Unit: Energy-Part-V

Renewable Resources of Energy

Introduction:
Sun is the ultimate source of energy. The sun gives us heat and light energy. All things that are useful to us are called resources.

Air, water, land, soil, forest etc are all resources. Resources are useful raw materials that we get from nature. These are naturally occurring materials.
They are useful for us in many ways, and we keep developing new ways to use them or convert them into useful things.

The broadest classification of resources is done on the basis of their replenishing ability.

• Renewable resources

• Non Renewable resources

Renewable resources

Renewable resources are those resources that can be replenished or renewed naturally over time and will not get depleted.

Non-Renewable resources

Non-Renewable resources are those resources that cannot be replenished or renewed naturally over time and will get depleted over a period of time.
Renewable source of energy Non-renewable source of energy

These are resources which can be utilised continuously over a These are resources which cannot be utilised continuously over a
very long period of time and can be regenerated. very long period of time and cannot be regenerated

They are the non-conventional resources. They are the conventional resources.

These are the natural resources which would soon deplete if they
These are the natural resources which will not get exhausted.
are consumed indiscriminately.

Examples: Solar Energy,Wind Energy Example: Petroleum, Fossil fuels

Renewable Resources of Energy:
Merits

• Renewable resources of energy can reduce air and water pollution and so are better for the health.
• As there is more work involved in harnessing the renewable resource of energy, industry created more employment opportunities and other
economic benefits.
• Renewable Energy resource helps to keep Energy Price stable.
• There is abundant supply available and so will last for long time.
• It reduces the global warming emissions and hence are safer and more towards greener environment.
Demerits

• It depends on weather and climatic conditions

• It provides limited supply of energy
• High cost involved in development and large area requirements.
• It is not available in all the areas
Main renewable energy sources

▪ Wind energy
▪ Solar energy
▪ Biomass
▪ Hydropower or hydro-electric energy
▪ Geo-thermal energy
Other types-Tidal Energy, Ocean thermal Energy

Wind Energy:
Moving air is called wind. This wind can be harnessed to generate electricity with help of wind turbine. This electricity can be used for residential
and commercial purpose

As the Sun heats up the Earth's surface, its energy is absorbed at different rates depending on the type of surface. For example, areas of land will
absorb the Sun's energy at a different rate to bodies of water.This uneven heating of the Earth's surface results in moving air – what we call wind.
How is wind energy used?
Wind turbines convert the kinetic energy in wind into motion energy which generates electricity.

1. Moving air turns the blades of the wind turbine.

2. These blades are connected to a low-speed shaft – when the blades spin, they turn the shaft.
3. The low-speed shaft is connected to a gear box. Inside, a large slow-moving gear turns a small gear quickly, and the small gear then turns
another shaft at high speed.
4. The high-speed shaft is connected to a generator. As the shaft turns the generator, electricity is produced.
5. The electric current runs through cables down the turbine tower. It reaches a transformer that changes the voltage of the current so it can
be sent out on transmission lines.
Though it is eco-friendly there are following disadvantages:

• Wind speed does not uniform always.

• Needs a large area to erect series of windmills.
• Big amount of investment is needed.
• The output is less as compared to investment.

Solar energy
The sun is the main source of energy. The sun's energy is called the solar energy or the radiant energy emitted by the sun.

Solar energy is the most readily available source of renewable energy and will not get depleted.

Solar power is captured when energy from the sun is converted into electricity, or is used to heat air, water or other fluids.

Electricity from solar power is used in people's homes, in schools (like yours!), and to supply power for equipment such as telecommunications
and water pumps.
There are two main types of solar energy technology:

Solar thermal is when sunlight is turned into thermal energy, or heat. Most solar thermal systems use solar energy to heat up space or water. An
example of this is a solar hot water system.

Solar Photovoltaic (PV) is when sunlight is converted directly into electricity, using photovoltaic cells Solar panels example of a PV system to
generate electricity.

What are the benefits of solar energy?

It's renewable, which means we will never run out of it.
It's easy to generate – once solar panels are installed and are running at maximum efficiency, they only need a small amount of maintenance.

It's silent – PV cells make no noise at all as they turn sunlight into usable electricity.

It's non-polluting. Solar electricity power plants produce zero emissions when they're up and running.

Disadvantages are

• Silicon cells are expensive.

