Introducing Renewable Energy

Renewable energy

Energy from a source that is not depleted when

used, such as wind or solar power.
An other definition is:
 Renewable energy sources, derived

principally from the enormous power of the

Sun’s radiation, are at once the most ancient
and the most modern forms of energy used
by humanity.
 Renewable Energy Sources
 Radiant solar energy
 Solar heating, solar power plants, photovoltaic cells
 Biomass energy
 Direct: combustion of biomass
 Indirect: chemical conversion to biofuel
 Wind energy
 Hydro energy
 Geothermal energy
 Power plants, direct use, heat pumps
 Ocean energy
 Tidal;
World energy supplies

 The energy used by a final consumer is usually the end result of

a series of energy conversions.
 For example, energy from burning coal may be converted in a
power station to electricity, which is then distributed to
households and used in immersion heaters to heat water in
domestic hot water tanks.
 The energy released when the coal is burned is called the
primary energy required for that use.
 The amount of electricity reaching the consumer, after
conversion losses in the power station and transmission losses
in the electricity grid, is the delivered energy.
 After further losses in the tank and pipes, a final quantity,
called the useful energy.
Energy prices Vs Global Event
World Energy Consumption
Renewable Energy Consumption
Forms of energy
 At the most basic level, the diversity of energy forms can be
reduced to four:
 Kinetic Energy
 Gravitational Energy
 Electrical Energy
 Nuclear Energy

 Kinetic energy
 The kinetic energy possessed by any moving object is equal to
half the mass (m) of the object times the square of its velocity
(v), i.e.:
kinetic energy = ½ m v2
 where energy is in joules (J), mass in kilograms (kg) and velocity
in metres per second (m s−1).
Gravitational energy

 A second fundamental form of energy is

gravitational energy. On Earth, an input of
energy is required to lift an object because
the gravitational pull of the Earth opposes
that movement. If an object, such as an
apple, is lifted above your head, the input
energy is stored in a form called gravitational
potential energy (often just ‘potential energy’
or ‘gravitational energy’).
Electrical energy
 Power (W) = voltage (V) × current (I).

 In a typical power station, the input fuel is burned and

used to produce high-pressure steam, which drives a
rotating turbine.
 This in turn drives an electrical generator, which

operates on a principle discovered by Michael Faraday in

1832: a voltage is induced in a coil of wire that spins in a
magnetic field.
 Connecting the coil to an electric circuit will then allow a

current to flow. The electrical energy can in turn be

transformed into heat, light, motion or whatever,
depending upon what is connected to the circuit.
Nuclear energy

 The fourth and final basic form of energy,

bound up in the central nuclei of atoms, is
called nuclear energy.
 Nuclear power stations operate on much the

same principles as fossil fuel plants, except

that the furnace in which the fuel burns is
replaced by a nuclear reactor in which
atoms of uranium are split apart in a
‘fission’ process that generates large
amounts of heat.
Fossil fuels and climate change

 Society’s current use of fossil and nuclear

fuels has many adverse consequences.
 These include air pollution, acid rain, the

depletion of natural resources and the

dangers of nuclear radiation.
 This brief introduction concentrates on one of

these problems: global climate change

caused by emissions of greenhouse gases
from fossil fuel combustion.
Renewable energy sources
Solar energy: Direct uses
 Solar radiation can be converted into useful
energy directly, using various technologies.
Absorbed in solar ‘collectors’, it can provide
hot water or space heating.
 Buildings can also be designed with ‘passive

solar’ features that enhance the contribution

of solar energy to their space heating and
lighting requirements.
Solar energy: Direct uses

 Solar radiation can also be converted directly

into electricity using photovoltaic (PV)
modules, normally mounted on the roofs or
facades of buildings.
 At the time of writing, electricity from

photovoltaics is more expensive than that

from conventional sources, but prices are
falling fast and the industry is expanding
rapidly.
Solar energy: Indirect uses

Solar radiation can be converted to useful

energy indirectly, via other energy forms.
 A large fraction of the radiation reaching the

Earth’s surface is absorbed by the oceans,

warming them and adding water vapour to
the air.
 The water vapour condenses as rain to feed

rivers, into which dams and turbines can be

located to extract the energy of the flowing
water.
Non-solar Renewables

 Two other sources of renewable energy do not depend

on solar radiation: tidal and geothermal energy.
 Tidal energy is often confused with wave energy, but

its origins are quite different. Ocean tides are caused

by the gravitational pull of the Moon (with a small
contribution from the Sun) on the world’s oceans,
causing a regular rise and fall in water levels as the
Earth rotates.
 The power of the tides can be harnessed by building a

low dam or ‘barrage’ behind which the rising waters

are captured and then allowed to flow back through
electricity-generating turbines.
Renewable energy in a sustainable future

 Renewable energy sources are already

providing a significant proportion of the
world’s primary energy.
 A number of long-term energy studies

suggesting that renewables are likely to be

providing a much greater proportion of the
world’s energy by the second half of the
twenty-first century.