Bachelor of Technology in Electrical & Electronic Engineering

TEE 4430- Renewable Energy Technology

Lecture 6 Notes
6.1 Energy Utilization
Energy utilization is energy consumption at the consumers’ point. Usually, energy is consumed
at domestic, commercial and industrial level. The amount of energy consumed varies depending
on the consumer’s demands being highest at the industrial consumers’ level. In domestic
installations the least energy is consumed as compared to commercial and industrial
installations.
6.2 Domestic Installations. In domestic installations, energy is mostly used in the form of
electricity and some in the form of Biomass, gas (LPG or NLG) and sometimes in the form of
kerosene or diesel fuel.
6.2.1 Biomass Energy:
Biomass is largely used in domestic installations as raw dry wood, charcoal and briquettes for
cooking and heating. Biomass energy constitutes almost 60% of the total energy consumption in
Kenya and most underdeveloped 3rd world countries. Most of the wood and charcoal is obtained
from the forest resulting in widespread deforestation. Charcoal is also obtained from the forest
where it is made using rudimental charcoal production processes in the bush. Illegal wood
harvesting and charcoal burning is a major concern in most African countries. Briquette
manufacturing is growing where biomass waste is used to prepare the briquettes. The briquettes
are then used in advanced cook stoves that operate at better efficiencies compared to open fires
used for cooking in most rural areas.
6.2.2 Gas Energy-LPG, LNG & Biogas
Gas is another major source of domestic energy where it is mainly used for cooking and heating
in most urban homes. The gas is normally supplies in liquefies form in portable cylinders of
different weights. Gas cooking and heating has better energy efficiency considering the calorific
value of gas and the design of the cookers. At present only LPG and LNG is available in liquefied

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form while Biogas is used directly from gas receivers at low pressure. Technology is developing
to compress biogas and liquefy it for improved portability.
6.2.3 Electrical Energy
Electrical energy is mostly used in domestic installations for lighting, refrigeration, air
conditioning, heating and powering electronic appliances like home theaters, televisions, radios
etc. The bulk of domestic electricity is mostly used in urban areas in the suburbs with some
installations consuming up to 100kWh per consumption billing period. The versatility of this
form of energy makes it very the most popular in domestic consumers.
6.2.4 Petroleum Fuel
Petroleum energy is used in domestic installations mainly for heating, cooking and running
standby electrical plant in the form of kerosene and diesel fuel respectively. Kerosene find wide
use in rural areas where it is used to fuel lanterns and cooking stoves. Nevertheless, petroleum
fuel is fast being replaced by solar energy because of its pollution effects and unfavorable
emission levels.
6.3 Commercial Installations: In commercial installations, energy is mainly consumed in the
form of diesel, gas and electricity.
6.3.1 Diesel Fuel:
Diesel oil is mostly used in commercial installations for heating and running standby plant. Most
commercial installations have captive standby electricity generation plant to supply standby
power in case of grid power outage. With the ever increasing prices of petroleum products,
diesel standby plant is fast being replaced with solar PV power that is environmentally preferred
over diesel.
6.3.2 Gas Energy:
Gas finds use in commercial installations for large scale space heating and cooking where huge
gas burners are used on a central cooking cooker under a hood. LPG is the most popular cooking
gas compared to the other gas forms. In countries where LNG is available in abundance, LNG
is more popular than LPG. Biogas is popular in farming commercial installations and public

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facilities where a lot of vegetable waste or animal waste is available in abundance. The biogas is
also used for cooking or heating
6.3.3 Electrical Energy:
Commercial installations exploit the versatility of electricity and convert it to literally all possible
forms, from; heating, cooking, lighting, ventilation, air-conditioning, refrigeration, pumping
and sound. Electricity is thus the most popular forms of energy in commercial and public facility
installations.
6.4 Industrial Installations: In industrial installation energy is consumed in different forms as;
fuel, gas, coal and electricity depending on the energy consuming processes.
6.4.1 Biomass Energy:
Biomass fuel finds popular use in industries in form of briquettes, raw seasoned wood and
sometimes charcoal. Briquettes are finding application as fuel for boilers in most medium scale
industries fast replacing diesel whose price is very unpredictable. Raw wood is used in industry
also in low pressure boilers and furnaces in tea industries where they burn to generate steam
for the industrial processes. Charcoal finds very little use in industrial installations where it is
used to generate low heat demands.
6.4.2 Gas Energy
Gas is used in industries as LPG and LNG mostly for starting boiler burners flame after which
the burners revert to run on diesel or heavy fuel oil. Some gas is used in industrial facilities for
cooking in the cafeterias and other menial applications.
6.4.3 Electrical Energy
Electrical energy is very popular in industrial installation for running machinery, lighting,
heating, refrigeration and even running HVAC systems. The versatility of electricity makes it
one of the most popular forms of energy in industries. Literally all industrial machinery and
equipment needs electricity for one reason or the other. Large industrial installations use
millions of kWh per billing period making it the most used form of energy in most global energy
demands.

