Renewable EnergyRenewable energy is defined as energy that is produced by

natural resources—such as sunlight, wind, rain, waves, tides, and geothermal

heat—that are naturally replenished within a time span of a few years.

Renewable energy includes the technologies that convert natural resources into
useful energy services:
• Wind, wave, tidal, and hydropower (including micro- and river-off hydropower)

• Solar power (including photovoltaic), solar thermal, and geothermal

• Biomass and biofuel technologies (including biogas)

• Renewable fraction of waste (household and industrial waste)
Household and industrial waste is composed of different types of waste. Some parts
are considered renewable energy sources—for example, potato peel—whereas
other parts, such as plastic products, are not. Only the fraction of waste that is
naturally replenished is usually included in the definition. In this book, however,
for practical reasons, the whole waste fraction is included as part of the renewable
energy sources identified in most analyses

.Renewable Energy SystemsRenewable energy systems are defined as complete

energy supply and demand systems based on renewable energy as opposed to
nuclear and fossil fuels. They include supply as well as demand.
The transition from traditional nuclear and fossil fuel–based systems to renewable
energy systems involves coordinated changes in the following:
• Demand technologies related to energy savings and conservation

• Efficiency improvements in the supply system, such as CHP

• Integration of fluctuating renewable energy sources, such as wind power

A distinction can be made between end use and demand. Energy end use is defined
as the human call for energy services such as room temperature, transportation,
and light. Energy demand is defined as consumer demands for heat, electricity,
and fuel. Consumers include households and industry as well as public and private
service sectors. Fuel may be used for heating or transport. Heat demand may be
divided into different temperature levels such as district heating and process
heating.Within end use, one may distinguish further between, on the one hand,
 basic needs such as food, basic temperatures, and transportation from home to
work and, on the other, specific requirements such as a certain number of square
meters with a certain room temperature and a certain number of kilometers of
driving. This distinction can be critical—for example, when analyzing the
transportation infrastructure related to food production or to transportation
between home and work. However, in the analyses presented in this book, it has
not been necessary to make such a distinction.Changes such as insulation and
efficiency improvements of electric devices leading to changes in the energy
demand for heat, electricity, or fuel are defined as changes in the demand system.
In addition to the preceding renewable energy technologies, renewable energy
systems include both technologies, which can convert from one form of energy into
another—for example, electricity into hydrogen—as well as storage technologies
that can save energy from one hour to another. Mathiesen (Mathiesen and Lund
2009) and Blarke (Blarke and Lund 2008) comprise these technologies under the
designation relocation technologies. However, in the following, the difference
between energy conversion and energy storage technologies is emphasized.Energy
conversion technologies are technologies that can convert from one demand (heat,
electricity, or fuel) to another, such as the following:• Conversion of fuel into heat
and/or electricity by the use of technologies such as power stations, boilers, and
CHP (including steam turbines as well as fuel cells)• Conversion of electricity into
heat by the use of technologies such as electric boilers and heat pumps•
Conversion of solid fuels into gas or liquid fuel by the use of technologies such as
electrolyzers and biogas and biofuel plantsEnergy storage technologies are
defined as technologies that can store various forms of energy from one hour to
another, such as the following:• Fuel, heat, and electricity storage technologies•
Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES)• Hydrogen storage technologiesKeep in
mind that the definition of storage technologies is broader than the concept of
storage itself. For example, in the case of electricity, which is stored by converting
it into hydrogen, the storage technology may include conversion technologies such
as electrolyzers and fuel cells. The distinction between conversion and storage
technologies is defined by the purpose of the technology in question. If the purpose
is to convert electricity to hydrogen because a car needs hydrogen, then the
electrolyzer is defined as a conversion technology. However, if the purpose is to
store electricity, then the combination of electrolyzer, hydrogen storage, and fuel
cell is defined as a storage technology.In complex renewable energy systems,
single components may be used for both purposes. For instance, the same
electrolyzer may be used to supply cars with hydrogen and at the same time
produce hydrogen for storage purposes. In this case, the electrolyzer is simply
regarded as both a conversion and a storage technology.The distinction between
the two types of technologies is important when designing renewable energy
systems, as will be elaborated on in Chapters 4 to 6. It is important to distinguish
between, on the one hand, the need for balancing time and, on the other, the need
for balancing the annual amounts of different types of energy demands.3
Renewable versus SustainableThis book often uses the term renewable energy, but
why not use sustainable energy instead? After all, in many situations, these two
terms are used interchangeably. In typical definitions, however, significant
differences can be found between the two terms. So renewable is used for good
reason, even though the difference between the two terms to some extent relies on
the definitions of each of them.Sustainable EnergySustainable energy can be
defined as energy sources that are not expected to be depleted in a time frame
relevant to the human race and that therefore contribute to the sustainability of all
species

1.9.1 Primary and Secondary Energy Resources

1. Primary energy resources are derived directly from natural reserve.
Examples are chemical fuels, solar, wind, geothermal, nuclear
hydropower, etc. They are used either in basic raw energy form or by
converting them to usable form (secondary energy).
2. Secondary energy resources are usable forms of energy generated by
means of suitable plants to convert the primary energy. Examples are
electrical energy, steam power, hot water power, hydrogen energy, etc.

Usable form of energy is cost effective, highly efficient with

improved performance, environmentally acceptable and system
acceptability index approaching to unity is achievable during
conversion, transportation, distribution, and end use. From the
abovementioned viewpoints, electrical energy will continue to be
dominant and will also be a usable form of energy till the turn of
the century.

Primary energy resources may be further sub-classified as follows:

1. Conventional and non-conventional energy resources: (a)
Conventional energy resources and their technical knowledge are
known to mankind to a great extent. They are the energy stored within
the earth and the sea. They include both fossil fuels (coal, oil, and gas)
and nuclear energy (uranium and thorium) and required human
intervention to release the energy from them. These sources have
formed over hundreds of millions of years ago and when they are
 used, there will be no more for future generations. They are also
known as finite energy resources. (b) Non-conventional energy
resources are also known as infinite energy resources. Their technical
knowledge is little known and they need full exploitation and
improved technical understanding. However, it may be mentioned
that owing to the cost factor and overall performance, one may think
of utilizing all these energy resources only when all the conventional
energy resources have been fully exploited and utilized. They are
obtained from the energy flowing through the natural environment. It
is necessary to note that the energy is passing through the
environment as a current or as a flow and whether there is an artificial
device there to intercept and harness the power or not. Further, it is
important to know the rate at which useful energy can be obtained
from these sources.
2. Renewable and non-renewable energy resources: (a) Renewable
energy resources are continuously restored by nature. Examples are
solar, water, wind, etc. (b) Non-renewable energy resources are the
reserve that is once accumulated in nature has practically ceased to
form under new geological conditions. They are also known as
expendable energy. Examples are coal, oil, gas, nuclear, etc. Therefore,
energy resources may be represented as shown in Table 1.5.

Table 1.5 Classification of Energy Resources

The major characteristics of a thermal energy storage system are (a) its capacity per unit volume; (b) the
temperature range over which it operates, that is, the temperature at which heat is added to and
removed from the system; (c) the means of addition or removal of heat and the temperature differences
associated therewith; (d) temperature stratification in the storage unit; (e) the power requirements for
addition or removal of heat; (f) the containers, tanks, or other structural elements associated with the
storage system; (g) the means of controlling thermal losses from the storage system; and (h) its cost.