Renewable sources of

energy

Energy sources
Energy is the primary and most
universal measure of all kinds of
work by human beings and nature
The flow of energy is one of its forms
Divided into 3
1. Primary energy sources
2. Secondary fuels
3. Supplementary sources

 Primary energy sources

A source which provide net supply of energy
Eg coal, oil, uranium
The energy required to obtain from these
fuels is much less than what they can
produce by combustion and nuclear reaction
Their energy yield ratio is very high
yield ratio the energy fed back by the
material to the energy received from the
environment
This can only accelerate growth, but supply
is limited
It becomes very essential to use these fuels
sparingly

 Secondary fuels
Produce no net energy
But they necessary for economy
Intensive agricultural is an example,
where in terms of energy the yield is
less than the input

Supplementary fuels
Net energy yield is zero
But they require highest investment in
terms of energy
Thermal is an example

 Coal, natural gas , oil and nuclear

energy using breeder reactor are net
energy yielders
Solar energy, wind energy, water
energy are secondary sources of
energy
Solar energy can be used through
plants, solar cells and solar heaters.
Geothermal and ocean thermal other
sources

Energy sources and their availability

Commercial or conventional energy sources
Major sources

fossil fuels
Water power or energy stored in water
Energy of nuclear fission

Minor sources

Sun
Wind
Tides in sea
Geothermal
Ocean thermal electric conversion
Fuel cells
Thermionic
Thermoelectric generators

 Wood
was
dominant
in
pre
industrialization era.
Percentage use of various sources for
the total energy consumption in the
world
coal

32.5%

Oil

38.3%

Gas

19.0%

Uranium

0.13%

hydro

2.0%

Wood

6.6%

Dung

1.2%

waste

0.3%

92%

8%

 Coal

 Since the advent of industrialization coal has

been the most common source of energy.
Last 3 decades it is switched to oil
Coal developed from vegetable matter which
grew on past geological ages.trees and plants
falling into water, decayed and producing peat
bogs. These bogs are buried under layers of
silt,due to soil pressure,heat and movement of
earth crust distilled off some gaseous matter
in bog and form brown coal or lignite,
continuing this activity and reducing gaseous
content progressively , forming peat lignite,
bituminous and anthracite.

 Oil
Almost 40% of the energy needs of the
world are fed by oil
Rising prices of oil making little strain on
economy
But, with todays consumption and a
resource amount of 250000million tones
of oil, which is sufficient for about 100
years
Refining petroleum or crude oils produce
our fuel oils
The potential oil bearing areas are
located in Assam, Tripura , Manipur,
West Bengal , Ganga valley, Punjab,

 Gas
Incompletely utilized at present and huge
quantities are burned off in oil production process
Transportation cost is huge
Classified as

Gases of fixed composition such as ethylene,

methane..
Composite industrial gases such as producer gas , coke
oven gas, water gas , blast furnace gas etc.

Agricultural and organic wastes

at present a small amount of these are utilized
for energy purpose
Most of the unused material will cause
considerable environmental problems.

 Major points considered when using this

source is
1. The waste should utilized near the source,
in order to reduce the transportation cost
2. Appropriate equipments for burning or
extracting energy from materials should
be developed to suit local conditions and
meet the requirements of the local areas
3. Other non energy uses of the material
should also be considered
4. Considering the availability and the
location of the material produced, these
are regarded as an important energy
supply for the rural areas.

 Water power
Developed by allowing water to fall
under the force of gravity.
Used extensively for electric power
generation
Potential energy of water is converted to
mechanical energy by using prime
movers known as hydraulic turbines.
It is quite cheap because of abundant
availability of water
Capital cost is very high but operating
cost is low
No fuel required

 Nuclear power
According to modern theories of atomic
structure, matter consisting of minute
particles known as atoms
Between them have a large binding
energy
Controlled fission will release this energy
The energy released by the complete
fission of 1kg uranium is equal to the
heat energy obtained by burning 4500
tons of coal or 2200 tons of oil.

 Non conventional sources

Because of large energy requirements and utilization, fossil
fuels are exhausted eventually in future
Industrialized countries put their concentration on renewable
energy sources, some of them are
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.

