Renewable Energy

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. Name: Ahmed Mohamed farouk
abdo
Reg: 08100954 .
Renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy that comes from natural resources
such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves and geothermal heat.
About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from
renewable resources, with 10% of all energy from traditional
biomass, mainly used for heating, and 3.% from hydroelectricity.
!ew renewables "small hydro, modern biomass, wind, solar,
geothermal, and biofuels# accounted for another 3% and are
growing very rapidly. $he share of renewables in electricity
generation is around 1%%, with 16% of electricity coming from
hydroelectricity and 3% from new renewables .
Renewable energy resources and significant opportunities for
energy efficiency e&ist over wide geographical areas, in contrast to
other energy sources, which are concentrated in a limited number
of countries. Rapid deployment of renewable energy and energy
efficiency, and technological diversification of energy sources,
would result in significant energy security and economic benefits .
Renewable energy replaces conventional fuels in four distinct
areas' electricity generation, hot water(space heating, motor fuels,
and rural "off)grid# energy services .
*ower generation' Renewable energy provides 1%% of
electricity generation worldwide. Renewable power generators
are spread across many countries, and wind power alone already
provides a significant share of electricity in some areas' for
e&ample, 1% in the +.,. state of -owa, 0% in the northern
.erman state of ,chleswig)/olstein, and 00% in 1enmar2. ,ome
countries get most of their power from renewables, including
-celand "100%#, !orway "%3%#, 4ra5il "36%#, Austria "60%#,
!ew 6ealand "67%#, and ,weden "7% ."
/eating' ,olar hot water ma2es an important contribution to
renewable heat in many countries, most notably in 8hina, which
now has 90% of the global total "130 .:th#. ;ost of these
systems are installed on multi)family apartment buildings and meet
a portion of the hot water needs of an estimated 70<60 million
households in 8hina. :orldwide, total installed solar water heating
systems meet a portion of the water heating needs of over 90
million households. $he use of biomass for heating continues to
grow as well. -n ,weden, national use of biomass energy has
surpassed that of oil. 1irect geothermal for heating is also growing
rapidly .
$ransport fuels' Renewable biofuels have contributed to a
significant decline in oil consumption in the +nited ,tates since
0006. $he %3 billion liters of biofuels produced worldwide in 000%
displaced the e=uivalent of an estimated 63 billion liters of gasoline,
e=ual to about 7% of world gasoline production .
-n international public opinion surveys there is strong support for
promoting renewable sources such as solar power and wind power,
re=uiring utilities to use more renewable energy "even if this
increases the cost#, and providing ta& incentives to encourage the
development and use of such technologies. $here is substantial
optimism that renewable energy investments will pay off
economically in the long term .
:hile many renewable energy pro>ects are large)scale, renewable
technologies are also suited to rural and remote areas, where
energy is often crucial in human development. As of 0011, small
solar *? systems provide electricity to a few million households,
and micro)hydro configured into mini)grids serves many more.
@ver million households use biogas made in household)scale
digesters for lighting and(or coo2ing, and more than 166 million
households rely on a new generation of more)efficient biomass
coo2stoves. +nited !ationsA ,ecretary).eneral 4an Bi)moon has
said that renewable energy has the ability to lift the poorest nations
to new levels of prosperity.8arbon neutral and negative fuels can
store and transport renewable energy through e&isting natural gas
pipelines and be used with e&isting transportation infrastructure,
displacing fossil fuels, and reducing greenhouse gases .
Renewable energy sources '
:ind power '
Airflows can be used to run wind turbines. ;odern utility)scale wind
turbines range from around 600 2: to 7 ;: of rated power,
although turbines with rated output of 1.7<3 ;: have become the
most common for commercial useC the power available from the
wind is a function of the cube of the wind speed, so as wind speed
increases, power output increases dramatically up to the ma&imum
output for the particular turbine. Areas where winds are stronger
and more constant, such as offshore and high altitude sites, are
preferred locations for wind farms .
$ypical capacity factors are 00)0%, with values at the upper end
of the range in particularly favourable sites .
.lobally, the long)term technical potential of wind energy is
believed to be five times total current global energy production, or
0 times current electricity demand .
$his could re=uire wind turbines to be installed over large areas,
particularly in areas of higher wind resources. @ffshore resources
e&perience average wind speeds of D%0% greater than that of
land, so offshore resources could contribute substantially more
energy .
/ydropower '
Energy in water can be harnessed and used. ,ince water
is about 300 times denser than air, even a slow flowing
stream of water, or moderate sea swell, can yield considerable
amounts of energy .
$here are many forms of water energy
/ydroelectric energy is a term usually reserved for large)
scale hydroelectric dams. E&amples are the .rand 8oulee
1am in :ashington ,tate and the A2osombo 1am in .hana .
;icro hydro systems are hydroelectric power installations
that typically produce up to 100 2: of power. $hey are often
used in water rich areas as a remote)area power supply
# RA*, ."
Run)of)the)river hydroelectricity systems derive 2inetic
energy from rivers and oceans without the creation of a large
reservoir .