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6.4.4 Petroleum Fuel
Petroleum fuel is also very popular in industrial installation where it is used for firing boilers
and furnaces in the industries. Petroleum emits a lot of greenhouse gasses (GHG) into the
atmosphere ranking highest in the list of climate change drivers. Petroleum fuel is mainly
popular in industries because of the high calorific content of petroleum fuels making it suitable
for industrial heating only second from coal. Petroleum fuels are also used in industrial
installations for running standby electricity generation plant in the industries. Due to the
unpredictability of petroleum and the unstable prices, technology is fast developing towards
freedom from overreliance and even complete replacement with other renewable sources of
energy.
6.5 Load Side Management of Energy
Load side management is energy consumption or utilization management at the consumers’
premises. In load side management, the consumer regulates their energy demand and consume
less energy for the same service. This is achieved by using more efficient equipment or
appliances for the same task using less energy. Load side management is done differently in
domestic, commercial and industrial facilities because of the difference and types of loads.
6.5.1 Domestic LSM
Appliances used in domestic installations are mainly low power and operate on single phase
power. These appliances are like cookers, blenders, light fittings, ovens, audio systems
refrigerators, deep freezers and toasters just to mention a few. All these appliances are now
being manufactured as energy efficient appliances and labeled to indicate the energy savings
achievable. Most of the items are now being made efficient for use with solar PV and energy
sources that are free from GHG emissions.
6.5.2. Commercial LSM
Commercial loads are more varied and larger as compared to domestic loads and so when made
efficient, their energy savings are much higher. Some electrical loads operate on three phase
supply and consume a lot of power like pumps, blowers, heaters and freezers. Equipment that

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operates on fuel also consume substantial amount of fuel and when made efficient they save a
lot of energy.
6.5.3 Industrial LSM
Industrial loads are the highest consumers of energy among all the different installations. The
equipment rages from high voltage three phase power drives to boilers and furnaces that
consume substantial amounts of fuel. Industrial installations are the main target of LSM where
energy efficiency result into huge energy savings annually. Manufactures of boilers and
furnaces are currently manufacturing efficient types of boilers that consume less fuel for the
same working temperatures and also improved combustion processes couples with waste heat
recovery systems.
Manufactures of machine drives are also improving the performance of electric drives to achieve
high efficiency levels. Currently, motors are manufactured and classified under low, medium
and high efficiency types with specifications clearly labeled.
6.6 Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning Systems
HVAC systems are systems that combine the function of heating, ventilation and air-
conditioning in one unit. They operate on maintaining a preset environmental condition of the
space in question making sure that the space air circulation is as natural as possible and
maintaining the required preset temperature. HVAC systems are the largest energy consumers
in most commercial installations when they are majorly public and offer accommodate facilities.
Current HVAC systems are running using efficient motors and optimized control mechanisms
making them very efficient.

6. 7 Electric Transportation The transportation sectors has mostly relied on diesel and gasoline
fuel for a long time now with some vehicles running on liquefied gas (LPG or LNG). But
currently due to the uncertainty and fluctuating cost of petroleum fuels coupled with
unfavorable emissions, other alternatives are now being sort. Electric transportation is currently
by road and rail with the later having developed and matures by the year 2000. The electric road

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transportation is now picking up and completely threatening the conventional petroleum type
of road transportation.
6.7.1 Electric Rail Transportation:
Electric rail transportation is a fully matured technology today having started in Europe in the
early 1980s and spreading all over the world. The technology is most advanced in China where
the country has the first MAGLEV –Levitated Train operating high speed of 600kMs/hour
between the city of Shanghai line developed using German technology. Earlier, the Japanese
Shinkansen line was the fastest followed by other European lines in France, Germany and Italy.
The high speed trains have revolutionized train transportation world over making commuting
time and cost very efficient. The efficiency of the train systems has been improved over time and
achieved high efficiencies in the range of 92% for most trains. The main challenge about high
speed trains is the power supply that has to be overhead and sometimes affected by poor
connectivity.

Figure 6.1 An EMS maglev prototype operating at 600 km/h at the CRRCs Qingdao Plant
6.7.2 Electric Road Transportation:
Road transport has been dominated by fossil fuel as the main resource globally. The last five
years have experienced intense research and development of both hybrid fossil and renewable

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solar development of vehicles and even completely electric driven vehicles. The TESLA
company is the USA is leading the electric vehicle technology followed by BMW, Chevrolet,
Hyundai and Tyler. It is expected that the electric vehicle transportation shall ease the
commuting time and cost in the near future and relieve the dependence on fossil fuels. The ELVs
have good starting performance and do enough mileage to last a normal day’s operation. The
Hyundai Ioniq 6 SE long range is leading the group with an efficiency of 6.7Km/kWh and a
distance range of 584Kilometers per charge.

Figure 6.2 The Hyundai Ioniq 6 SE Long Range Sedan.

Currently low capacity electric vehicle development is ongoing where tuk-tuks or three
wheelers, scooters and motor bikes are being converted to fully run on electric power.
The future is still not very clear, as research on Hydrogen as an energy resource picks up.

Tutorials Questions
1. Discuss how the efficiency of an air compressor would be improved to make the factory
air system efficient.
2. Briefly discuss the main challenges in ELV development technology

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 3. Discuss the limitations of the MAGLEV levitated trains and why the Germans did not
develop the technology to actualization stage.
4. Discuss how hydrogen might be the main the driver of transportation energy resource
in the future.
5. Discuss how Thermoelectric power generation can improve efficiency of present road
transport ELVs?

GGK/18/1/2024