Solar energy
Wind energy
Energy from biomass
Ocean thermal energy
Tidal energy
Geothermal energy
Hydrogen energy
Fuel cells
Magneto hydro dynamics generator
Thermionic converter
Thermo electric power

 Solar energy
Energy comes to the earth from sun
This keeps the temp. of the earth above that in
colder space, cause current in atmosphere and in
ocean,
cause
water
cycle
and
generate
photosynthesis in plants
Solar power where sun hits to atmosphere is 10^17
W, that to earths surface is 10^16W
The world wide power demand is 10^13 W
The energy radiated by the sun on a bright sunny
day is approximately1kW/m^2, this can be utilized to
generate steam , and used to drive prime movers in
the case of generation of electric energy.
But their use is limited because of some reasons like,
they required large space, uncertainty of availability
of energy at constant rate due to cloud, wind etc

 Applications of solar energy which enjoying success

today are,
Heating and cooling of residential building
Solar water heating
Solar drying of agricultural and animal products
Solar distillation on a small community scale
Salt production by evaporation of sea water
Solar cookers
Solar engines for water pumping
Food refrigeration
Bio conversion and wind energy, which are indirect source of
solar energy
10.Solar furnaces
11.Solar electric power generation by1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Solar ponds
Steam generators heated by rotating reflectors or by tower concept
Reflectors with lenses and pipes for fluid circulation

12. Solar photovoltaic cells

 Wind energy
Energy of wind can be economically used for
electric power generation
Winds are caused from1.

2.

Heating and cooling of atmosphere which

generates convection currents. Heating is caused
by the absorption of solar energy on the earths
surface
The rotation of the earth with respect to
atmosphere and its motion around the sun

This is an indirect form of solar energy, used

to run windmill, which in turn runs a
generator to produce electricity
It can generate an estimated amount of
1.6*10^7MW

 Some types of windmills are1.

2.
3.
4.
5.

multi blade type windmill

Sail type windmill
Propeller type windmill
Savonius type windmill
Darrieus type windmill

Some characteristics of wind energy are

It is a renewable source of energy

Like all forms of solar energy ,wind power systems are
non polluting , there is no adverse effect on
environment
Wind energy systems avoid fuel provision and transport
On small scale , it is less costly, for large scale, costs
be competitive with conventional electricity and lower
cost could be achieved in mass production

 Problems
energy

associated

with

wind

1. Wind energy available in dilute and

fluctuating manner, because of this
reason conversion machine have to be
necessarily large
2. Unlike water energy, wind energy need
storage
means
because
of
its
irregularity.
3. Wind energy systems are noisy in
operation, a large unit can be heard
many kilometers away.
4. Large areas are needed to install wind
farms for electrical power generation.

 Energy from biomass and biogas

The potential for application of biomass
as an alternate source of energy in India
is great
We have plenty of agricultural and forest
resources for biomass
It is produced in nature through
photosynthesis
It is an organic matter
Energy released by burning biomass is
approximately 112kcal/mol ie,
469kJ/mole
It can be used directly by burning or can
processed to produce convenient liquid

 Biomass resources categorized into 3,

1. In its traditional solid mass (wood and agricultural
residues)
2. In its non traditional form (converted in to liquid
form)
3. Ferment biomass anaaerobically to obtain a
gaseous fuel called biogas

Biomass resources include

1. Concentrated waste municipal solids , sewage
wood products , industrial wastes, manure of large
lots
2. Dispersed waste residue crop residue, legging
residue,disposed manure
3. Harvested biomass, standby biomass, biomass
energy plantation

 Energy plantation
For large scale production of electric power, can
use fire wood as a fuel
For that selected species of trees are planted and
harvested in regular period of time for large area ,
near to the plant,
In India , suggested trees are eucalyptus,
casuarina and babool

Biogas
Main source of production biogas is wet cow dung,
livestock waste
In India, we have large cattle population, its
population is 250million
Other sources are
Sewage , crop residue , vegetable wastes, poultry
wastes ,

 In big cities , sewage source is the main

source for the production of biogas, and
which is used to run pumps to pumpout
the sewage water itself
The sewage biogas contain 84%
in rural areas, biogas can be used for
cooking, lighting, mechanical power and
small electricity generation.

