Chapter 10

RENEWABLE ENERGY
SOURCES
SUN, WIND AND WATER
 Public Goods
Low Excludability
Low Subtractability

- Meaning they are freely available to everyone, as

other sources such as fossil fuels have been
monopolized by the wealthy and powerful to further
their wealth and power
 Renewable Energy
• Nonrenewable energy = stock-limited
• Renewable energy = flow limited
– Can’t capture energy faster than it flows

• Power Grid will need transformed

– Smart Grid to transport electricity great distances with minimal
power loss

• Renewables grow by about 1% each year

– Only one percent because electricity consumption is growing
exponentially
– IEA estimates we need to spend 1% GDP to wean off fossil fuels to
cut carbon emissions
 Localized Cost of Energy (LCOE)
• The break-even cost of electricity over the lifetime of
use, useful for comparisons
 Wind
• Renewable 1.8 m
– Small Water and Carbon Footprints, produces no waste
– Compatible with other land uses
• Wind varies by time of day, season and by region

• From 2000-2014
– Wind energy production increased from 29.5 TWh to 706
TWh, and is growing at an exponential rate in the US
 Against Wind Arguments
• Kill lots of birds
– Cats, Cars and Skyscrapers kill more birds
• Noisy
– New Models are much quieter
 Wind Energy
• US Officials want 20% of the nation’s enerfy to come
from wind by 2030
• Decentralized wind power makes the most sense for
homes not connected to the electrical grid
– US needs new interstate power transmission lines and
power stations, but this is costly
• Increase in neodymium would also be required with
an increase in wind turbine production
 Solar
• Sun is the ultimate source of energy
• Can actively harness energy from the sun using
photovoltaic (PV) and solar thermal energy
technologies
– 2009 PV was 9-14% efficient
– 2020 PV was 15-20% efficient

• Price of PV has been dropping

– Demand increases
– Production increases
– Price drops more (Positive Feedback Loop)
 Solar energy: PV cells
Electrons move from the phosphorus side of the silicon
plate to the boron side, creating electric current.
Passive solar
 Germany Goes Solar
• Germany produces more than 6% of its electricity from
solar power — one of the highest rates in the world.
• Germany uses a feed-in tariff
system, meaning that utilities
have to buy electricity from
anyone on the grid who can
produce it from renewable
sources.
– This has led to homeowners
and businesses installing solar
roof panels.
• The Renewable Energy Sources Act of 2000 assigned a
payment rate according to market considerations for
every renewable energy source.
• Germany is gradually lowering its tariffs, until a goal of
about 52 gigawatts of capacity is reached.
• Since 1990, carbon dioxide
emissions from German
energy sources have fallen
by 25%, and emissions of
seven other major pollutants
(CH4, N2O, SO2, NOX, CO,
volatile organic compounds,
and dust) have been reduced by 12–95%.
• Germany’s transition has not been completely smooth; it
has shut down 7 of its 15 nuclear power plants in
response to the Fukushima meltdown in 2011.
– This increased the rate of coal combustion.
• Germany’s system of tariffs and government subsidies of
renewable energy technology has served as a model for
more than 70 other countries, who are implementing
similar systems.
 Renewable sources for electricity
•Renewable sources currently generate ~9% of
electricity in the U.S.
 Problems With Solar
• Intermittent
• Mining of heavy metals can be pollution intensive
• Storing the energy
– Rechargeable batteries
– Pumped storage hydroelectricity
– Compressed air energy storge
 Net Metering
• PV cell owners can sell their surplus of electricity and
add it to the grid,
• https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/12ded8BjW
cXCzXdvs_KYIuyt4WPuxMiuPIn9E5O552xo/edit#gid=
0

• Next Plan
– Solar Water Heater
– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuQtw2E9TWc
 Biofuels
• Sun is the ultimate source of energy
• Can actively harness energy from the sun using
photovoltaic (PV) and solar thermal energy
technologies
– 2009 PV was 9-14% efficient
– 2020 PV was 15-20% efficient

• Price of PV has been dropping

– Demand increases
– Production increases
– Price drops more (Positive Feedback Loop)
 Uses of biomass energy
1. Heating & cooking
2. Fuel for vehicles
(biofuels)
3. Electricity production
 Biofuels

• Biodiesel
• Ethanol
Biodiesel
 Biodiesel origins
Examples:

algae
soybeans Palm trees

corn Animal fat

Used vegetable oil
Two ways to use biodiesel in vehicles

straight vegetable oil or

waste vegetable oil
Chemical processing
www.forddiesel.net
No engine modification
Blended with PD – B1, B5, B20

straight vegetable oil or

waste vegetable oil Engine modification

www.worth1000.com
FUEL MAP
 Hero BX

www.lakeeriebiofuels.com

FIRST BIODIESEL
TRANS-CONTINENTAL
JET FLIGHT
ANNOUNCED.
Worldwide Energy • Dec 1, 2008
Biodiesel project at Gannon
 Biodiesel emissions

Biodiesel has fewer emissions than petroleum-based diesel.

Biodiesel CO2 emissions
 Biodiesel energy yield

USDA/DOE Study - “Lifecycle Inventory of Biodiesel and Petroleum Diesel

 Ethanol as fuel
• Plant material (simple sugars) is converted to ethanol
through fermentation
• Ethanol is used as a fuel additive or as alternative fuel
– Gasohol (E10)
– E15
– E85
 Ethanol as fuel
Ethanol can be produced using:

Corn or corn stover sugar cane & bagasse

hybrid poplar

switchgrass
Worldwide ethanol fuel production
availability
Ethanol as fuel
Fuel availability
 Ethanol from corn

1. Grow and collect grain.

2. Grind kernels into powder.

3. Heat + enzymes convert starch to sugar.

4. Fermentation.

5. Distill ethanol.

Ethanol
 Hydro-electric Power

• US ~79,000 dams
• ~2500 produce power

www.us-parks.com

Kinzua dam, Warren PA

http://www.nationalatlas.gov
 World’s largest dams
https://www.nytimes.com/video/world/1194817102562/living-with-the-three-gorges-dam.html
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2022-10-26/climate-change-drying-up-china-s-three-gorges-dam-video

Max Annual
Name Country Year Generation Production

Three Gorges China 2009 18,200 MW

Itaipú Brazil/Paraguay 1983 12,600 MW 93.4 TW-hrs

Guri Venezuela 1986 10,200 MW 46 TW-hrs

Grand Coulee United States 1942/80 6,809 MW 22.6 TW-hrs

Sayano Shushenskaya Russia 1983 6,400 MW

Robert-Bourassa Canada 1981 5,616 MW

Churchill Falls Canada 1971 5,429 MW 35 TW-hrs

Iron Gates Romania/Serbia 1970 2,280 MW 11.3 TW-hrs

 Main types of HP designs

1. Impoundment
 .
Niagara Hydro Power – Start at 24 min

https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=HpWu1Su2wE8
• Oroville dam – Earth fill  Kinzua dam – Earth
embankment
embankment and concrete
• http://unioncitypa.us/
attractions/dam/
 How does hydro power work?

Electrical
Energy
Potential
Energy

Kinetic
Energy

Mechanical
Energy
 Main types of HP designs

2. Run-of-River (Diversion)

www.eere.energy.gov
www.ashden.org
 Main types of HP designs

3. Pumped Storage
 Seneca pumped storage station
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSgd-QhL
HRI