ENERGY EFFICIENCY

AND RENEWABLE ENERGY

Dr. LI Xin
Email:lixin@mail.
usts.edu.cn
 Contents
1 THE IMPORTANCE OF IMPROVING ENERGY
EFFICIENCY

2 WAYS TO IMPROVE ENERGY EFFICIENCY

3 USING RENEWABLE ENERGY TO PROVIDE

HEAT AND ELECTRICITY

4 A SUSTAINABLE ENERGY STRATEGY

1 THE IMPORTANCE OF
IMPROVING ENERGY EFFICIENCY
What is energy efficiency?

The percentage of total energy input into

an energy conversion device or system
that:
(1)does useful work
(2) is not converted to low-quality.
What are the energy efficiencies
of common devices?

The energy conversion devices we use

vary in their energy efficiencies . We can
save energy and money by buying more
energy-efficient cars, lighting, air
conditioners, and appliances.
84% of all commercial energy used in the
United States is wasted, how about other
countries?
Reducing
energy waste
has a number of
economic and
environmental
advantages
The energy conversion devices we use vary in
their energy efficiencies.
Coal-burning power plants also are big energy
wasters. About 34% of the energy in coal burned
in a typical electric power plant is used to
produced electricity, and the remaining 66%
ends up as waste heat that flows into the
environment. As a result, coal burning power
plants in China is the main energy supplies.
What Is Net Energy-efficiency?

Recall that the only energy that really

counts is net energy. The net energy
efficiency, of the entire energy delivery
process for a space heater, water heater; or
car is determined by the efficiency of each
step in the energy conversion process.
The figure shows the net energy
efficiency :
(1) one with electricity produced at a
nuclear power plant, transported by wire
to the home, and converted to heat
(electric resistance heating) and :
(2) the other heated passively with an
input of direct solar energy through high
efficiency windows facing the sun, with
heat stored in heat-absorbing materials
for slow release.
2 WAYS TO IMPROVE ENERGY
EFFICIENCY
How can we use waste heat?

We cannot recycle energy. But we can

slow the rate at which waste heat flows
into the environment when high-quality
energy is degraded.
For a house, the best way to do this is to
(1) insulate it thoroughly,
(2) eliminate air leaks, and
(3) equip it with an air-to-air heat
exchanger to prevent buildup of indoor air
pollutants.
In office buildings and
stores, waste heat from
lights, computers, and
other machines can be
collected and
distributed to reduce
heating bills during
cold weather.
How can we save energy in industry?
Here are three important ways to save
energy and money in industry:
1 、 combined heat and power systems
In which two useful forms of energy (such as steam and
electricity) are produced from the same fuel source.
These systems
(1) have an efficiency of up to 80% (compared to about
30~40% for coal-fired boilers and nuclear power plants)
and
(2) emit two-thirds less CO2 per unit of energy produced
than conventional coal-fired boilers.
Replacing energy-wasting electric motors.

Running electric motors (mostly in

industry) consumes about half of the
electricity produced in the United States.
 Average fuel economy of new vehicles sold in the
United States, 1975–2008 (left) and fuel economy
standards in other countries, 2002–2008 (right). According
to scientist Joseph Romm, no gasolinepowered car
assembled in North America would meet China’s current
fuel-efficiency standard.
How can we save energy in
transportation?

According to most
energy analysts, the best
way to save energy
(especially oil) and
money in transportation
is to increase the fuel
efficiency of motor
vehicles.
Are hybrid-electric cars the answer?
There is rapidly growing interest in developing
superefficient cars that could eventually get 34-
128 kpl (80-300 mpg).
 Are hybrid-electric cars the
answer?
One type of highly efficient car uses ：
(1) a small hybrid electric internal
combustion engine that runs on gasoline,
diesel fuel, or natural gas.
(2) a small battery (recharged by the
internal combustion engine) to provide
the energy needed for acceleration and
hill climbing.
hybrid-electric cars
How Can We Save Energy
in Buildings?