 Ocean thermal energy

Indirect method of utilization of solar energy
Large amount of solar energy collected and
stored in tropical oceans
Tropic oceans- equatorial band between the tropic
of cancer and the tropic of Capricorn
Including central portions of pacific and Atlantic
oceans, and most of Indian ocean
They play a critical role in regulating earths climate
and large scale weather pattern

Thus, heat contained in oceans could be

converted into electricity by utilizing the fact
that the temperature difference between warm
surface waters of the tropical oceans and the
colder waters in the depth is about 20-25
degree K

 OTEC system utilization of energy,

with its associated temperature
difference and its conversion into
work
The surface water with high
temperature is used to heat some
low boiling organic fluid, by using this
vapours we can run a heat engine,
the exit vapour would be condensed
by pumping colder water from
deeper regions.

 Tidal energy
Tides in the sea are the result of the universal
gravitational effect of heavenly bodies like sun
and moon on earth
Due to the fluidity of water mass, this effect
can be apparent in the motion of water, which
causes a periodic rise and fall in water levels,
this is due to the daily cycle of rising and
setting of sun and moon
This periodic rise and fall of water level of sea
is called tide, electricity generated from this
tide is known as tidal power.
Water level is above the mean sea level flood tide
Water level is below the mean sea level ebb tide

 For practical electric power generation from

tide need some favorable site ie, geography
of inlet or bay must be suitable for the
construction of large scale hydroelectric plant
1. dam would be built on the mouth of the bay
2. It will have large gate
3. A low head hydraulic reversible turbine is
installed
4. A tidal basin is formed, dam separates basin and
sea
5. Difference in water level is obtained in basin and
sea, basin filled during high tide and emptied
during low tide
6. This arrangement is known as single basin plant.

 Geothermal energy
Embedded with in the earth
According to various theories, earth has
a molten core, that relating to volcanic
action
Volcanic action - stem and hot water
coming outside from earth core with
temp. of 200 or 300 degree C, with
pressure of 3000kN/m^2
Two ways of electric power generation
Heat energy transferred to a working fluid
which operates the power cycle
Hot water and steam used directly to
operate the turbines,

 Hydrogen energy
It is a non conventional energy resource
but hydrogen is used as a alternate source
of conventional energy.
Because of technical problems of production,
storage, transportation
So the expense is very high

the advantage of using hydrogen as a

source is that can be produced from water
It has higher energy content per unit mass
Have large combustion efficiency
Its burning process is non polluting and
this can be used in fuel cell to produce
both electricity and useful heat

 Fuel cells

Electro chemical device, electrical energy produced from chemical

energy

Main components of cell are

A fuel electrode

An oxidant or air electrode

An electrolyte

Fuel cells used in industries are,

Hydrogen oxygen cell

Hydrazine

Carbon/coal

methane

Hydrogen oxygen (hydrox) are more efficient and the most developed
cell

 Hydrox cell have two porous electrode, material used are

either carbon or nickel
An electrolyte of 30% KOH is used, due to its high electric
conductivity and corrosive action comparing with acid
The cell operates with normal atmospheric pressure and
at a temp about 90 degree C then it is called low temp
cells
The

cell

operates

with

pressure

upto

45atm

and

temperature upto 300 degree C are called high pressure

cells

 A single hydrox cell can produce an emf of 1.23volt

Some advantages of fuel cell
1.

Direct conversion process, so high operating efficiency

2.

Lighter and smaller so need less maintenance

3.

Transmission losses are very low so generation cost

get reduced

4.