• Solar radiations are not uniform over the Earth’s surface.
• Cannot be used at night or on cloudy days.
• Cannot be used for process that require a temperature of 140°C or more in solar cookers. (Maximum temperature of 100°C only
can be achieved in a solar cooker) Other Solar Devices are Solar water heater and Solar furnace.

Biomass
Biomass is anything that is, or once was, alive. It contains energy from the sun and can be used to produce heat, electricity, gas and fuel.It is
organic matter, So biomass can be wood from trees, plants such as crops and seaweed, or animal waste. Burning animal and plant waste creates
gases that can be used as fuel. One of the best things about biomass is the fact it's a renewable energy. That means we can always produce more
of it by growing more plants and trees.
How is biomass used?
Burning biomass – such as wood and garbage – produces heat, which can be used in homes, for cooking, and for industrial purposes.
Burning biomass can also generate electricity. In 'waste-to-energy' plants, organic waste is burned to provide electricity – by removing the waste
products, this also saves on landfill space. It's a biomass bonus!

Biomass can be used to produce a gas called methane, which is used in stoves and furnaces.

Biogas is a gas produced from burning waste products, which can be used to light homes and cook food.

Biomass can also be turned into fuels called ethanol and biodiesel, which can be used in many types of vehicles

Where does biomass get its energy from?

All organic matter contains energy stored from the sun – this is where the energy in biomass comes from.

Plants store energy from the sun in their leaves, stems, fruit and roots. When humans eat food that comes from plants, we use the energy they
contain to move and grow.
Hydropower
Hydropower is energy that comes from the force of moving water. This energy is used to generate electricity in hydropower plants. The movement
of water is driven by gravity. Rain water can be stored and released in drier months to create energy.

Hydropower is energy that comes from the force of moving water.Hydropower plants convert the energy in moving water to electricity.
Moving water turns the turbines that generate electricity.

Hydropower is used to generate electricity in hydropower plants.

A typical hydropower plant system has three parts:

• A power plant where the electricity is produced

• A dam that can be opened or closed to control the flow of water
• A reservoir where water is stored

Disadvantages of Hydropower plant

 • Highly expensive to construct.
• Dams cannot be constructed on all river sites.
• Large areas of human habitation and agriculture fields get submerged.
• People face social and environmental problems.

Geothermal energy

Geothermal energy comes from the heat inside the Earth. It can be used to produce electricity, to heat homes and buildings, and to provide hot
water. Geothermal energy is the only renewable form of thermal energy.

Where does the heat inside the Earth come from?

The Earth's core - about 4000 miles below the surface - is made up of very hot molten iron which surrounds a solid iron centre.
Surrounding the Earth's core is the mantle, which is partly made of rock and partly of hot magma.The outermost layer of the Earth is the crust –
this acts like an insulating layer.

As the plates that make up the Earth's crust drift apart and push against each other, they can cause the crust to crack or thin, allowing plumes of
hot magma to rise up into the crust.

How do we find geothermal from below the Earth's surface?

To find geothermal reservoirs close to the Earth's surface, exploratory wells are drilled to search for reservoirs.

Once a reservoir is found, production wells are drilled to bring hot water and steam to the surface.

The hot water and steam are used to generate electricity at power plants close to the production wells.

Injection wells return used geothermal fluids back to the reservoir.

Geothermal power creates energy from hot water and steam.It can be used for:

Heating: Geothermal energy can be used to heat buildings.

Industry: The heat from geothermal water is used for dying cloth, drying fruit and vegetables, washing wool, manufacturing paper, pasteurising
milk, and drying timber products.

Hot Spring Bathing & Spas: For centuries, people have used hot springs for cooking and bathing. The early Romans are famous for their love of
geothermal baths!
Agriculture & Aquaculture: Water from geothermal reservoirs can be used to warm greenhouses that grow flowers, vegetables and other crops.
It can also help speed up the growth of fish, reptiles and amphibians.
Disadvantages of Geo Thermal Energy

• Only a few sites are available for harnessing energy.

• Expensive

Tidal energy
The energy obtained from the rising and falling oceans waves and tides is also used to generate electricity with dams.
Tidal energy is the utilisation of the sun and moon's gravitational forces – as the tide is the result of their influences. Tidal energy is a type
of energy that produces electricity and other forms of power through the use of water.The ocean water is forced through turbines to produce
electricity.

Ocean thermal energy

The difference in temperature of the upper and lower surface of the ocean produces energy known as the ocean thermal energy

This energy is used to produce electricity in ocean thermal energy conversion power plant