A number of ways are available to improve

the energy efficiency of houses, one is a
superinsulated house. Such houses typically
cost 5% more to build than conventional houses
of the same size. But this extra cost is paid back
by energy savings.
 A superinsulated house

Major features of a superinsulate house

A green or living roof. It saves energy, improves air
quality, reduces storm water runoff and thus pollution of
waterways, and provides habitat for birds.
 A superinsulated house
Another way to save energy is to use the most
energy-efficient ways to heat houses.
 A superinsulated house
Another way to save energy is to buy the
most energy-efficient appliances and lights.
Energy conservation certification in China
Why Are We Not Doing More to
Reduce Energy Waste?
The major reasons are as follows:
※ A glut of low-cost oil and electricity. people
are more likely to waste it and not make
investments in improving energy efficiency.
※ Lack of sufficient tax breaks and other
economic incentives for consumers and
businesses to invest in improving energy
efficiency.
※ Lack of information about the availability of
energy- saving devices and the amount of money.
3 USING RENEWABLE ENERGY
TO PROVIDE HEAT AND
ELECTRICITY

Discuss:

What are the major advantages and

disadvantages of solar energy?
passive and active solar heating
for a home.
Rooftop solar hot water heaters on apartment buildings in the
Chinese city of Kunming in the Yunnan province. Such heaters are
now required on all new buildings and their use is growing rapidly in
urban and rural areas of China.
How Can We Produce Electricity
with Solar Cells?
 The
advantages
and
disadvanta
-ges of
solar cells.
How can we produce electricity using
hydro-power plants?
Electricity can be produced from flowing
water by

※ Large-scale hydropower, in which a high

dam is built across a large river to create a
reservoir. Some of the water stored in the
reservoir is allowed to flow through huge pipes at
controlled rates, spinning turbines and producing
electricity.
Hydropower station
Electricity can be produced from
flowing water by
※ Small-scale hydropower, in which a
low dam with no reservoir (or only a small
one) is built across a small stream.
※ Pumped-storage hydropower, in which pumps
using surplus electricity from a conventional
power plant pump water from a lake or a reservoir
to another reservoir at a higher elevation. When
more electricity is needed, water in the upper
reservoir is released, flows through turbines, and
generates electricity on its return to the lower
reservoir.
Producing electricity from wind
What areas have the greatest
potential for wind power?
In 2001, Western European countries produced
2% of their electricity from wind (18% in
Denmark). These countries expect to get at least
10% of their electricity from onshore and
offshore wind turbines within 10 years. The
German government plans to get 25% of its
electricity from wind power by 2020, much of it
from building offshore wind farms in the Baltic
and the North Sea.
What are the major advantages
and disadvantages of wind
power?
Producing energy from biomass
CONCEPT
Biomass is plant materials and animal
wastes used as sources of energy.
Biomass comes in many forms and
can be burned directly as a solid fuel
or converted into gaseous or liquid
biofuels.
The
principal
types of
biomess
fuel
 Producing energy from biomass

One way to produce biomass fuel is to

plant, harvest, and burn large numbers of
(1) fast-growing trees (especially poplars,
willows),
(2) shrubs,
(3) perennial grasses
(4) water hyacinths in biomass plantations.
4 A SUSTAINABLE ENERGY
STRATEGY

What are the best energy alternatives?

4 A SUSTAINABLE ENERGY
STRATEGY
Many scientists and energy experts who
have evaluated energy alternatives have
come to the following general conclusions:

※ We are not running out of energy and

we have a variety of available
nonrenewable and renewable energy
resources, each with certain advantages
and disadvantages.
※ There will be a gradual shift from
centralized macropower systems to smaller,
decentralized micrppower systems.

※The best alternatives are a combination of

improved energy efficiency and using
natural gas as a fuel to make the transition
to increased use of a variety of small-scale
decentralized, locally available renewable
energy resources.
※ Because not enough money is available
to develop all energy alternatives,
governments and private companies
must choose carefully which alternatives
to support.

※ Over the next 50 years, the choice is not

between using nonrenewable fossil fuels
and various types of renewable energy.
 What are the key questions?
(1) How we can reduce the harmful
environmental impacts of widespread
fossil fuel use (especially to reduce air
pollution and slow projected global
warming;
(2) What roles improving energy
efficiency and depending more on
some forms of renewable energy can
play in achieving these goals.
What Role Does Economics Play
in Energy Resource Use?
To development sustainable energy
resources and societies is not
technology but economics and politics.
Governments can use three basic
economic and political strategies to
help stimulate or dampen the short-
term and long-term use of a particular
energy resource:
Three basic economic and political
strategies by governments:
※ Allowing all energy resources to compete
in a free market without any government
interference.
※ Trying to keep energy prices artificially low
to encourage use of selected energy
resources.
※ Keeping energy prices artificially high to
discourage use of a resource.
How Can We Develop a More
Sustainable Energy Future?

Some great news is

that we have technology,
creativity, and wealth to
make the transition to a
more sustainable energy
future.
 Strategies for making the transition to a more
sustainable energy future over the next few
Discussion:
How to improve energy efficiency?
Thanks