Produce little pollution and little noise so acceptable in

residential areas

Drawbacks low voltage, high initial cost and low

service life

 Magneto Hydro-Dynamics generator

Direct conversion of heat energy into electrical energy

Obeys Faradays law of electromagnetic induction

When an electric conductor moves across a magnetic field , a voltage is

induced in it which produces an electric current

Instead

of

solid

conductors

using

fluid

which

is

electrically

conducting

Working principle partially ionized and compressed gas is

expanded in a duct and which is forced through a strong magnetic
field so an electric potential is developed in the gas, by connecting 2
electrodes on the sides of duct, we can pick up the potential, which
is a DC, by connecting an inverter to this arrangement we can
generate AC

 Power generation is simple, and has

large
power
and
temperature
handling capacity
No moving parts, so high reliability
It can brought full power from
standby conditions with in 45
seconds
Load variation also take fraction of
second

 Thermionic converter

direct conversion of heat energy to electrical energy

Consist of 2 electrodes held in a container filled with

ionized cesium vapour
Working principle- heating one electrode boils out
electrons that travel to the opposite colder.
Electrode. The positive ions in the gas neutralize the
space charge effect of electrons that is prevent the
flow of electrons

Heating electrode cathode

Material tungsten impregnated with a barium
compound

Cooler electrode anode

Material barium and strontium

 Thermo electric power

Direct conversion of heat energy to
electrical energy
Principle is based on seebeck effect
States that if two dissimilar materials are
joined to form a loop and the junctions are
maintained at different temperatures, then
an emf will developed around the loop

The hot junction is created by heating

that junction using a heat source ie, oil
or gas burner
The cold junction is created by water
cooling or radiative heat transfer

SOLAR ENERGY
Solar energy received from sun in the form of radiations, which
can be converted in to any other forms such as heat and
electricity
Major drawbacks
1.

The intermittent and variable manner in which it arrives at earths

surface

2.

The large area required to collect the energy at a usable rate

Direct radiation - the radiation, that has not been absorbed or

scattered and reaches the ground directly from sun

Diffuse radiation - the radiation, that received from sun after

changing its direction by reflection or scattering by the
atmosphere

Insolation the total solar radiation energy received on a

horizontal surface of unit area on the ground in unit time

 Solar collector a device for collecting

solar radiation and transfer the energy
to a fluid passing in contact with it
Two types
1. concentrating type solar collectors
2. Non concentrating type solar collectors

Main components- solar energy

collector and associated absorber
Green house effect it is possible to
grow exotic plants in cold climates
through better utilization of the
available sunlight,

 Flat plate collectors- can collect and absorb

both direct and diffuse radiations, they are also
effective in cloudy days when there is no direct
radiation
Divided into 2 types on the basis of heat
transfer fluid used.
1.
2.

Liquid heating collectors

Air or gas heating collectors

Have mainly 5 components

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

A transparent cover
Tubes , fins
The absorber plate
Insulation
The casing or container

 A typical liquid collector

Plate and tube type collector
Flat surface with high absorptivity
Metal plate copper, aluminium, steel

Tube is in line and integral with the metal

plate
Heat will transferred from the metal plate by the
circulation of water through the tube

For front cover usually uses glass

Drawbacks
In cold weather, moisture may condense the
inside of transparent cover and reduce the
heat transferring rate
Corrosion of metal tubes by water
Leakes in water circulation

 Typical air collectors or solar air

heaters
Using air as a heat transferring medium
The drawbacks of liquid collectors are
solved here.
Drawbacks of air collectors are.

large duct size and higher flow rate , with

increased pumping power
Transfer of heat from air is also difficult

Classified into two

1. Non porous absorber- air may flow above
and or behind the absorber plate
2. Porous absorber- absorber plate has slits

1. Give a brief review of conventional sources of energy

2. Write a note on thermal storage.
3. Write a detailed note on Global warming and Green
house effect.
4. Explain solar absorption refrigeration system in detail.
5. Give a description of flat plate collectors and the
working of solar water heater.
6. What are the advantages and applications of
renewable energy sources?
7. Briefly describe the principle of thermionic converter.
8. Explain the methods of solar thermal power generation.
9. Describe in brief, the different energy storage methods
used in solar system.
10.Explain the design and fabrication of flat plate
collectors also discuss about its performance

 Application of solar air heaters

1.
2.
3.
4.

Heating buildings
Drying agricultural products
Heating green houses
Air conditioning buildings

Advantages of flat plate collectors

. They have the advantages of using
beam and diffuse radiation
. They do not orientation towards the sun
. They require little maintenance
. They are mechanically simpler than
concentrating type collectors