' ,olar
energy
,olar energy is the energy derived from the sun through the
form of solar radiation.,olar powered electrical generation
relies on photovoltaics and heat engines .
A partial list of other solar applications includes space heating
and cooling through solar architecture, daylighting, solar hot
water, solar coo2ing, and high temperature process heat for
industrial purposes .
,olar technologies are broadly characteri5ed as either
passive solar or active solar depending on the way they
capture, convert and distribute solar energy. Active solar
techni=ues include the use of photovoltaic panels and solar
thermal collectors to harness the energy .
*assive solar techni=ues include orienting a building to
the ,un, selecting materials with favorable thermal mass or
light dispersing properties, and designing spaces that naturally
circulate air .
4iomass '
4iomass "plant material# is a renewable energy source
because the energy it contains comes from the sun. $hrough
the process of photosynthesis, plants capture the sunAs
energy. :hen the plants are burnt, they release the sunAs
energy they contain. -n this way, biomass functions as a sort
of natural battery for storing solar energy. As long as biomass
is produced sustainably, with only as much used as is grown,
the battery will last indefinitely.F31GFunreliable sourceHG -n
general there are two main approaches to using plants for
energy production' growing plants specifically for energy use
"2nown as first and third)generation biomass#, and using the
residues "2nown as second)generation biomass# from plants
that are used for other things. ,ee biobased economy. $he
best approaches vary from region to region according to
climate, soils and geography .
As of early 0010, 37 of 109 biomass plants operating in
the +.,. had been cited by federal or state regulators for
violating clean air or water laws over the past five years .
$he Energy -nformation Administration pro>ected that
by 0019, biomass is e&pected to be about twice as e&pensive
as natural gas, slightly more e&pensive than nuclear power,
and much less e&pensive than solar panels
4iofuels '
4iofuels include a wide range of fuels which are derived
from biomass. $he term covers solid biomass, li=uid fuels and
various biogases. Ii=uid biofuels include bioalcohols, such as
bioethanol, and oils, such as biodiesel. .aseous biofuels
include biogas, landfill gas and synthetic gas .
4ioethanol is an alcohol made by fermenting the sugar
components of plant materials and it is made mostly from
sugar and starch crops. :ith advanced technology being
developed, cellulosic biomass, such as trees and grasses ,
are also used as feedstoc2s for ethanol production.
Ethanol can be used as a fuel for vehicles in its pure form, but
it is usually used as a gasoline additive to increase octane and
improve vehicle emissions. 4ioethanol is widely used in the
+,A and in 4ra5il. /owever, according to the European
Environment Agency, biofuels do not address global warming
concerns .
4iodiesel is made from vegetable oils, animal fats or
recycled greases. 4iodiesel can be used as a fuel for vehicles
in its pure form, but it is usually used as a diesel additive to
reduce levels of particulates, carbon mono&ide, and
hydrocarbons from diesel)powered vehicles. 4iodiesel is
produced from oils or fats using transesterification and is the
most common biofuel in Europe .
4iofuels provided 0.9% of the worldAs transport fuel in
0010 .
.eothermal Energy '
.eothermal energy is from thermal energy generated
and stored in the Earth. $hermal energy is the energy that
determines the temperature of matter. EarthAs geothermal
energy originates from the original formation of the planet
"00%# and from radioactive decay of minerals "30%#.$he
geothermal gradient, which is the difference in temperature
between the core of the planet and its surface, drives a
continuous conduction of thermal energy in the form of heat
from the core to the surface. $he ad>ective geothermal
originates from the .ree2 roots geo, meaning earth, and
thermos, meaning heat .
$he heat that is used for geothermal energy can be from
deep within the Earth, all the way down to EarthJs core <
,000 miles "6,00 2m# down. At the core, temperatures may
reach over %,000 KL "7,000 K8#. /eat conducts from the core
to surrounding roc2. E&tremely high temperature and pressure
cause some roc2 to melt, which is commonly 2nown as
magma. ;agma convects upward since it is lighter than the
solid roc2. $his magma then heats roc2 and water in the
crust, sometimes up to 900 KL "391# K8 .
.rowth of renewables '
Lrom the end of 000, worldwide renewable energy
capacity grew at rates of 10<60% annually for many
technologies. Lor wind power and many other renewable
technologies, growth accelerated in 000% relative to the
previous four years. ;ore wind power capacity was added
during 000% than any other renewable technology. /owever,
grid)connected *? increased the fastest of all renewables
technologies, with a 60% annual average growth rate. -n
0010, renewable power constituted about a third of the newly
built power generation capacities. 4y 001 the installed
capacity of photovoltaics will li2ely e&ceed that of wind, but
due to the lower capacity factor of solar, the energy
generated from photovoltaics is not e&pected to e&ceed that
of wind until 0017 .
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