefit of utilizing biomass is that it cannot be depleted like fossil fuels. It can be used as a
sustainable alternative to fossil fuels.

In contrast to the above mentioned benefits, biofuels have several drawbacks. They have low energy densities and
also the collection and transportation can be cost-prohibitive. Usage of biomass to generate electricity is well
established, but the price paid for electricity seldom offsets the full cost of biomass fuel. Moreover, biofuels energy
are intensive in the use of inputs, such as land, crops, water, and fossil fuel energy.

Globally, installed biomass plant capacity rose from 72 000 MW in 2011 to 120 000 MW in 2020, as shown if
Figure (???). In the long term, biomass power generation could increase to 270 GW by 2030, as shown in
Figure(???).
In the consumption of biofuel energy, Brazil is the leader as it has the largest fleet of flexible fuel vehicles.

Fig ?? Installed Biomass Plant Capacity

2.2 Geothermal Energy

Geothermal energy is the heat that comes from the sub-surface of the earth. It is contained in the rocks and fluids
beneath the Earth’s crust. To extract renewable energy from this heat, wells are dug a mile deep into underground
reservoirs to access the steam and hot water there, which is then used to drive turbines connected to electricity
generators.

Geothermal energy is used in three main ways: power generation, direct use and ground source heating and cooling.
In direct use, the hot water in geothermal reservoirs produces heat and steam which can be directly used for multiple
purposes such as bathing, cleaning, melting ice on roads and warming fishing farms. Aside from being used directly,
it can be used to produce power which used to drive turbines using steam or hot water that sequentially generates
electricity. Ground source heating and cooling is one of the most common uses of geothermal energy today. In this,
the heat from the Earth is transferred to the ground during the winter season and during summer the heat from the
ground is transferred back to the Earth.

Geothermal energy is used in over 20 countries around the world. The United States is the largest producer of
geothermal energy in the world, and costs the largest geothermal field.

Geothermal energy is described as a “carbon-free, renewable, sustainable form of energy that provides a continuous,
uninterrupted supply of heat that can be used to heat homes and office buildings and to generate electricity” by the
British Geological Survey. Geothermal energy produces only one-sixth of the CO2 and its potential production
could reach at least 35GW and as high as 2TW. Moreover, geothermal energy is considered as a cost-effective,
reliable and an environmentally friendly energy source.

However, there are some drawbacks. Despite the low CO2 production, geothermal is associated with the emissions
of other harmful gases such as sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulphide. They can also cause minor tremors in the area
they operate and also has a high initial cost to build. Moreover, due to being the “most location-specific energy
source being known to man” it is limited to a very few countries such as US, Iceland, Kenya and Indonesia.
 Fig ?? Installed Geothermal Plant Capacity

2.3 Hydropower Energy

Hydropower is derived from the energy of moving water. Flowing water creates energy that can be captured and
converted into electricity by using turbines. The most prevalent form of hydropower is dams. Hydropower is
generated from water moving in the hydrological cycle, which is driven by solar radiation. It is the flow of water in
rivers, driven by the force of gravity to move from higher to lower elevations that can be used to generate
hydropower.

Hydropower is a proven and well-advanced technology based on more than a century experience. It is an extremely
flexible power technology with among the best conversion efficiencies of all energy sources due to its direct
transformation from hydraulic energy to electricity.

There is room for further improvement by refining operation, reducing environmental impacts, adapting to new
social and environmental requirements and developing more robust and cost-effective technological solutions.

According to operation and type of water flow, hydropower plants are classified into two categories. Run-of-River
(RoR) storages are used to draw energy for electricity production whereas hydropower plants with a reservoir, called
storage hydropower store water for later consumption.